PRESENTATION OUTLINE
A CASE AGAINST STANDARIZED TESTING
Allyson MacKenzie
ED 6105
Dr. Lynn Randall
The K-12 experience has become dominated by standardized testing. And if there is one grade where it seems most detrimental and concerning, it is kindergarten. - The Washington Post
There understandably much debate on the necessity of standardized testing (SA) in kindergarten.
This presentation aims to show that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
The 'standard' element of SA is intended to gather and compare data to ensure "high quality education". The definifition of varies between behaviourist and constructivist perspectives.
BEHAVIOURIST ASSESSMENT IS PRODUCT FOCUSED AND BASED ON THE PREMISE THAT "WE CAN ONLY TRULY KNOW SOMETHING IF IT CAN BE STATISTICALLY AND “OBJECTIVELY” DETERMINED AND ANALYZED".
Constructivist ideology believes that “children’s learning should be holistic, contextualized and developed from their experiences and interests”
(Davis and Howe in Moyles 2007: 242).
Results from SA may cause teachers and parents to unnecessarily worry about the child's development and pre-construct attitudes towards their abilities.
Is it suprising that a child who is treated as ignorant, foolish, or weak should act any differently (Penn, 2005)?
Curriculum that is heavily skills-based is not inclusive. For some kids, learning to read in kindergarten is just fine, but some are not ready. In years gone by, kids were given time to develop and learn to read in the early grades without being seen as failures. Even kids who took time learning how to read were able to excel.
One intended purpose of SA is to identify students in need of special education.
SA is not inclusive to the individual needs of children. A more efficient way to assess special needs is through classroom observation where behaviour and skills can be observed in authentic situations with minimized stress.
Fleege (1992:20) points out that their "qualitative findings indicated an increase in behaviors reported to be stress related during the testing and a decrease in those behaviors following the testing".
Knowingly inflicting stress on children for the purpose of education is unethical.
A general issue of assessment is the "teachers’ capabilities to conduct classroom assessment and use assessment evidence are central to quality assessment practice".
SA is said to be effective in informing teaching practices and curriculum. Unfortunately, many teachers find themselves teaching to the test, even in kindergarten.
Classroom observation provide evidence of development and what interests the children, working towards child-initiated planning that is engaging.
The idea of SA achieving more accurate results is false.
All assessment is highly affected by the incredible amount of variables we see in
every educational context.
Here are some Alternatives to Standardized Testing
Learning Stories
Students themselves are also able to provide assessment feedback. Carr’s (2014) Learning Story assessment method gives teachers insight into what the students themselves are understanding, their learning strategies, their personal motivations and areas of strength and weakness. These are self-directed narratives written by the student or narrated to the teacher to record.
Mosaic, Diary, Reflective and Portfolio
Photos, videos, and voice recordings, children’s work samples, and so on, can be compiled into the student’s educational timeline. They provide visually appealing, concrete evidence that learning is taking place.
These assessments are excellent techniques give insight to “the whole child’ (raiselearning.com.au). They can be stored digitally and can be used formatively and summatively.
An issue of constructivist type assessment is that it is highly dependant on each teacher's training and abilities. This may be problematic in the current educational system due to a required shift in the curriculum and government expectations. It is aslo costly, but the value of such an investment is incalculable.
We can work towards more constructivist methods by slowly integrating these assessment methods into our practices. Speaking to parents, colleagues and local government can help to raise awareness. A reasonable compromise for the time being may be adjusting current SA techniques that look for right or wrong answers to more engaging activities.
Instead of looking at what children can’t do, we should be celebrating what they can.
Please watch the following video by clicking on the YouTube link in the bottom corner.
Children Are Not Standardized
Thank you for viewing my presentation.
These are my discussion questions:
Question #1
I’ve heard this argument before, “Well, that’s how I did it in school are I’m doing ok”. Do you think the mentality of “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” holds us back as a society? What are some educational changes that you are now aware of that you think would have been beneficial for your learning? Do you think a Finish style curriculum of waiting till grade one to formally learn literacy and numeracy would have changed your learning outlooks when you went through grade school?
Question #2
“The first five years of a child's life are fundamentally important. They are the foundation that shapes children's future health, happiness, growth, development and learning achievement at school, in the family and community, and in life in general.” http://www.factsforlifeglobal.org
Educational systems globally start there students as young as two years old. What are your thoughts on this? What kind of effects do you think this has on a society if any?
References
Department of Education 2014, Statutory Framework For The Early Years Foundation Stage, United Kingdom Government. Available from: .
Raise Learning. (RL) 2011, Back to basics- A brief summary of early childhood observation methods and techniques. Available from: