by Jay Snyder

Created on: July 08, 2008

School grades, based primarily on state standardized test scores, for our state were just released. The school where I currently teach went from being a "D" school to being a "B" school. So why am I not celebrating? I refuse to celebrate because this rise in our school grade, in my opinion, only points to how well teachers have taught students to do well on the test rather than actually teach them something that they will remember and use in their daily life.

Such is life in the age of standardized testing. The cost of which is seen in our students being able to take a test, but lacking the skills which are needed to survive today's-as well as the future's-marketplace. However, standardized testing is not only the fault of politicians who have mandated them. It is also the fault of teachers and teachers' unions who have not done enough to educate the public as to how these tests are not a measure of student intelligence or knowledge, but only a measure of how well they can take a test.

Much has been said and written about how students in our country are behind students in other countries throughout the world when it comes to education. Some like to point out that other countries have tests as well. Yet, how do these tests compare to what we assess on ours? Perhaps the tests in other countries measure the actual use of knowledge gained rather than in theory or the shading in of the right circle.

It was pointed out recently that students in the state where I teach have a loophole of passing either the ACT or SAT tests in lieu of them passing the state-mandated test. The questions on the ACT and SAT are of a more practical nature than that of our state test. Ironically, many students do better on the ACT or SAT than on our state test. Perhaps it is because students see the ACT or SAT as being for the 'smart' kids heading for college and our state test being something that is simply held over their heads (and teachers' heads as well) as something they must pass in order to graduate. Perhaps it is because there is so much focus on the state test from kindergarten until they graduate that students are simply overwhelmed and either see the test as a joke or something that they can use to get their teachers in trouble if they do not pass it. (Most states financially reward schools that have been given higher school grades based on those tests rather than giving schools who need the money to improve their conditions. In addition, many states mandate that if schools are low achieving based on these tests, for a certain number of years then the state can fire everyone at these schools as well as give vouchers for students to attend a 'choice' school or private school).

Standardized testing is not the answer to our educational woes. Good teaching, parental involvement and students who genuinely learn (and want to learn) are the cures for our educational system. Standardized tests are nothing more than a political move to say that something is being done when, in reality, students are not learning anything more than how to do well on a test.

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