Although being prepared for tests is always a must, when it is the only thing that teachers become focused on, the real problem presents itself. Are these standardized tests a true reflection of how well teachers perform?
When students spend time preparing for tests, they learn valuable skills: Time management, understanding reading passages, following directions, and knowing when certain answers can be eliminated. These are all important test-taking skills that students need to know as they progress through school and their career paths.
Suppose a fifth grader walks into class at the beginning of the year reading at a high-second-grade level, and, sadly, that is not all that uncommon. Now that teacher carries that student up to a mid-fourth-grade level. That is a year-and-two-thirds jump in a year. Because standardized tests in many states tests fifth-grade levels. That school and teacher did a tremendous job, but they get nothing to show for it.
Kids are not getting a liberal arts education, but prepping to a very narrowly drawn standardized test in primarily language arts and math. The administration was interested in passing the test more than anything else, because that is what continues to give the school funding.
Good test preparation focuses on making sure that students are meeting state standards, rather than focusing on test-prep activities. It is important that teachers are focusing on grade-level curriculum rather than the standards that No Child Left Behind puts into place.
The trouble with teaching to the test is that the standardized tests are not by their nature able to measure meaningful learning and emphasize the trivial rather than the essential.
Take, for example, writing. Instead of measuring how well students can express themselves clearly, the tests ask students to select the best wording from four choices, often written about a topic that the students are not familiar with.
This also raises a question: do your test scores reflect how good your teachers are?
Absolutely not. Many academically-talented students find themselves in classrooms with less-than-desirable teachers and still do well just because they are smart, not because the teacher is a “good teacher.” In contrast, when students preform poorly on tests, it does not always mean the teacher is at fault.
Just because there may be a relationship between good teachers and high test scores does not mean that the high scores are caused by the teachers. Luckily at GEHS we do not have to worry about bad teachers, but all across the United States it can be a serious problem.