Parents frustrated by the system say they're
not against all standardized tests but resent the many hours their kids spend filling in multiple - choice bubbles and the wide - ranging consequence that poor scores carry.
I am
not against standardized tests.
Not exact matches
But in the book I do argue
against the intense national focus on
standardized tests, which measure a fairly narrow range of cognitive skills and turn out to be
not very effective predictors of the educational goals that I think we should care about, especially college - graduation rates.
The statistic
not only showed the growing strength of the «opt out» movement
against standardized testing, but also put immediate pressure on state and federal officials, who must now decide whether to penalize schools and districts with low participation rates.
We also know that
standardized tests are systematically biased
against low SES and disadvantaged students, and therefore, they are
not a valid or appropriate sole or primary criterion as currently configured.
Concludes that many
tests are inaccurate or biased
against minority and low - income students, and that relying on
standardized tests to make decisions results in worse,
not better, education.
It's
not that parents and voters have turned
against the principle of using of
standardized tests to monitor school and student performance: National surveys continue to show 2 - to - 1 support for the practice.
What we already knew was that shifting from a paper - based
standardized testing program to a computer based program would discriminate
against those who haven't been sufficiently trained to use computers or don't have equal access to computers.
And my answer, though
not scientific (and I'm certainly open to other suggestions), is that the only material change was the watering down of expectations embodied in the standards and assessment system beginning in 2010 with the relentless campaign
against standardized testing and continuing through the recent legislative session.
Mulgrew stated that both State Education Commissioner John King and Chancellor Dennis Walcott told him they were
against standardized testing for pre K to grade 2 but Mulgrew went on to say that 36 schools were giving bubble
tests to kids of this age and that he talked to a teacher who reported that some of these students could
not even hold a pencil.
Muir says that although the school did administer a
standardized achievement
test, that program did
not: 1) provide a sufficient measure of proficiency
against state requirements; 2) enable progress monitoring; or 3) include math - skills benchmarking.
During our follow - up conversations with districts, we found cases where teacher recommendations are biased
against high - achieving minority students; we also found cases where teacher recommendations are advancing minority students who do
not test well on
standardized tests.
If the power of solidarity is going to reclaim our schools, more affluent, predominantly white activists will need to develop an anti-racist understanding of the movement
against standardized testing and the barriers that communities of color face to joining — including the very real fear from parents of color that their children's schools will be shut down if they don't encourage them to score well on the
tests.
The
Test: Why Our Schools are Obsessed with
Standardized Testing — But You Don't Have to Be by Anya Kamenetz Nice summary of concerns about standardized testing and arguments
Standardized Testing — But You Don't Have to Be by Anya Kamenetz Nice summary of concerns about standardized testing and arguments agai
Testing — But You Don't Have to Be by Anya Kamenetz Nice summary of concerns about
standardized testing and arguments
standardized testing and arguments agai
testing and arguments
against it.
As the backlash
against standardized testing intensifies and Congress begins rewriting NCLB, Anya Kamenetz's book couldn't arrive at a better time.
One can only assume that Polis doesn't like the fact that Ravitch (and many other pro-education advocates) have revealed the fact that charter schools traditionally «increase» their
standardized test scores by «creaming» off the best students, discriminating
against non-English speaking students and refusing to take their fair share of students who need special education services.
Like all
standardized tests, the Common Core SBAC discriminates
against students who come from poor households, students who are
not fluent in the English language and students who have special education needs.
To make sure that students are given the minimum amount of
standardized tests to see what kids are learning well, or
not well, and to measure students
against each other.
The results are another mark
against standardized tests, which have become a point of contention among parents, students, teachers, principals, and essentially anyone else who doesn't profit off their continued existence.