Creating Leaders Instead of Manufacturing Students

Bell rings. Start working. Bell rings. Stop working.

Is this a scene from a factory or from a public school? The modern school system may have its roots in the Industrial Age school system but does not mean that the old-fashioned mentality of manufacturing lines has to continue into the 21^st century. However, some proponents of standardized testing want to do just that.

Norman Augustine wrote an article for the Washington Post that argues that the key to education reform is raising standards on standardized testing.  He believes that teaching to the test is the entire point of education. You cannot improve on something unless you know where you stand. However, what Augustine fails to grasp is that standardized testing is not a good indicator of what it takes to be successful in the modern age as proven by Sir Ken Robinson. Educators should encourage students to be innovative and look for more than one answer to a problem.  Robinson calls this approach to education “divergent thinking” and deems it essential for success in the 21^st century.

As a former CEO,  Augustine says he uses his business background to evaluate the success of America’s educational system and only sees the United States falling down on test scores as compared to other industrial nations. However, he needs to look beyond just the numbers. Robinson argues that teaching students to conform in a world that rewards distinction puts them at a disadvantaged compared to the rest of the world. A student’s future ability should not be measure by how many facts and strategies they can regurgitate on standardized tests. Therefore, it follows that the focus should not be on reforming these tests as Augustine suggests, but on restructuring America’s approach to education. Children are not like cars and at the end of the day you cannot run a series of test to see whether they are ready to step off the assembly line and function in the real world.

See Sir Ken Robinson’s full theory on changing education and follow his awesome graphics

The Test as the Teacher

Perhaps the most alarming consequence of standardized testing is the idea of “teaching to the test” where educators focus on students passing the tests rather than ensuring a quality education. This approach to education can leave significant deficiencies in a child’s knowledge and performance later on in life. For example, in the state of Maryland the only subjects tested on the Maryland School Assessment (MSA), given to children in grades 3 through 8, are math, reading and science. This automatically resigns the other subjects such as history, art and physical education, all essential to a child’s growth and development, to a secondary priority status. According the Maryland Association for Health, Physical Education Recreation and Dance, not one jurisdiction in Maryland meets the minimum recommended 150 minutes of physical education per week for elementary school students. With the growing obesity epidemic facing America’s children, this statistic is extremely alarming.

http://www.nea.org

The high stakes associated with standardized test scores can also effect an educator’s teaching style and classroom priorities. Standardized test scores are used to determine funding for a school, evaluate teachers’ performance and decide whether to promote a student to the next grade. A teacher may choose to emphasize the basic skills found on standardized testing while neglecting the promotion of high-level analysis skills. “Teaching to the test” also tends to lend more to memorization than application of critical skills.

What can you do?

As citizens, we have a duty to ensure the next generation of Americans are independent thinkers prepared to take on the challenges of a rapidly changing world. Below are several steps you can take today to ensure a better education for tomorrow.

1. Ask questions

• Look at your local district and see if they are cutting arts, physical education and history classes. American for the Arts has a great questionnaire to get you started

 http://www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/promotion-and-recognition/strategic-partners/cause-marketing-partners/partnership-with-american-girl/questions-to-ask

2. Get Involved

• Join a local or national organization committed to improving education. One example is the National Association for Family and Community Education, find a local charter near you or join their national organization at

https://www.nafce.org/home-overview.html

3.  Tell Others

• Share what you have learned with your family, friends and other members of your community. Let us know what you’re community is doing to stem the harmful effects by posting on our facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/dmad14blogproject) or sending us a tweet @dmad14blog

Ultimately, teaching to the test hinders a child’s ability to receive a quality education and people should follow the aforementioned steps in order to combat teaching to the test and guarantee children a quality education.

Caterina Marzella

My name is Caterina Marzella and I am a Communications and Government double major graduating in May from University of Maryland. I have a passion for working with children and I have spent the past three years as a Student Coordinator for the Lakeland STARs tutoring program.My interest in standardized testing comes from working with the children who participate in the STARs program. It is hard to watch all of their hard work and growth only be measured by a test. A student is so much more than a number and standardized tests ignore everything that makes a child unique. Furthermore, these tests often exacerbate the systematic problems in America’s education program. I’m looking forward not only to informing others about the pitfalls of standardized testing, but generating some thoughtful and stimulating debates about what is best for students in America.