Re: If not standardized tests, then what?

[Allen Flanigan <aflanigan@comcast.net>]

Good point, Bob.  I agree that some communities do not value justice and
equal opportunity, and this is likely to be reflected in their standards for
the schools.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Schaeffer" <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>
To: <arn-l@interversity.org>
Sent: Monday, January 06, 2003 8:41 PM
Subject: Re: [arn-l] If not standardized tests, then what?


> I agree in principle with Allen's comments -- heck my wife trains NAEYC
> Validators in their comprehensive method for child care center
> assessments and does accreditation inspections herself. But in the very
> political world of K-12 "accountability" we have to be able to respond
> persuasively to the widely shared concerns about school quality that are
> one factor in the desire for "a reliable gauge of student performance."
>
> Simply denying that student performance problems exist (or that every
> criticism is equivalent to "teacher bashing") is not credible. Remember
> that it has long been folk on our side of the spectrum who have
> (correctly) bemoaned the poor educational quality in so many
> communities. Of course, we think the causes of the problems are very
> different and that "raising the bar" or similar sloganeering is a
> diversion from real solutions.
>
> FairTest's attempt to address this issue is best expressed in
> Massachusetts CARE's assessment proposal -- maybe it's not perfect, but
> at least it's a concrete alternative.
>
> Speaking personally -- and not necessarily for FairTest corporately -- I
> have a problem with the notion that accountability should be solely (or
> even primarily) to the community a particular school serves. The
> segregated public elementary school I attended in Henrico County,
> Virginia in the late-1950s (post Brown, but pre-Federal enforcement --
> the school serving African American kids from the same area was next to
> the dump) very much met the needs of most local (white) voters but was
> poor quality (we moved there from Cleveland Heights -- I spent much of
> 5th and 6th grades assigned to the library since we had already covered
> the regular Virginia curriculum in Ohio's 3rd and 4th grades) and racist
> to its core. Should this community's low and/or racist expectations have
> been the appropriate measure of educational quality for my peers?
>
>
> Allen Flanigan wrote:
> > The editorial Bob cited below includes the common refrain that "Absent
some
> > reliable measurement,
> > how can educators gauge how their students are doing?"
> > It's a common defence of the pro high stakes testing PR machine. And the
> > fact that they feel it will resonate with people reflects the kind of
> > society we live in.  The people making this argument take it as a basic
> > assumption that there must be some simple and cheap way of gauging this
> > thing we call "learning" and "education".  It is reflected in our
constant
> > efforts to find a "magic bullet" pill that will allow people to eat a
lot of
> > fatty foods like potato chips without suffering the negative health
> > consequences.
> >
> > Some problems don't have easy answers, and policies which start from the
> > presumption that there is an easy, quick fix for every problem are
doomed
> > from the start.  The answer to the question "how can educators gauge how
> > their students are doing", as well as how can communities know how
schools
> > are performing, is to do the hard work of ongoing and thorough
assessment.
> > Whether it is performing careful reviews such as those done by
accrediting
> > bodies (NAEYC, for example) on individual schools periodically, or doing
> > ongoing assessment in the classroom combined with working to involve
parents
> > and establishing good rapport and communication between school staff and
> > families (parents and children), having agreed upon standards and
> > expectations that everyone has input into and a stake in, etc., that is
what
> > is needed, if you ask me.  There's no simple litmus test for gauging
> > something as complex and varied as learning.  There's no way to
"objectify"
> > it and thus improve it, because learning is not subject to scientific
> > modeling, and eludes precise measurement.
> >
> > Each school serves the community which supports it; and each ought to be
> > answerable and accountable to that community (and ought to enjoy its
support
> > as well as endure its oversight).  The measure of school performance
ought
> > to start with community expectations, and be guided and sanctioned by
the
> > community.
> >
> > Allen Flanigan
> >
> > Parent
>