Thoughts on Testing

As I pace around the classroom, monitoring my students while they take the practice EOG, I can't help but replay the conversation my roommate and I had this morning while we went through the monotony of our daily routine. Pack lunch. Eat breakfast. Pour coffee. Announce countdown (22 days). Etc. etc. We were entertianing our favorite topic of the moment: life after TFA. The light at the end of the tunnel. Freedom. Independence Day. Get the point? Although both of us are transitioning into charter school jobs, where the hours are longer and the work is even more demanding, we are both moving to populous cities where there are people our age, people who aren't teachers,and some hope for a semi-formal existence (happy hour, anyone?).

We were talking about the schools in Chicago, where my roommate is headed (two reasons to visit now). While our students haven't even started state testing yet, the Chicago charter schools have been finished for nearly two months. I was immediately taken aback by this, and I proceeded to blurt out the question that has been haunting me all morning:

"So what have they been doing for the past two months?"

It's not necessarily the question itself that bothers me. In fact, I think most people woudl have a simliar initial reaction. What bothers me is precisely that. We've been conditioned to believe that our children's education revolves around a state test. That success is measured by their answers to 50 multiple choice questions. And that once the test is over, learning loses its focus.

When I say "we", I'm referring to our entire country. I know my circumstances are extreme. I'm working in a low-income, low-performing district where test scores are the scarlet letter that taint a school's reputation. The only hope of polishing that tarnished reputation is to raise test scores, and to do it quickly. so maybe the emphasis on standardized testing ins't as noticeable in the district where you were from or where you currently live. It has most likely become an expectation, a norm, an unspoken rule. Children pass, and they pass not only with proficiency but with fluency. They are promoted to the next grade level with advanced skills, not the bare minimum.

As soon as I asked that ridiculous question this morning, I felt embarrassed. What do they do after the state test? They probably have the opportunity to encourage creative thinking, to assign projects that allow students to delve into a topic that sparks their individual curiosities. They probably spend time learning about things that shape children as citizens, and not just students. I imagine kids actually get to fully engage in the science and social studies curricula, two subjects that are full of important and fascinating material but are often neglected because they are not tested.

Those students probably don't fear the standardized tests the way ours do. They probably don't have to be threatened with retention or bribed with an end-of-year field trip. Their teachers probably don't pray every night for them to pass the test the way that I do. I bet they are happier, healthier, more well-rounded children.

I know this is just the tip of the iceberg. I know I'm inexperienced, and that there are benefits to standardized testing. I know it's a complex, age-old problem that a second-year teacher isn't going to solve. But hey, this is my blog, and I'm just sharing my thoughts. What are yours?