I'm actually advocating for more difficult testing.
The problem would be that it takes longer to assess and analyze the types
of testing I'm advocating for. When I took a course in grad school (I
definitely didn't finish it haha) they talked about how teachers in New York
had done just that. It was ultimately overturned though in favor of
standardized tests so they could compare results across the state and across
the nation.
How many times in your adult daily life are you asked to
take a multiple choice test? Does any profession require this outside of
an initial assessment perhaps? Most companies don't even do that, right?
Obviously, you're asked to perform certain duties and your performance is
assessed by your superiors in some way. I have yet to meet a professional
who is assessed on a multiple choice test though.
As a professional, you're asked to execute, analyze and
apply what you learned through previous research and/or experience.
You're required to add value to your company in some way. We need
to educate our students in a way where they can apply what they have learned to
different scenarios. Personally, I know teachers who are amazing at doing
just that. Their pay will not be determined by that this coming year;
rather it will be based on how their students do on a standardized test.
From my limited experience as an elementary educator in the
states, it seemed that many students had lost all interest in school by grade
5. I would discuss with coworkers if it was just my students that seemed
to lack motivation or what the problem was. They would assure me many of
their students had the same problems. By the end of the year you hoped to
have turned the tide for some of them but many of them had just given up
already.
When I taught kindergarten the atmosphere had completely
changed. The kids were thrilled to be at school and learning new things
each day. What changed from age 5 to age 10? Why were kids no
longer interested in learning new things? Undoubtedly, some teachers are
way better at teaching 5th graders than I ever was and have a much higher percentage
of their student population who are eager to be there. However, I'm
willing to bet even in the best teacher's 5th grade classroom there are some
students who don't want to be there. What happens to a child in school
from age 5 to 10?
There are a myriad of reasons why 10 year olds don't have
the same enthusiasm for learning as 5 year olds. In middle and high
school the problem becomes even worse as there is some ridiculous number of
dropouts in our nation with the vast majority of them stating boredom was a key
factor in their decision to leave high school.
In elementary school from 3rd to 5th grades, teachers and
students alike dreaded the FCAT test. That was Florida's version of the
standardized test and determined how most of our school year was spent.
We spent significant chunks of time doing FCAT prep work. There
were workbooks devoted to preparing students to pass the FCAT tests in the
spring.
Finally the test came and went. Teachers and students
alike were able to finally breathe better without the stress of a looming test
that determined whether a third grader was going to be promoted or not, among
other things. That one test dictated our whole school calendar. We
would talk about how we could finally spend time teaching how we wanted to
instead of constant test prep which we and our students despised. An
unfortunate side effect though was that many students and even parents for that
matter thought the school year was essentially over after the FCAT test and as
a result they didn't need to put in any more effort for the remainder of the
year.
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