Hutchinson: It’s time to ‘opt out’ of problematic standardized testing

No one else will put an end to the travesty of standardized testing. It’s up to parents to take a stand.

Is travesty too strong a word? I don’t think it is, but first allow me to explain what our current model of standardized testing does not do.

Decades of research tell us the following. First, these tests provide parents and teachers with no useful information as to what a child is learning in class. (By the way, there are individualized tests that can do a pretty good job of that.) This is especially problematic now that we are over two decades into the 21st century: no standardized test is capable of measuring the set of skills necessary to thrive in a global society. (You know, critical-thinking, communication, collaborating with others, creativity ...)

Can a standardized test measure a student’s ability to speak in public? To understand and appreciate different points of view? To apply their understanding of scientific concepts to new and complex problems?

Nor do these tests tell us anything about the effectiveness of individual teachers. To add insult to injury, we don’t even get the results of the tests until we are well into the next school year.

Consider how our obsession with standardized testing leads to some pretty absurd communications from our schools, You know, like “make sure your child is well-rested” and “have a good breakfast that morning.” As if that’s not important the rest of the year?

But do these tests show the relative effectiveness of individual schools or districts? I’m glad you asked. The results of these tests are an excellent measure of ... relative community wealth. That’s it; that’s the correlation. Tell me your school’s test scores and I’ll tell you how wealthy your community is.

This is deeply problematic for two reasons. For schools in less-wealthy communities, these tests can be an existential threat. The careers of administrators are at stake. The careers of individual teachers are at stake. Sometimes the very existence of the community’s school is at stake. Everyone is placed under a lot of unnecessary pressure, which, to state what should be obvious, is not helpful for the learning environment. All of this results, of course, in a lot of time and resources spent “teaching to the test” at the expense of meaningful learning.

But there is also a risk to the better-resourced schools: complacency. “Our scores tell us that we are doing just fine.” Well, of course you are. You have better-paid, more experienced teachers and less turnover. You have a broader array of educational opportunities for your students. Fewer of your students come to school hungry.

Pennsylvania spends hundreds of millions of dollars in the development and administration of these tests. Surely, there are better ways to spend taxpayer money. In addition, these tests consume significant time over three weeks of the calendar year, squeezing out what could have been useful learning time. But it’s worse than that. Because of the timing of these tests, in late April, by the time the tests are over, we’re less than a month away from the end of the year. Everyone’s exhausted, and it seems pointless to start something new a month before a three month summer break. It essentially marks the end of the academic year, and everyone knows it.

Parents: you have the power to change this. Do it for your kids. Do it for your community.

It’s time to “opt out.”