Standardized Testing

But what about the standardized tests?

The question of standardized testing has come up a lot.

I have recently read a lot about the beginning of standardized testing. Professor J. Kelly invented the multiple-choice test, less than a hundred years ago in response to a national crises during World War I (a flooding of students needing to be sorted quickly). Kelly indicated his test to be a measure of "lower order thinking" among the masses (the lower orders). He had no intent for standardized testing to become so widespread. After World War I ended, Kelly, as president of the University of Idaho, pushed for educational reform saying that the test was only good for testing a tiny portion of what is actually taught. As a result, he was asked to step down, aka, he was fired.

While searching Wikipedia, I found this on the multiple-choice page:

"If students are instructed on the way in which the item format works and myths surrounding the tests are corrected, they will perform better on the test."
Beckert, L., Wilkinson, T. J., & Sainsbury, R. (2003). A needs-based study and examination skills course improves students' performance Medical Education 37 (5), 424–428. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2923.2003.01499.x

What it means to me is that if you study how to take the test, you will get a better score. But that doesn't mean you are educated in anything other than how to take a test. In this model, students definitely have not learned how to be excited about education or figured out how to be life-long learners.

So, when a friend recently asked me, "Aren't you worried about the tests?" I answered, "No!" I went on to explain that part of why we chose to homeschool is that we no longer believe in the public school system's methods of teaching. And part of leaving that paradigm behind, is also leaving behind our belief in the standardized test.  If I truly believe that standardized testing doesn't measure how intelligent an individual is, then why should I worry about it? The world is changing. The communication age is here and there are arguments that the tests may soon no longer be needed.

Of course, I still do worry. In the state of OR, your children have to pass (individual results need to be higher than the 15%-tile) a Standardized test at the 3rd, 5th, 8th and 10th grade levels. I've seen the tests, this shouldn't be too hard. However, the threat is still there. If I don't teach my children enough of what the test maker puts on the exam, they may fail. It won't mean they aren't smart, aren't intelligent, or haven't learned anything. It would only mean they didn't learn what the test makers wanted them to learn.

Something else I worry about is how it will make my kids feel. They are aware of the tests and what they need to achieve. I still remember the pressure of tests and that I am a very bad test taker. I often panic, forget things I knew yesterday, or get enticed by the many choices in a multiple-choice exam. My grades were always As and Bs. All my school life, I was told I was smart by my teachers. They put me in the gifted program. Yet, my standardized test scores didn't always reflect this. As a child, this was very upsetting to me. I didn't feel smart at all. I don't want this confusion for my children.

I do worry about the standardized tests and what it could do to their self esteem. Therefore, instead of teaching to the test, we are instilling self esteem and teaching them to love learning. In the end, a love for learning, confidence in knowing how to find answers, and the urge to find those answers creatively will be better than a high percentile score on an exam that tests "the lower orders".