“Omigod! I would totally kill for her API!”
We had an interesting discussion at our faculty meeting yesterday morning: if we could have any intervention to raise student achievement, what could it be? “Raising student achievement?” This is Edu-code for test scores and everyone knows it. And I had an epiphany. I know a great intervention to deal with fact that our test scores aren’t ever going to be high enough: let’s stop worrying about them.
I was sitting a the table with the PE department, and we came up with what I think may be the best metaphor for the ridiculousness of this testing frenzy I’ve heard yet. Meeting NCLB targets is alot like trying to loose weight. There is no quick solution. No easy fix. Grapefruit diets and control-top panty hose only go so far; eventually, and probably after years of disappointing results, you are going to have to stop fixating on the number on the scale and look at the big picture. You will realize that you must make fundamental changes to your lifestyle that only work when given lots of time.
And so it goes in a “data-driven” school. I believe NCLB has given all of us negative self image (Omigod! I would kill to have her API!). We’ve pushing for these scores to rise for years, but instead of looking at the basic elements of these kid’s academic diet, we’re time and time again handing them an educational slim-fast and hoping for the best.
We need this test prep! We need that test prep! We just need more test prep! One site I taught at thought they needed to go over every test and bubble in student’s responses for them (apparently 6th graders just can’t be counted on to color in a circle). And we can’t forget to “weigh” them every five seconds; how else will we know if all this is working? We need unit tests and mid-course tests and quarter progress tests and hey! Taking all these exams aren’t enough by themselves, we need pretests for everything too!
Every year, every school, same story. Anyone knows who knows anything about anything can see it: this is never going to work. The more time and money we spend on these quick-fixes, the more we deprive students of what could actually help them in the long run. How about lots and lots and lots of time reading really interesting books? How about practicing writing again and again in low-stress situations so kids might not hate it? How about taking the 40 some-odd-days our school devotes to testing and have kids write, memorize, produce and perform a play? Or read some more. Or write some more.
How about just eating healthy food, exercising alot and being OK with gradual, appropriate improvement?
Think I’m exaggerating? Take a peek at the California Department of Education website. All but one of the “High-lights” are about testing, Although every educator alive will tell you: you can’t focus on just one test as a clear indicator of anything, the CDE seems to think these scores are pretty darn important.
