The High Stakes Testing Problem- a systemic issue

High stakes testing has more than a few problems the way it has been implemented across the nation.  The two issues I would focus on here are the unfair dependency on an isolated high stakes test and the ethical problem of teacher as performance evaluator.  


High stakes testing should only a component of teacher/school evaluation.  We all know, when we are evaluating anything and we are reduced to standardized tests information is lost.  We need more data points not less.  Accountability is important and we should not eliminate these tests, but we need to capture other data as well. 


It is also a basic conflict of interest to have the same teachers that instruct the kids to perform the high stakes tests on them.  It is human nature, kids who know their teachers can read their emotions, testing can be influenced unintentionally.  Atlanta, et. al., should be a rallying cry for more effective methods of evaluation, not just a witch hunt for the individuals caught up in this controversy.   


It is much more fruitful to focus on how the system can be improved to remove the possibilities of unfair testing practices rather than the random individuals who intentionally or not gamed the system to "protect" their students and their jobs.  Please remove those that were unethical, but realize that the flaw was in the system that allowed (some would say, encouraged) this behavior to occur.


The cost of an independent testing service may be high, but I posit that the cost of the current system will be much higher in the long run for the children who are depending on our tests to evaluate their progress.  An independent firm is the gold standard and is used by the college readiness groups, but there are intermediary steps we can take almost immediately.  Even if we choose not to use an independent firm to do the high stakes testing, a step in this direction would be to have teachers from another school administer the tests.  I would call this an ethical testing protocol.  It would keep costs down, yet allow the students to be evaluated by someone who's job is not directly threatened by these tests. 

See you Sunday at 86 Winter Bistro!

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/07/13/finn.atlanta.schools/index.html?iref=obinsite

The latest shock to hit American schools and education reformers is the revelation that teachers and administrators have been fiddling with test scores in Atlanta and, evidently, in Washington, Baltimore and half a dozen other locales.