Harvard's scare session on standardized testing
I missed this when it first happened, back in March of this year. Frontline has come up with yet another anti-standardized testing documentary (a previous one purportedly reveals the "Secrets of the SAT" ). The new one criticizes the K-12 MCAS test used in Massachusetts, Virginia, and California.
I marvel at such broad criticisms as:
"Testing doesn't have the right effect on students" - Well, that's news to all those teachers who think that testing is a perfectly acceptable means by which to see if students actually learned anything.
"Those standardized tests don't really test anything" - This statement is so vague and meaningless that it is automatically ignored by anyone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of educational assessment.
"Students' poor performance may be caused by 'test anxiety,' suggesting a 'better test would factor in classroom work, student portfolios and teacher evaluations" - All of which are extremely subjective, and what happens when a student encounters a teacher who doesn't like him or his work? For kids who like to run with scissors, or who don't play well with others, an objective assessment is a savior. And if teachers don't have time to teach the basic skills measured by these tests now, how will they have time to do in-depth portfolio reviews and evaluations in the future? By watering down such portfolios until they're meaningless, or by dramatically reducing the grading scale, I bet.
"If you're against standardized tests, then you should come up with a new plan" - Finally, a sensible comment.
I'm sure Frontline means well, but no testing critic has of yet come up with an alternative to standardized testing that doesn't result in more work for these over-burdened teachers and doesn't make educational assessment even more subjective than it already is. I've had it with testing critics who can't even be bothered to present a well-thought-out alternative. As an example, here's one paper on what those teachers who are seemingly unable to prepare students for standardized tests will be required to do when grading portfolios. Portfolio assessment can indeed be an ideal way to assess a complex holistic skills such as writing, but people blather on about implementing them with no hint as to how time-consuming such assessments are and how incredibly difficult it is to score them reliably. You think kids are stressed by multiple-choice tests now? Wait until they can't even get a straight answer from a teacher about why their collection of writing samples gets a poor grade.
[Update: For a different viewpoint on the effects of that very same Massachusetts test, check out what Diane Ravitch, a visiting fellow of the Hoover Institution has to say. Another research fellow at the Hoover Institution makes the case for standardized testing in a brief and elegant manner. If you haven't visited the Hoover Institution website, go there now, because they have a great collection of education-related essays. I particularly like Caroline Hoxby's "Conversion of a Standardized Test Skeptic." Bravo. ]