I believe that a major issue concerning the instruction of English language arts today is standardized testing as a result of the No Child Left Behind legislation. Although I agree that it is necessary to hold students and teachers accountable for the work that they do in the classroom, I feel that it is unrealistic to do so solely through the standardized test. How can one objectively test a student accurately in English, an area that is in itself so subjective?
An article from the BBC News discusses a report from the Institute for Public Policy Research in which the IPPR suggests teacher assessment rather than standardized testing for 11- and 14-year old students in England.
The IPPR report criticized what it called the negative effects of the current testing regime, which included narrow learning, shallow learning, question spotting and risk-averse teaching.
It said the testing system encouraged “teaching to the test” rather than providing skills for secondary school.
Although this report is directed at the testing in England rather than the United States, it is still very much applicable. Schools are so concerned with meeting the requirements of NCLB that they simply teach to the test instead of teaching relevant material. They spend excessive amounts of time going over what will be on the test and telling students how to successfully answer the questions. How is this supposed to help them in the future? How is a student supposed to become competent in the study of English when he is not correctly taught the basics and tools of the subject?
As a high school English teacher, I do not plan on succumbing to these low standards of instruction that so many teachers today have. Hopefully by the time I have my own classroom, the burden of NCLB and standardized testing will not be as immediate as it currently is. Although teaching to the test may help students in passing the test, it will in no way help them to truly learn. English students need to be creative and have the option of expressing their opinions without worrying if their answer is right or wrong based on government guidelines. To be effective, English classrooms should continue teaching literature, grammar, and writing skills while only briefly touching on the standardized test material. If a teacher does his job correctly (teaching the proper material and addressing the individual needs of his students), then students should be fully prepared to tackle the nuisance that is the standardized test.
Pupil tests ‘should be replaced’
December 27, 2006 at 10:00 GMT
by BBC News
RR Said:
on January 22, 2007 at 12:55 am
Stephanie,
Your blog is off to a good start: you’ve got a complete class blogroll here, a link to Google Reader, and RSS syndication. On the technical side of things, you’re in ship shape.
Your first topic–high-stakes testing–is also right on. If you can, keep linking this to what we talk about in our class. How is the current testing climate affecting English language arts instruction in general, and reading in particular.
Your second post seems to be unrelated to your first, and while you raise a good point, all of your posts should be at least loosely related ot the topic you’ve identified in your opening post.
RR