Ding Dong STAR Testing's Dead!
Dear Parents,
To the relief of many teachers, students, and parents,
Governor Brown has recently signed a bill that would end STAR Testing in the
current school–year (except for science testing for fifth, eighth, and tenth
graders), a year ahead of schedule. California has decided to shift to
curriculum standards known as “Common Core,” which call for more in–depth
teaching of fewer subjects and emphasizes real–world applications of material
in an effort to prepare students for college and careers. You may read an October
2, 2103 news report on the topic.
My thoughts?
I’m thrilled.
Let me tell you why.
First and foremost, teaching is all about the three–way
relationship between teachers, students, and the material. And most classroom
teachers will tell you that they hated STAR Testing (how nice to use the past
tense here!). Why? Because the intense pressure placed upon them to “teach to
the test” severely restricted their freedom to inspire and enlighten their
students. Under the STAR Testing regime, the school–year was a forced march to
spring testing—and an often unpleasant march at that. Teachers lacked the
freedom to delve deeply into areas that might have proved tremendously valuable
and inspirational to their students, for they dared not depart from the
scripted curriculum leading to the STAR Test date. We’ve all heard stories
about inspiring teachers who ignited the lifelong love of learning in their students.
STAR Testing made such stories too rare.
The testing regime shackled students’ imaginations just as
it reigned in teachers’ freedom. Education should be joyous, not painful—the
love of learning is the fuel that propels students to true achievement in
school and in life. Unfortunately, the STAR Testing regime poisoned the love of
learning and made the classroom as dull as a factory floor.
Nor was the test, according to legions of teachers, a valid
assessment of the broad skills students need to achieve. The deficiency was perhaps
not as great in terms of math, but the testing of reading, writing, and history
did little to assess students’ creativity, ingenuity, social or emotional
intelligence, originality, expressiveness, persuasiveness, resourcefulness,
reasoning ability, understanding of the patterns of human history or the causes
of historic events, or anything else, really, beyond the mere rudiments.
I am also happy for parents, for I have seen far too many
needlessly stressed by the STAR Test regime. Many were unaware of the
narrowness of the skills assessed by the STAR Test and became overly alarmed by
disappointing scores; conversely, many were lulled by high scores that masked
deficiencies in important skills not assessed by the tests. Many also held the
misconception that the tests materially affected their children’s long–term
future. In reality, the STAR Test was not the SAT, just an early assessment of
a narrow range of skills at an early stage of a child’s academic career. I am
so relieved to see it go.
A word of caution. We don’t know yet what the new assessment
will look like. I fervently hope that it will be better than the STAR Test. It
could hardly be worse. I do take heart, however, from the Common Core’s stated mission
of promoting in–depth teaching rather than the bland sort of broad survey that
has dominated classrooms during the STAR Testing era. Let us hope.
Faithfully yours,
Jon
Jon Sindell
B.A., J.D.
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