First, I agree that there are some very serios problems. But one thing
to point out is that for a number of years, teachers have been being
handed standardized tests which are supposedly designed to tell us
how well the students know the required information. If a class full of
students don't do extremely well, then the teacher is spoken to about not
having taught the material. Raises/promotions don't follow. As a
teacher, in that situation, I feel forced to teach to the test (because I
need the raise/promotion).
My third grade son has taken this year two standardized tests. He did
very well on one and okay on the other. Did his teacher do a good job?
In the eyes of the person who has put faith in the first test, yes.
In the eyes of the person who has put faith in the second, no. Now,
they are getting ready to start using a third test. The teacher will
be teaching to the new test. She will take the objectives and curriculum
associated with the third test and use them. But, what happens if the
curriculum for the third is different than that for the first? His scores
on the first may go down the next time he takes it. Did the teacher do a
good job or not? The problem may simply be that we are so busy trying to
ensure that the students know the material to justify that the teachers
are teaching that we don't let them do what they are trained to do.
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Mariam W. Dittmann
DeKalb College Science Department
555 N indian Creek Drive
Clarkston, GA 30021