Standardized testing has been the norm for many school districts across the nation and it may be time to ask when we get into the classroom is this the right approach for our students. When I think of standardized testing I think of the typical (here in Iowa) ITBS that is given once a year to third grade students and up, and the grueling week of testing. I think of the rallies and treats as well as the breaks that were allowed during testing times and the weeks before testing when the teacher would constantly go over with us on how to correctly color in the bubble!
Throughout all this preparation I never felt like the hindsight of the prep made me do any better on the tests than what I would have normally done. Most standardized tests are long drawn out and biased in several ways, beginning with how the questions are asked. Some of the language used in the testing is confusing therefore causing students to be confused and after awhile the students just start to fill in the bubbles, skipping from A, to B to C , then to D and making various patterns so that it doesn't look to conspicuous.
I feel that while these types of tests can be useful in the means of finding exactly where our students are, because of the bias within the tests the results are not always reliable. A student may completely bomb a test but have vast knowledge of the subject matter and is not a good test taker or does not do well with the stress of test taking.
I believe that when I have my own classroom , developing ways beyond the standardized testing to assess my students will be my number one goal. knowing the benchmarks that are expected of my students by the end of the year and go from there. I understand that I will not be able to have the ideal classroom with all of my students at the same ZPD level ( no one will as this does not exist), but being able to assess my students on an individual basis so that I know where that child is and not necessarily in comparison to the rest of the class but with the end goal in mind. This way I know what each child will need to work on and tackle that one thing with each student.
An example of this would be if I was in the Kindergarten classroom and the students are to know their ABC's before going on to first grade (not a requirement as they do not do retentions) but upon doing an individual assessment with a student and I see that consistently that student is mixing the letter D with a B (which is again common) I would work with that child on this particular issue.
I believe that by assessing my students monthly on the concept that is being taught in addition to the benchmarks randomly, I will have a vast knowledge if my students are making progress or not on an individual basis which I will have a more in depth knowledge of each student to be able to share with the teacher for the following year.
One of the biggest downfalls with the standardized testing is that the teacher with the most ELL's and Sped students in the classroom is at a downfall regardless of the greatness capabilities she may have. The scores of these tests are sub categorized into four different sections, low SES, ELL, SPED, then it is even subcategorized into ethnicity. Although this may seem to give an in depth look at teach demographic in the classroom and how each student did on the tests, the results for the entire number of students are looked at in each classroom regardless of the subcategories. This is the main reason why when a child is put into a classroom before entering the class race, gender, low SES, Sped is all looked at and given an effort to give an equal balance in each class. This also compresses the teacher whn the schools are looked at in regards to making AYP and if your class is not than everyone looks at you and what you are doing wrong. (NCLB)
If we did not look at standardized tests to get information on each student we might be able to come up with a way to develop a tests that can truly let us know if our students are making progress or not. Many times in my past experience, I have had teacher come to me with concerns about "Charty's" work in the classroom and looking at tests she was doing very poorly her reading level was 2 grades below her grade level, she wasn't able to comprehend many tasks in the classrooms, but when assessed on an individual basis taking into account she just arrived in the country three years ago and can write, spell and read knowing that in her home language they don't use letters, Charty has made HUGE strides, but this was unseen in standardized testing. Was this fair to her, No but it was what it was a comparison to her classmates even though she was doing great.
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