The SAT, ACT, APEX, WorkKeys, PSAT, PLAN, English 2 EOC, Math 2 EOC and Biology EOC. The list goes on and on as these are just some of the tests that students are required to take during their time in high schools.
President Barack Obama and his administration recently urged states to implement guidelines that would limit standardized testing to only 2 percent of the total instructional time.
“Learning is about so much more than filling in the right bubble,” Obama said in a video posted on Facebook, “So we’re going to work with states, school districts, teachers and parents to make sure that we’re not obsessing about testing.”
Obama said that tests need to be high quality, a limited part of the curriculum and just one measurement of a student’s progress. Currently, teachers are under pressure by the school systems to make sure students do well on standardized tests instead of making sure students to learn at their own pace.
“This is a positive thing for students and teachers. We have gone too far in emphasizing testing to where it’s dominating our instructional time,” Dana Ferrell, an English teacher at West, said. “I think we would all appreciate getting back to just straight up teaching and learning.”
Many students and teachers like the idea of standardized tests having less of an impact on students and the school. These changes would create differences in the way that students and schools are evaluated.
“I still have no question that we need to check at least once a year to make sure our kids are on track or identify areas where they need support,” the former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said to The New York Times. “But I can’t tell you how many conversations I’m in with educators who are understandably stressed and concerned about an overemphasis on testing in some places and how much time testing and test prep are taking from instruction.”
In the Henderson County Public Schools, the total instructional time that each school has is 1080 hours per school year. Currently, the average hours spent taking standardized testing varies by grade level, but averages
between 18-25 hours. Juniors at West take about 24 hours of testing per year, bringing the percentage to 2.2 percent, just above Obama’s target.
Major teachers unions are behind the changes that Obama is proposing, including the American Federation of Teachers.
“The fixation on high-stakes testing hasn’t moved the needle on student achievement,” Randi Weingarten, president of the union, said to CNN. “Testing should help inform instruction, not drive instruction. We need to get back to focusing on the whole child — teaching our kids to build relationships, how to be resilient and how to act critically.”
With standardized tests not being the sole gauge of a student’s progress, teachers can be less stressed about them. In turn, more time could be spent improving a child’s critical thinking and creativity, educators said.
“As a teacher I use the results from benchmarks and EOC’s to help clarify and focus on difficult topics,” Cari Kennedy, instructional and technology facilitator and testing coordinator at West said. “The results from standardized tests show students and teachers where their weakest areas are.”
Standardized test scores show a student’s proficiency in a subject and compare them to other students. They also show a student’s growth over time. These scores can also be used for the entire school and show the average student proficiency, growth and areas for improvement throughout a particular school.
“I don’t mind taking standardized tests because they are a good gauge of where you are in school and how well you’re doing,” sophomore Hunter Koch said. “I feel like we don’t take too many tests at school because we only take them two times a year at the end of each semester.”
By Dhuru Patel
