National tests – Yes, No or Maybe?
I have been toiling away as a blogger for 18 months now, I hope you feel I am starting to understand this new medium. My decision to begin a blog was to continue a conversation. For 30+ years I have worked across classrooms, schools, districts, education department central offices, chains of stores, multinational conglomerates and everything in between. I have worked with CEOs and Super-Intindents, classroom teachers, principals, eight-year-olds and school receptionists. I have come to learn a lot, I have been privileged to work with people that amaze and astound me.
I have developed life-long friendships that will live forever in my heart. And I pray that a bit of my heart lives on in the lives of the people I have touched.
My personal gift from this journey has been one utmost central and important lesson.
The world is full of people and all these people are unique and truly beautiful with their own set of beliefs, strengths and insecurities. And these uniquely human pieces are just amazing when they come together and act as one.
This lesson sparked me 20-odd years ago to begin formulating my ideas that today, I call my Whole Person Learning Model. Where each person is a combination of their Intellectual Qualities, their Emotional Qualities and their Social Qualities – IQ, EQ, SQ.
As an American I lived through the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) period of a previous administration. I personally saw the impact such policies had on teacher morale and principal self-esteem. This week sees Australian schools complete their national tests. Governments all around the world are currently, or at present planning, such national tests. I guess these tests are now part of the landscape of our schools.
But these tests have made me pause for a moment and reflect.
If my 30+ years of work with people has had any impact, I need to think about the Whole Person in these testing regimes. How do tests of literacy and numeracy measure the Whole Person? Aren’t schools more than literacy levels? Isn’t the IQ, EQ, SQ balance of a child, classroom, school or entire system important? Don’t we need to reflect on the fact that good schools might have low numeracy levels. Yet these same schools may be developing human beings that will make an incredible impact on the world in years to come?
I have to believe that the decision makers who are rolling out these national tests must be asking these very same questions themselves.
These questions are not easily answered and I don’t have the answers myself. In fact, I am not even sure that I have any answers. What I do know is that my education over 60-odd years has instilled in me a need to ask the hard questions. Because of this, I am willing to live ‘in the question even though I can’t always answer it. I am willing to live in the paradox of questions without the certainty of closure. I feel that the questions are important to our students and the future generations to come.
These questions and this thinking lead to this whitepaper – Beyond Standardised Tests – in which I try to think through this issue. I hope you read it and it triggers some of your own questions. I hope it prompts you to stop and give pause for a moment too. And please, once you’ve read the piece let me know your thoughts whether in email or the comments section below.
Beyond Standardised Tests Whitepaper
@Amy
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I think there is a lot to be said for keeping calm in the eye of the storm and teaching students to do the same. Teaching our young people to view it as another opportunity for feedback is exactly what I would do. However, the inclination today is to measure ourselves by the scores we get on such tests.
It’s still more than interesting that Einstein was viewed as slow and Da Vinci was not interested in school. There are many examples throughout history of the men and women who did not do very well on tests but whose lives and contribution were extraordinary.
One of my dear friends and schoolmates was kicked out of school in his final year. He went on to become a best selling author of childrens’ books. His art work and writing made him a well known figure in his field.
Thanks for emailing it to me. I agree with the document wholeheartedly.
I guess as far as National Testing goes though, it only has the value the adults (teachers and parents in particular) in the community put on it. I have always told my students and my own children to just do their best, it’s an opportunity for impartial feedback. We never prepared our students for the tests in the past. I (as a curriculum leader at the time) was under the impression we were discouraged to do that.
This year with the Australian government introducing ‘League Tables’ I am hearing about students spending weeks of preparation for the tests, even in primary schools. Tonight on facebook I read a comment about children being upset by the tests.
This is the madness. As parents and teachers we are able to make the governments insistence on statistics and feedback (which could be responsible if handled correctly) just another learning experience, but we are becoming fearful. We are anxious to have our child/school look good… for strangers. I think that is the insanity.
When I was choosing a school, I didn’t look for academic results. I wanted a place that felt like a safe, positive, learning community that valued diversity. If schools focussed on becoming that, the results would follow.
I believe we should just say no where it counts, in our homes and classrooms. Let our kids know that test is just another opportunity for feedback… no big deal.
@Joh I agree in full. It seems to me that we are educating for intellect and we are missing the full spectrum of the child’s development. As human beings we have multifaceted qualities and characteristics. To be a happy fully functioning adult requires far more than the development of ones intellectual capacities. It necessitates a balance between ones emotional and social competencies.
I had a brilliant young scientifically oriented student say to me in a stunned voice recently… “I never fully realized that my success as a scientist would be enhanced by my ability to relate to and connect with my peers in the scientific community. No teacher ever said that or made me aware of it.”
At the end of the session it was his great ‘AHA’ and he left vowing to round out his development in the social emotional areas because, he said, “I now understand the importance of relationship even as it pertains to my success as a scientist.”
You are correct, Joh. The tests are not touching the real heart of the matter when it comes to the success and happiness of our young people as they move into their adult lives and professional positions.
Thanks for emailing it to me. I agree with the document wholeheartedly.
I guess as far as National Testing goes though, it only has the value the adults (teachers and parents in particular) in the community put on it. I have always told my students and my own children to just do their best, it’s an opportunity for impartial feedback. We never prepared our students for the tests in the past. I (as a curriculum leader at the time) was under the impression we were discouraged to do that.
This year with the Australian government introducing ‘League Tables’ I am hearing about students spending weeks of preparation for the tests, even in primary schools. Tonight on facebook I read a comment about children being upset by the tests.
This is the madness. As parents and teachers we are able to make the governments insistence on statistics and feedback (which could be responsible if handled correctly) just another learning experience, but we are becoming fearful. We are anxious to have our child/school look good… for strangers. I think that is the insanity.
When I was choosing a school, I didn’t look for academic results. I wanted a place that felt like a safe, positive, learning community that valued diversity. If schools focussed on becoming that, the results would follow.
I believe we should just say no where it counts, in our homes and classrooms. Let our kids know that test is just another opportunity for feedback… no big deal.
Hi Trin,
. I am unable to open the whitepaper. Could you email it to me. I do have thoughts about standardised tests and would like to contribute to the conversation.
I’ve been enjoying your blog and read every post. Always gain some insight