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From: The Arizona Republic
Date: 18 Aug 2004
Time: 20:16:40 -0400
Remote Name: 172.201.95.35
RESPONDING TO PRESSURES OF HIGH STAKES TESTING CAN INCREASE PRESSURE FOR TEACHERS - BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER TESTS ARE ADMINISTERED. TO ADD TO THE PRESSURE, PAY LEVELS AND BONUSES CAN BE PARTIALLY BASED ON STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE ON ANNUAL STANDARDIZED TESTS. THE FACT THAT SEVERE ADMINISTRATIVE AND GOVERNANCE CONSEQUENCES AWAIT SCHOOLS EVALUATED AS "UNDERPERFORMING," ADDS EVEN MORE PRESSURE AT ALL LEVELS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL STRUCTURE. THE WHOLE POINT OF STANDARDIZED TESTS IS TO GIVE SCHOOLS, ADMINISTRATORS, AND TEACHERS A HELPFUL DIAGNOSTIC TOOL TO MEASURE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT: HOW THEY ARE DOING, WHAT THEY ARE LEARNING AND NOT LEARNING, AND WHAT THEIR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES ARE IN RELATION TO OTHER STUDENTS THEIR AGE. TO ASSIST TEACHERS IN COPING WITH THIS PRESSURE, SCHOOL DISTRICTS SHOULD CREATE AN ATMOSPHERE WHERE THE SPECIFIC PURPOSE OF TESTING IS ACCEPTED, UNDERSTOOD AND APPROPRIATELY SUPERVISED AND MONITORED. THIS CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY: · Making sure all teachers are well informed of test procedures, common errors, the dos and don'ts. · Including a clearly written manual with the tests. · Streamlining the top-down, three-step flow of instruction from the State Department of Public Education to district representatives and then down to principals and teachers, an awkward and haphazard process of instruction and support. · Delivering a week before the test a brief one or two-page instruction sheet, going over the most important details of administering a test. · Increasing random observation and monitoring during the test, perhaps by retired educators or other knowledgeable but disinterested parties; · Abandoning the practice of individual teachers "cleaning up" tests of their own pupils, a practice fraught with problems. Removing stray marks, filling in half-completed circles - activities that should be done in groups, perhaps at the district level, and certainly not by teachers alone in their room. Hopefully, someday standardized tests will be accepted n the way they were intended, as markers, helpful tools, and a standard to which administrators, teachers and students should work to achieve. Then, and only then, will standardized test fulfill their purpose as useful learning tools.