Is there a NCLB/testing backlash, and if so, what can we do about it? Professor Rebecca Zwick takes on this weighty topic in this article as part of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education's "Crosstalk." She manages to lend a sympathetic ear to those who are frustrated with testing, but she notes that only a tiny minority of educators, parents, and students oppose all tests on general principle. Many specific changes to the tests have been proposed, and she outlines the three changes that she believes would make the testing process less painful, and more accepted:
1. Opportunities must be provided for school personnel, students, parents and the community at large to become more informed about state and federal testing mandates. In a statewide survey conducted after the CAHSEE had been administered for two successive years, high school principals were asked to estimate the percentage of students and parents who were familiar with the exam. On average, the principals estimated that only 51 percent of students and 17 percent of parents "know what knowledge and skills are covered by the exam." And indeed, only 58 percent of the 47 principals surveyed, and 63 percent of the sample of 159 teachers, said that they themselves were familiar with the exam content.
Nor is the public well-informed about federal assessment requirements... Because of this information gap, these testing programs are often viewed as incomprehensible requirements imposed from on high...
2. The tests that are selected or developed must be well designed for the task at hand and must be skillfully administered and scored. Tests are often discussed as though they are interchangeable, but like any other product, a test may be of good or poor quality. And even if an exam has been competently developed, it may not be well-suited to a particular purpose...
It is the joint responsibility of state officials and testing companies to assure that contracts provide enough time, resources and technical expertise to allow the development of high-quality tests, administration procedures, and scoring methods.
3. Government-mandated tests must be seen as part of a genuine, adequately funded school improvement effort, rather than a reason for punitive action against students, teachers and administrators. Increasingly, tests are used as the sole criterion in determining which students get promoted or graduate-a violation of professional testing standards-or which teachers or school systems receive a bonus...
Many students and school personnel regard this reliance on a single test score for major decisions as a form of double jeopardy: Students who attend schools with inadequate resources and facilities, and are therefore already suffering an educational disadvantage, are less likely to be well-prepared for the tests...
In summary, government-imposed testing programs would meet with greater acceptance if there were better communication and better tests. Also, the public would be more enthusiastic if tests were seen as tools within a well-funded good-faith effort to improve education.
Well said. She's addressed several points that I've made at various times, only she does so more elegantly (and with more data to back up her statements).
Posted by kswygert at November 14, 2003 03:26 PM