True or False: “Should We Be Teaching to Test?” Part II

Last blog, I addressed the necessity of aligning what is taught and what is tested.  As we continue, I think that it is important to delve a little deeper and address testing itself.  In recent years, there has been a movement to remove ‘testing’ in general from the daily business of teaching.  As much as I would like to see high stakes testing significantly revamped in the State of Texas as well as nationwide, I, for one, am not a proponent of such thinking.  Before you label me a heretic or worse, a staunch supporter of education standardization, my support for testing might surprise you.  In addition to providing educators important feedback on student achievement, thus enabling them to make sound educational decisions, my support for testing is simple. Tests are simply a part of our culture; it’s how we do business. Students, young or old, will always be asked to prove what they know at almost every stage in life. They will be asked to do so on the SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, etc. In fact, I will go as far as to say that life is one big test.  (I propose that it is more of an essay test than a multiple choice, but a test nevertheless).  Now, now;  I can hear many groans and see many eyes rolling, but before you call me an educational hippie, think about it. Life is made up of one decision after another. I encourage my 2 year old every day to make good decisions. Every decision he makes is important and every decision he makes, right or wrong, has a consequence. Even the act of doing nothing (which he does a lot) is in fact, a decision. I reward him when he makes a good decision and guide him when he makes a poor decision. When I give him directions, I do not rush in and make sure he does it. I sit back and give him the opportunity to filter his decision-making through his past experiences. Am I testing him? You bet! I am thrilled each time he takes the time to think it through. In the end, that does not guarantee the right decision, and for those who have a 2 year old boy, you understand. The art and frustration of parenting as well as teaching is finding the appropriate balance between experience/content and decision-making/testing.Tip the balance of importance from the content and weight it more toward the test, and end result is students who simply have the ability to pass tests but lack the ability to retain knowledge.  Remember when you where in school and everyone said, “If you do not know the answer, choose  ___.” Yep, choose C. That thought process has been so engrained into our educational system that research exists that proves that test-makers are subconsciously ignoring C as an answer. If you must ask, research says it is now B! (The secret’s out. Don’t tell the kids.) This is a simple example of when testing or test-taking becomes more important than the content of the test. Too many students are successful in high school and college because they are simply good test-taker. There is nothing wrong with being a good test-taker, per se; I just think it is dangerous to hang your learning experience on it. I think that a healthier attitude to instill in our children is to look at tests as opportunities to express what they have learned. What a wonderful place for our students when they simply look forward to expressing, in and out of the classroom, their knowledge and experiences.  Learning outside of life circumstances is unpractical and in most cases, useless.  The irony is that testing itself is an appropriate part of our life, and thus, it should be addressed as such.