The pyrrhic process of teaching to the test

In the wake of dismal results on Virginia's state assessment for 2012-13, 3rd-grade teachers at Carlin Springs Elementary in Arlington, which serves a largely poor and Hispanic population, devised a strategy: six weeks of daily test-prep, computer tracking of student progress, and extra tutoring for students at risk of failing, report Moriah Balingit and T. Rees Shapiro for The Washington Post. It yielded remarkable results: While the rest of the school floundered, third-graders saw double-digit gains, with passage rates between 70 and 79 percent in every subject. Yet even as they celebrated, teachers felt uncertain about the educational value. This included Carlin Springs Principal Corina Coronel: "I don't think [testing] tells the whole story, and I don't think it shows you what kids know or do not know," she said. Like many schools across the country, Carlin Springs struggles with what role standardized testing must play in the classroom. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe made reforming the state's standardized tests a central piece of his education platform, and lawmakers in Virginia have already reduced the number of tests, so this year's third-graders will take half as many as their predecessors. For educators at Carlin Springs, the tests are a frustrating reality of modern teaching, in which year-long classroom efforts are reduced to scores and pass rates. More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

Published by LEAP

Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) is an education support organization that works as a collaborative partner in high-poverty communities.