Re: Teaching to the test

[Digby Willard <dwillard@MAIL.CENTRAL.STPAUL.K12.MN.US>]

In an earlier post I discussed the positive side of teaching to the test.
Gary's description of the negative side is right on the money.

One of the worst things about the tests, in particular the IB Physics test,
is that some kids will evaluate their entire year of studying physics on
the basis of the test score.  Because we're an IB school and do AP on the
side, they don't get as wrapped up in their AP scores.

Something that hasn't been mentioned about teaching to external tests is
the time pressure that goes with them.  The test usually assumes that a
certain amount of material has been studied to a certain depth.  The usual
assumption seems to translate into about three semesters or more, if you're
actually going to do a decent amount of lab work, allow time for conceptual
discussion, etc. etc. etc.   The typical high school teacher is allowed a
year to get through the material.  From what I see, most of us manage, with
a great deal of rushing, some corner cutting, and lots of pressure on the
kids.

I actually have two years of physics (unusual in a high school) but they
usually take the IB test in the first year, if at all.  The reason for this
has everything to do with administrative convenience and nothing to do with
pedagogical soundness.  This year I took a different tack:  I told my first
year students early on that they would learn enough to pass the IB test;
but if they just had to have that 6 or 7 (7 is the highest score) they
should either plan to spend lots of time studying extra stuff on their own,
or plan to take Physics II.   I've kept the pace somewhat reasonable most
of the year, and I rarely mention the IB or AP tests, even though we're
dealing with the appropriate material.   If I think they'd be interested in
something, we discuss it regardless of whether it's in the subject guides.

I'm having a better time than I have for years, and my students seem to be
enjoying themselves more as well.  And I think that testwise, they're going
to do about as well as students from my more pressured classes have in the
past.

Digby Willard






Responding to the message of Fri, 03 Mar 2000 12:45:29 -0600
from Gary Karshner <karshner@STMARYTX.EDU>:
> Rick,
>         You show what I object to in the phrase "teaching to the test."
> It is not
> so much whether it is by itself good or bad, but the values it inculcates
> into those involved. It says that life is tests and it is not what you
> know
> as much as how well you can pass the tests that counts. I view education
> as
> a life long process where the process is as important as the results.
> Knowing how to learn is even more important then what you know. Whereas
> many of my students view life as a series of tests that must be passed
> and
> little else. They seem to have no knowledge of what was covered in the
> courses they have taken before, or why we think it is important to know
> what we are asking them to learn. Just will it be on the test!
>         "Men are disturbed not by things, but the views which they take
> of them."
> - Epictetus