Illinois' new budget cuts mean the state standardized exams in writing and social studies are history. Some educators have no problem with this, claiming the tests were "inessential":
"Standardized tests are important, but they're nonessential in 85 percent of the school district. In the state of Illinois we are in deficit spending right now. We're in a nationwide crisis and non-essential programs are going to have to go," says Guilford High School history teacher Walter Hoshaw...
Hoshaw says results of tests don't always reflect how the student is performing on a daily basis. "A standardized test is just a snapshot of how that kid is doing that day," says Hoshaw.
Hoshaw says there are plenty of other ways to test a student's ability. "We have pretty good measures through the SAT and ACT tests that we do (with) our high school kids. That gives us a much better measure of how our kids are doing," says Hoshaw.
Others, though, aren't so sure:
The decision was as much about the state's testing philosophy as saving money. It is not expected to change even if the money were restored.
"I don't think anyone would argue that those tests don't have value ... but what it really boils down to is whether or not we can afford to expand an assessment system beyond what the federal government requires," said state Rep. Roger Eddy(R-Hutsonville). Eddy is a former social studies teacher who serves on the Education Appropriations Committee and also runs a rural school district Downstate.
"I have heard the philosophical argument that if we stop testing it, schools will stop teaching it. But I believe in professional educators more than that. We have to remember that, long before this standardized student movement, teachers were teaching their students how to write."
Yes, they were. But are they still?
The announcement already has educators rethinking their priorities for next year. Becky McCabe, a principal in Urbana, said she originally planned to make writing part of her school's improvement plan. But the testing change means her staff likely will refocus on improving reading skills.
Writing instruction will continue, she said, but probably will shift to the type of writing with which students and teachers are most comfortable--creative and narrative essays. The other kinds of writing now tested by the state--persuasive and expository essays--will likely lose favor, she said.
She also expects fewer districts will invest in training teachers on better writing now that they know their schools will no longer be judged on this subject.
"I hate to say this, but you treasure what you measure," McCabe said. "When it comes down to money, you're going to focus on things that are on the bubble. Writing is just not going to be the same, and that's a shame."
Have we really reached a point where teachers - teachers, for heaven's sakes - won't teach kids how to write in any non-tested fashion? Where do the teachers think kids will pick this up, if not in school? Comments like this make me wonder if Representative Eddy really understands the lack of focus on writing skills these days.
Update: Devoted Reader JW has this to add:
A liitle more background for your post about dropping the Social Studies test here. The most important thing to understand is that Illinois is undergoing a profound, severe, and probably long lasting budget crisis. There are a lot of reasons for this that don't matter much for this discussion. Every state program is getting chopped to some degree. The Social Studies test doesn't seem to measure very much, or to provide useful info for parents. Districts that do well on the reading and math tests tend to do well on the SS, so it gets the chop. Sure, there are a lot of teachers and administrators who aren't nuts about NCLB, and who don't like testing anyway; it's part of the territory. There are also a lot who just deal with it without being obsessed one way or another-like, I'm happy to say...
Posted by kswygert at July 28, 2004 03:27 PM