Anne Gensterblum
4/8/08
Writ122
To Test or Not to Test, What is the Answer?
ACT, SAT, MEAP, PSAT, these are all names of standardized tests circulating the Michigan school system. When students hear these names most of the time their eyes roll, they get nervous, or they become annoyed. The students know full well that these tests are a very strong basis of what college they will go to or what kinds of scholarships they will receive. This means that these tests are intense. These tests not only determine the future of the academic prowess of the individual student, but also they determine what kind of government funding the school receives. To have such tests decide such a large part of academia on both the personal level and public level is not fair.
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was written in 2001 by our current President, George W. Bush. NCLB was written to help overcome the achievement gap in schools nationwide, and to push for higher standards for students around the nation. The idea behind the act is a great one. Equality for all students no matter race, class, gender, or geographical location. The public schools around the nation have been using tests to see which schools make the grade and which don’t. If there is a school that doesn’t match up to NCLB standards they are sanctioned, they must provide tutors, and they also must provide transportation to schools that are better off. The problem with this is that the schools not only barely have enough money to pay for those things in their own district, let alone provide transportation to the next city, or two cities over. Another very large issue with this is that standardized tests are exactly that, standard, no matter the geographical location, ethnicity, or gender of the student.
Chester Finn wrote in the Washington Post about the No Child Left Behind Act. He made five points and his fourth one was just this “Teachers’ animus toward standardized testing has many roots; chief among them is the grueling weeks of preparation and exams that they and their students endure every year. But the accountability made possible by standardized testing isn’t all bad. If the test is an honest measure of a solid curriculum then teaching kids the skill and knowledge they need to pass is the honorable work. Just ask any Advanced Placement teacher” (Chester). There are many things wrong with this argument, the first being that there are too many ‘ifs’. “If the test is an honest measure of a solid curriculum…” The tests that student take now are usually not a test of a solid curriculum. The tests are based solely on reading comprehension, no matter what subject you are taking. Alfie Kohn at standardizedtesting.net states that, “(standardized tests)…are nothing at all similar to, for example, the process of measuring the size and weight of an object” (Kohn). This statement is far too true. The ACT and MEAP’s have timed science portions and during those portions there is nothing about practical science, only how well you can read and interpret graphs. The second argument is that teachers have started teaching to tests not using creative methods or being innovative in the classroom anymore. Ask any high school student, they will all tell you that their teacher says at least once a class period ‘this question is on the MEAP, or the ACT’. That isn’t what most teachers signed up to do. That also leaves little room for critical thinking and challenging the students in school today.
Supporters of NCLB agree with the federal government that accountability to educational standards and mandates, and emphasis on test results will improve the quality of public education for all students. Proponents also believe that NCLB initiatives will further democratize U.S. education, by setting standards and providing resources to schools, regardless of wealth, ethnicity, disabilities or language spoken. The Act sets high standards for excellence and expects that every public school in the nation will be able to meet these standards. If they do not meet these standards, their schools are cut out. This is reminiscent Darwinism in that only the strong schools survive. In this case though, strong means rich.
NCLB is of course not all bad, the achievement gap has been breached a great deal since the act has been in place, and it monitors the well being of students of all ethnicity, class and gender which was never done prior to this act, now all fifty states must be sure this is done. Schools now also base achievement not on their average or above average students but on how well the students who were under achievers are now doing. In addition, many public schools throughout the nation have reformed and are now making encouraging progress. Some students who were low achievers before have now risen to the level they should have been at initially (Edward). No Child Left Behind improves the quality of teachers by making sure that they are fully certified to teach in their field. The teachers must also take tests to be sure they qualify and fit the requirements to teach. NCLB also encourages parent programs. When the students are tested and if the scores are low the district will have to take a step back and look at what they can improve. It is important to keep parents involved in their children’s schooling and NCLB tries to do that. Parents are provided with detailed reports of their child’s improvement and explanations are provided for each level. This is so parents can look at their child’s progress and see how well the child is doing from year to year. In addition to keeping parents involved, the act focuses on helping students with disabilities, low-income families, non-English speakers, and all minorities.
However, the problem with NCLB is still the tests that are required to gain any sort of achievement or recognition. Edward Kennedy states that, “We need to encourage local decision makers to use a broader array of information, beyond test scores, to determine which schools need small adjustments and which need extensive reforms” (Edward). Testing a student does not judge how smart they are, even what they learned. Students will sometimes purposely not do well on the tests because they feel like the tests are ‘stupid.’ In addition, a good student might not be a good test taker, or a bad student might be a good test taker. Personally, I know people who went through high school with straight A’s however, when it came time for test taking they never did well. On the contrary, I know students who did horrible in school but passed every test they took with excellence. NCLB needs to reform in the ways of testing. Testing is in no way an accurate measure of achievement, and there needs to be an expansion to judge not only the achievement of schools but also the individual.