A Teacher's Journal: More Thoughts on Testing

Most importantly, the teachers interviewed recognized that testing does have inherent value. One teacher wrote, "Scores from a series of properly administered tests constitute one of the many aids in identifying students with outstanding academic talents; in ascertaining achievement and ability levels; and in planning a curriculum consistent with the achievement and ability levels identified."

The limitations of testing, however, were also noted. "Since tests are not culture-free, they are not fair to all children," wrote one teacher. Another added, "There is much learning taking place which standardized tests cannot measure."

My greatest concern---that classroom instruction in an accountability culture is becoming less about learning and more about test preparation---was also highlighted:

"One of the respondents reported that in his county...every teacher is expected to bring his pupils up to a certain level by year's end, regardless of 'the multiplicity of factors involved.' This means, according to the report, that between tests, some teachers spend countless hours 'teaching to the test' with little time for children 'to explore, talk about things, experiment...But,' he added, 'in a situation like this, what else can a teacher do? It's just plain human nature."

The best part of this article: It was written in November of 1966!

What does this mean for today's schools? How can we most effectively use testing---an endeavor that costs our district and state millions of dollars annually---as a tool for driving change in our classrooms? Is it time for us to abandon testing as a simplistic tool that simply doesn't tell us what we need to know about teaching and learning? Can we effectively---and affordably---create more sophisticated measures of "success" for our schools and our students?

Do we even want to?

What will assessment and accountability look like in the year 2047? Will we ever get to a point where we're confident that our tools for judging teachers and students are considered reliable by the majority of those who are served by our systems?