As the
Test Turns
By
Christina Larson
Principal
South Montgomery
Community School Corporation
Doctoral Student
Department of
Educational Leadership
Bayh College of
Education
Indiana State University
&
Ryan
Donlan
Assistant Professor
Department of Educational
Leadership
Bayh College of
Education
Indiana State University
Do the benefits of an excruciatingly
long statewide assessment really offset the loss of comparable hours of
instruction? Have we veered from a once-responsible path, hitting head-on, an
educational road sign that denotes, “Wrong Way”?
After the statewide
release of the length of time that would be needed for this year’s ISTEP+ Part
1 and ISTEP+ Part 2, educators learned that our students would be faced with,
at our count, roughly twenty hours of ISTEP + assessments and preparation.
Governor Pence showed
leadership this week (not to mention political savvy) by issuing an Executive
Order to halt all that nonsense. Though we have the upmost respect for State
Superintendent Glenda Ritz and her team at IDOE, something needed to happen,
and they didn’t appear to be changing course.
The Best of Daytime Drama: As the Test Turns.
This brings up a conversation
that Hoosiers, and all across America, need to have: Do we really want to subject our elementary
students to an assessment that runs as long or longer than many State Bar Exams,
in order to determine if schools are doing a good job teaching what the tests
measure? Can we develop other ways to ensure
excellence in education without sapping our children’s time, talent, and
interest in school?
Possibly the more
important question may be, “Are these assessments really helping students to
become College and Career Ready?” They
certainly do not focus on authentic learning and real-world problems. If we
listen to our friends in business and industry who will hire our graduates, they
are asking us to prepare employees who are problem solvers and collaborators.
What ever became of the
push for the 21st Century Skills of creativity, collaboration,
communication, and critical thinking?
There certainly is a small glimmer of their inclusion when Indiana included
Speaking and Listening Skills which addressed collaboration, presentation, and
reciprocal communication with others. Unfortunately, these critical skills are
left unassessed in ISTEP+, and in the Instructional and Assessment Guidance
Documents for 2014-15 that is prepared by the Department of Education, teachers
are encouraged to only allocate 5 to 10 percent of their instructional time in
this area. With high-stakes testing now
reaching an all-time high, we’re pushing aside what makes schools, teaching,
and learning great – and transferrable.
Pink (2006) and Zhao (2015,
2012) aptly suggested the United States is best known for leading innovation
and entrepreneurship. Yet as other
countries are moving toward systems that foster creativity, we are moving
farther away. Our assessment system is now forcing teachers to focus on only
what can only be measured at lower levels of inquiry, thus turning what could
be a liberating learning experience, into response-driven regurgitation.
Our world is changing
before our eyes. We understand the need for educating our children to be
successful in a global community and economy.
Yet, with our current focus on assessment, are we unintentionally
creating a generation of followers who will have trouble serving as leaders?
Obviously, this article
presents more questions than answers, yet certainly questions that merit
discussion as this turn-of-events continues.
We believe that the time is now in Indiana, as well as across the
country, to change course and avoid future collisions.
Governor Pence reacted quickly
to the outlandish double-timing of this year’s assessment schedule, but what will
be his next move? Perhaps this will be
the defining moment where our lawmakers and state officials will recognize the
impact of their agendas and look for another way to ensure quality schools
without further reducing time for children to learn.
Our next few miles of
travel will impact us, most assuredly.
References
Pink, D. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will
rule the future. New York, NY: The Penguin Group.
Zhao, Y. (2015, January
22). China encourages college students to suspend study and become
entrepreneurs and innovators. Creative,
Entrepreneurial, and Global: 21st Century Education. Retrieved
at http://zhaolearning.com/2015/01/22/china-encourages-college-students-to-suspend-study-and-become-entrepreneurs-and-innovators/
Zhao, Y. (2012). World-class learners: Educating creative and
entrepreneurial students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
________________________________________________________
Christina Larson and Ryan Donlan are firm believers
in the need to upsize the teaching and learning, while right-sizing the amount
of standardized testing, in America’s schools.
If you would like to talk with them, or even debate a point or two,
please do not hesitate to contact them at clarson2@sycamores.indstate.edu
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