9486 in the collection
High-Stakes Tests Push Kids to Streets
by William Cala
What is the purpose of public education? Historically, it has been to
make good people, to make good citizens and to nurture the individual's
talents and skills. However, over the past 100 years, these noble
principles have been kicked aside in lieu of a sterile testing agenda
set by politicians that has ignored the needs, wants and dreams of
students, families and local communities.
If schools do not reach certain numeric benchmarks set by bureaucrats,
they will be closed. Is it any wonder that we find that social studies
tests given in rote, repetitive practice drills in the City School
District became the final exam without alteration? No explanation or
rationalization can justify this blatant example of cheating.
How widespread is this type of corruption? I suspect that this is the
tip of the iceberg. Administrators and teachers are put under enormous
pressure to churn out better test scores at any cost. Since this
onslaught of high-stakes testing began over a decade ago, genuine
concern for authentic student performance as measured by what is
actually taught in the classroom, by teacher knowledge of pupil
progress, has all but disappeared — thanks to threats from bureaucrats
who care not about children, but rather about satisfying wrong-headed
politicians who have created laws governing classroom learning that uses
methods proven to yield abysmal results. As a result, we find
administrators and teachers doing things that they themselves find
reprehensible. We are test-prepping our kids into the dropout line
(fewer than one-half of minorities nationwide are graduating). School is
becoming irrelevant. Research is clear on what motivates kids to engage
in school work. Children want to be loved by their teacher, to be
respected for who they are and to feel that their skills and talents
will contribute to society's improvement. Pupils need and want to be a
part of democracy, not the target of bad politics in disguise as democracy.
The pressure to use tests as the only means of educating children has
dramatically increased teacher anxiety and depression, and is driving
good teachers out of the profession. Unfortunately, many teachers and
administrators have resorted to lying and cheating to accommodate the
system instead of standing up to it to protect children in their charge.
How many will we lose before we refuse to participate in a fraudulent,
harmful system?
It is said that tests are meant to improve education and enable children
to achieve higher standards. However, dropouts have increased since the
onset of high-stakes testing (especially among minorities,
English-language learners and special education pupils); the curriculum
has been narrowed to an English language arts and math obsession at the
expense of the other disciplines (at least one Rochester city school
didn't even offer the required ninth-grade global studies course for two
consecutive years); problem-solving and creativity are treated as
luxuries instead of integral to the school day; and students' need to
find out "why" has become forbidden territory. Sadly, schools have been
dumbed-down to absurdity. Do we really believe that 30 out of 87
correctly answered questions on a high-school math exam "meets standards"?
It's time to scrap high-stakes tests and use ethical, responsible,
sensible, motivational means that actually connect and reach our
children. Failure to do so will continue to push students out of school
into the streets or to prisons.
Cala is a professor at Nazareth College and former interim
superintendent, City School District.
— William Cala
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
2008-07-27
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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