The
study of metaphysics is the study of ultimate reality—What is truth? What is
beauty? What is knowledge? What then is the metaphysics—the ultimate reality of
school testing? What is its nature? What
are we really learning? Just as a fish is so accustomed to and dependent on
water that it doesn’t need to question it to survive; and, similarly, a bird
assumes the air it navigates—nearly everyone who has ever been a student—either
at home or in the schools—assumes the necessity of testing. As a teacher devoted to a pedagogy of
discovery and experience, my concern is what it is that we are doing in a
testing environment. Education reformer John Dewey was right when he wrote, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we
learn by doing them.”
And so was Confucius when he said, “I hear and I forget. I see and I
remember. I do and I understand.” It
follows, then, that we learn what we do.
What are we doing, and therefore learning, with constant testing,
tabulating, chi-squaring, and policing?
1. Live in the Then
Fundamentally, testing is practice in living in the
future—what’s important is what will
be on the test—then, then, then. “I’ll
be okay, after the test…What if I fail?” The more we practice the then the less we value the now. Later in life, we find ourselves
guru-hopping and self-help-reading to relearn how to come home to the present.
2. Favor Fear over
Love
Although, for whatever reason I might be bored and
frustrated by the readings in my American Literature class, if I know that I
will be quizzed, I will grind away at the American Literature material to the
exclusion of my readings in my Women’s Literature class where we don’t have
quizzes. Then, having lost ground with
that class, I start to identify what I love to read with embarrassment. If I practice this enough, I develop a world
view that what I love is not available to me.
3. Give My Power
Away
If what is on the test is paramount, then the
test—and therefore the tester—is the arbiter of
my taste and experience.
If I buy into the tyranny of testing, the test/tester is in charge of my
self-confidence, my values, my self-worth, my serenity—my life.
4. Be Reactive
instead of Proactive
In a test-taking environment, I learn to
override what is meaningful to me (and dare I say fun) to read and write out of fear of punishment. I learn to react to others' demands instead of proactively developing and responding to my own inner promptings.
5. Get it Over
With
How many legions of students have crammed for a test
the night before, come in bedraggled and exhausted, spewed answers, and
then—having identified the material with duress, promptly forgot it? But if we rappel our lives from one test to
another, then we practice getting-it-over-with. What we practice we retain.
6. There’s Not
Enough Time
True learning and achievement come from long
practice of and commitment to what it is we want to learn or do—that takes love
and attention and time—all that time-sensitive tests, by their nature, are not. They do not allow for differences in how or
how quickly students learn.
7. Learning is Full
of Pain and Shame
American poet Alfred Mercier wrote, “What we learn
with pleasure, we never forget.”
Testing, too often, is painful, anxiety-provoking, and shaming. Diana, one of my superstar students who has
become the most brilliant teacher, failed the Praxis exam four times. Had the test tested her true potential, she
would have passed it the first time. Had she succumbed to the shaming of the
process, her students might have missed out on the experience of having her in
the classroom.
8. Obey
Testing tests
how conventionalized we have become: Do I think like the teacher? Am
I what I’m supposed to be?
Am I good? Tests teach us to be robotic.
9. Tests Don’t Test
What Matters
Knowledge, skills, and experiences are reduced to testable,
discrete, disembodied units of questions whose answers can be digitalized and
statistically analyzed. Tests spawn more tests and more businesses that manage
the scores and generate more needs for tests.
In another post, we will further consider the important things that
tests can’t test—including tests given in the normative fields of study.
10. Compete and Separate
Tests offer us scores that compare student results. Those who are test-takers are made to feel
superior to and separate from those who are not test-takers. High-scorers feel anxious to maintain their
status and become grade-junkies.
Low-scorers often drop out.
1 11. Cheat, Lie,
Plagiarize
When all else
fails.
What is your experience with testing?
Works Cited
Dewey, John. Democracy and Education. New York: Macmillan, 1916.
Mercier, Alfred. Multiple internet sources.
I do not believe tests effectively measure what students have been learning. All students learn differently. There is a variety of teaching styles available to cater to the individual needs of students. Tests should be the same way. We cannot give all students the same test, and simply because they are in the same grade level expect them all to do well. Some students require more time in certain units than others do. Teachers plan how long they should spend on each chapter but this does not always do justice for students. Certain subjects are more easily mastered than others are. “There’s Not Enough Time” as you mentioned in point number six. Then when the upcoming test is near everyone that was unable to comprehend the material, is scrambling to memorize what it is they need to know. This defeats the purpose of learning. Students try to jam all of this information into their mind over night and soon after the test, they forget it all. Once one chapter is complete, that means it is over for good, on to the next one. How does this serve them in the future? It does not. Throughout our entire educational career, we are obligated to “learn” material, for a grade. If we fail, then we are not able to move on to the next educational level. No one wants to be detained a year while the rest of their friends are now ahead of them because they managed to memorize the material better. This is not fair to students.
ReplyDelete- Madeline Romero
As a 37 year old college student, and a mother of two teenagers who stress over testing, I must admit that my experience with testing has been very negative. For myself, testing has been nothing more than me cramming and memorizing information for the 48 hours before the test. I go in, feeling confident, take the test, get an A, and forget 90% of the information. I vaguely remember the details of photosynthesis, or the many psychologists and their exact theories, or the exact dates, people, and places of history. But the day I sat down to take an exam on those topics I knew them by heart. What HAS stuck with me through the past three years are the experiences and the things that I truly enjoyed learning about.
ReplyDeleteNow my 11th grade son, on the other hand, has a completely different experience with testing, but I am seeing the same negative feelings toward it. He is a great student who gets A's and B's, and has a firm grasp on what he is learning. When it comes to the PARCC test though, he BOMBS it! Every year, the night before he takes it, he tells me how stressed he is because he knows the information, but when he sits down he feels so overwhelmed. He also is a bit of a slower reader, so the timed aspect puts a lot of pressure on him, and he feels that he can't take his time to truly understand the material. He ends up doing poorly because he rushes for fear of not finishing. This is a test that he MUST pass in order to graduate!!! It infuriates me! We have to do better for our children (and adults too), and testing is not the answer!
If You Ever Felt Miserable About Tests
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, test taking robs the joy of learning. Test taking is a not very effective skill for real life situations like a position for a company, or how to be a successful individual, since each individual learn or process information in their own different way. As a college student, I have experienced and still experiencing that studying for tests can be very stressful. First, all the memorization needs to be done, after the test all the information is long gone out of my memory. Second, the anxiety of failing the test can affect how well or how bad I will perform during the test. Third, the anticipation on waiting for the results of the test, makes me anxious, doubting myself, was I good enough to pass it? If I pass, it will be a relief, but if I fail, I will feel sad, dumb, frustrated. All of these negative feelings does not help a person succeed in life. Test taking will not help a person on a job interview, or be a productive worker in my job. Test taking will not help me be a professional individual or be a successful person life. If schools would ever get rid of worthless testing and really focus on tools or skills that students really need for the real world, children will grow up happier and more confident, believing that they will be successful in anything they want to do in this life.
Keila De Souza
I never really sat down and thought about the whole "idea" of tests and quizzes, I just always grew up knowing that everything you learn will be put to the test and you will be graded on it. Thinking about it now I realize it isnt right, and you are forced to just memorize a few things, put it down on paper and pretend like you actually care about what you learned when in reality you're doing it for the grade. I have never been a good test taker and I just don't think it's the right way to test knowledge and understanding. As a future teacher I want my students to enjoy learning and not grasp concepts just so do well on the test. I want them to really take in what they learn and apply it in the real world. There has to be other ways to "test" people and what they learned. What I believe to be even worse is creating these standardized test such as the PARCC or NJASK starting in second grade. Second graders are fresh out of learning how to read and getting into writing, and throwing a standardized test at them is unfair not only to them but to the teachers as well. Teachers jobs are being tested with the standardized test and if the students don't do well then the teacher loses their job. I think that is absurd and all around tests should be removed from school systems.
ReplyDelete-Melanie Azevedo
Dear Dr. Rich,
ReplyDeleteI believe that exams are stressful as well as self-esteem crusher. I personally have an example with testing. My goal after graduation is to be a bilingual Elementary teacher. I passionately love teaching, especially young children. I love how exited and eager they are to learn new things every day. Therefore, I can never see myself doing anything in the future except teaching. However, in order to be admitted in the Education program, I must pass the Praxis exam. I recently took the praxis core exam, which consist of reading, writing and math. Thankfully, I passed the math and the reading. Unfortunately, I failed the writing by 18 points. Although it was only my first time to take the exam but it hurts so much to be told that you failed. I felt like its telling me like I am a failure and I do not deserve to be a teacher. Also with me personally, during class, I learn better when I do it for pleasure, not just to be tested on it. Generally, I am a bad test taker. I get extremely nervous during exams because I feel like the exams pressure you to write whatever you learned in a short amount of time, even if what you learn is something that is limitless. I personally dislike exams; I feel like they are stressful and overrated for nothing.
Favor Fear Over Love - If I’m being honest, this is my focus as a student. When organizing my to-do list, my priorities are assignments that are going to be graded, will have a significant impact on my class average, will take the longest amount of time, will have important information needed for the test, and are due the soonest . Because of this, things I enjoy doing and assignments I’d rather be working on, like for my theatrical makeup class, take the back burner. Although makeup is one of my favorite classes and something I’m hoping to do to make money, I don’t work to my full potential since I’m too busy working on other “more important” assignments throughout the week. I do makeup assignments the night before they’re due to get a decent enough grade instead of working on them throughout the week to refine and improve my skills. Because I’m thinking about going to grad school, my GPA is still very important to me, so I usually prioritize assignments and tests in my other classes.
ReplyDeleteLearning is Full of Pain and Shame - This part of your blog reminded me of a time during the beginning of last semester when I didn’t have any assignments to work on yet. I spent my free time in the library, looking for books on subjects I had no idea about. One was filled with important speeches throughout the history of the world, including George Washington’s farewell address. I was blown away by the man’s intelligence and genuine concern for the country’s future. In the context of a class assignment though, I know I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much. The pressure to read through Washington’s difficult diction before a certain deadline and looking for details that I might be tested on would have made it a grueling task.
Compete and Separate - The truth of this point resonated with me. The pride I saw in my parent’s faces after receiving my first 4 (out of 4) on my 3rd grade report card motivated me to work even harder in school. By the time I was in middle school though, I became a “grade-junky” (as you called it), becoming angry at a teacher for giving me an 88 on a test instead of the 90 I felt like I deserved. I learned how to do assignments the way teachers wanted them so that I would get higher grades, and my class averages never slipped below a 95. Even though this became tiring in high school, I began to realize that anything below a 95 on any of my assignments would bring my grade down. I watched as single points off from tests affected my grade significantly more than perfect scores did. As stressful as this was, it was difficult for me to reprogram my brain, and it’s something I’m still working on now.
-Adalhia
Nadia Radwan
ReplyDeleteI think society uses testing as a safety blanket. We think if we make our professionals take tests that get them certified we will somehow be shielded from human error. Even though as you said Dr. Rich that tests don't necessarily guarantee how good someone will actually be on the field. Like your one student who despite having failed the Praxis a number of times is currently a fabulous teacher. My mom who studied to become a nurse recently, stated how there were many people who were crazy book smart and got almost perfect scores on the nursing exam but when it came to their clinical classes where they had to go to actual hospitals and do field work they failed miserably. I mean how useful is the text book and the good test grade if you cant even apply it? Obviously not saying that we should absolutely no standards for professionals. Of course it is important to have some form of evaluation, especially when it comes to jobs like doctors as they literally can mean life or death for someone, but I also don't think our evaluations are enough to guarantee anything. Take the “july effect” which is considered the worst time to go to hospitals because that's when new doctors arrive straight from graduation. During this time period you are more likely to not only die but get misdiagnosed, over medicated, undermedicated, and many other medical nightmares. Regardless of how “qualified” these young doctors are they something vital! That is experience! That same thing applies to us English majors! As soon as I get out of the exam I literally will forget everything. After taking the math section of the practice, that may I add, was extremely difficult for me as math was never one of my strengths and I studied for multiple months, I forgot everything. I was drained. I couldn't even figure out how much change to give back at a register! Overall I think our society needs to chill out with testing because nothing in life is as simple as the grading system of a test or passing or failing so why should we center not only our lives but our students lives around them?
Dr. Rich,
ReplyDeleteAs I am reading this post, I am remembering all the times I studied and pulled all-nighters just to take a test that would “determine” my fate in that particular class. It is so nerve-wracking when you do all that studying and then you get your test back anticipating if you got a good grade or not. Or after you take the test you try to recall what you put for question 14, you look up the answer and then realize, “damnit I put the wrong answer” or “I mixed up question 2 and question 6”. It’s very stressful studying for a test for one class and having to do a paper or presentation for another class, and then on top of that you have your own personal life you need to live. Cramming for exams has had both positive and negative effects on my test taking and over the years I have learned to find some sort of balance where I don’t freak out because I have an exam. Everyone is different when it comes to test taking. Some are cool and confident, some panic, some don’t care, some don’t even study and they still get an A on the exam. I don’t know how those students do it but for me, I need to study so I can do well. As far as retaining the information, if I really don’t enjoy what I am learning I guarantee I will not remember anything in a few months. Whereas when I’m learning about different topics I’m passionate about, I will recall many details and apply that knowledge to my everyday life. In my opinion, testing is not necessary for everything.
I would definitely agree with the quote that you mentioned by Confucius, Professor Rich. In all my life I have realized that I learn the best when I am doing what I need to understand, just listening to someone teaching me is not enough to say that I have truly learned it. I did have one teacher in high school that mentioned at the beginning of the year that he was going to teach us in “Story Mode”. And he explained that throughout history we always remember stories more than we remember textbook explanations of a story, because stories make us apart of it, like we have lived it ourselves. And I think that was also one of the most important lessons, like yours, that anyone can be taught in their lives. Just as you talked about, tests many of the time do not test what we actually know. I remember many times just freaking out because of all the tests that I would have to take, so I would just “learn” what I needed to and then forget everything that I “learned”. The fear of failing a test is so powerful that it drives many students to panic and resort to cheating, thus creating a false review of what we supposedly know. Which is counterproductive to the whole point of taking tests.
ReplyDeleteGrace Carranza
This is a tricky topic for teachers. Or future teachers. My experience with testing is that it is necessary. I believe that testing is important because you do have to measure the amount of learning that has been achieved by your students. This is particularly important in early childhood and elementary grades. You have to be able to assess if the student is learning at the rate that is typical for a child in their age group because if they are not, it may be indicative of a learning disability, or worse.
ReplyDeleteTesting serves other purposes as well. It teaches important values, such as the importance of discipline and study.That being said, I agree with Dr. Rich that somewhere along the way, the idea of testing often morphs into something that undermines every good intention that testing was meant for to begin with. As we get older and advance in our studies, testing does in fact become less about our individual learning and more about competition. Students compete against one another for the best or highest scores. And it doesn’t affect students only. Teachers compete for better ranking and in turn, more employability, leaving true teaching to fall by the wayside. Many teachers have also thought as Dr. Rich points out “Testing tests how conventionalized we have become: Do I think like the teacher? Am I what I’m supposed to be? Am I good?”
For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to be some kind of teacher. Now, I fear that like Diana, if I don’t pass that Math Praxis, I may never get the chance. And that sucks, because I NEVER want to teach math, but I think I would be a really good teacher. I used to tell people when I was younger that when I became a teacher I would never hand out a letter grade because the A’s and B’s are defeatist. Once you get those prized scores, some students will be tempted to stop there. C’s and D’s are defeatist because they can be discouraging. F’s just mean you’re not teaching the student the right things, or the the right way, or both.
I have had the immense honor of being Dr. Rich’s student for 2 semesters now and I know that she is tough. But not in the way you might think. She demands respect, because in this way a student understands to respect themselves. She demands full attention, because she honors the student in the same way. I have also witnessed Dr. Rich be extremely kind, patient and encouraging, without judgement, to a student who struggles. In this way she continues to teach lessons that you won’t necessarily find on a test, but you can be certain will count!
The Metaphysics of Testing: What We Learn
ReplyDeleteI think the best we can do is prepare ourselves for a life that does not necessarily test us on what others foresee as being important. When we learn at a young age that failure is bad then we are always prepared to believe that we will never be good enough. Failure itself can be an education from which we can learn from and that will hopefully make us better individuals. Yes, I know, we must be tested so that others can judge how much we know or have grasped from a specific course of study. The thing is that everyone has their own specific way of learning and studying and we should be encouraged to think out of the box. If a test allows us to be creative in our thought process then make a go of it and develop good study habits. Having a routine can be a good thing. If you don’t have a routine, then develop one. Having responsibilities in all areas of life is a good thing and should definitely be encouraged. If we are allowed to think freely and have a good mind, think about how far that might take someone. We should not be afraid to develop our minds. As a child, I did not test well and I was afraid of failure. I tried to develop a way that would be beneficial to me in my learning process. The most important thing is to try – the effort alone can make the learning or testing process more enjoyable.
B Moriarty
DR. RICH,
ReplyDeleteSomething worth considering, thatworks very well for me is Doing a sample test or sample questions that will help better prepare ourselves for a test.i realized ive became really good at taking tests but its because I try to test myself as many times possible before the test. gtting an answer wrong actually helps me remember the correct one for the actual test.that is how I usually prepared for tests and I personally had some success by practicing self testing.
I also wanted to touch on your point number 10.
Compete and Separate
Tests offer us scores that compare student results. Those who are test-takers are made to feel superior to and separate from those who are not test-takers. High-scorers feel anxious to maintain their status and become grade-junkies. Low-scorers often drop out.
I think this is very true and we see it a lot in the classrooms as well. however I don't think it because they feel superior but because they rather mix themselves with people with alike mentality.
Willy Mena
Dear Dr. Rich,
ReplyDeleteMy personal experience with testing is terrible. It is so terrible, that a doctor diagnosed me with test anxiety. I was in denial when she told me that the first time. The second time, I hear her, but I was still in denial and refused to believe her. The third time she told me that I had test anxiety I decided to take the bull by his horns and deal with the situation. Maybe it was true, and if I actually took a minute to focus on what she was saying about me, maybe it would not be so scary. I reminded myself that humans have flaws. My fear when she said it the first two times was that I would never be able to pass my praxis examination, which ultimately determines whether or not I can go on to become a successful teacher. If I pass my praxis exam, I will be accepted into the education program and I will then be able to move on and get past this big scary monster called, "a test". If I do not pass it, I must re take the exam until I do. I know the legistics of the situation now. However, the fact that I still have this fear in me at the highest level of my academic career, not only suggests a bit of weakness in my character, but it also reflects on my previous teachers. The amount of pressure they put on their students in order to do well on a simple task, being a test was ridiculous. Also, the fact that they made a test sound so scary and intimidating really has mentally damaging affects on a person. I am aware how to handle this obstacle in my life. I do not agree that assessment of students is the way to see how the teachers are distributing the information.
Alexandra Grell
My experiences with test taking my entire life has made me think about how I will assess my future students when I am a teacher myself. How can I make my students not fear tests like I did my whole life? How do I prepare them enough where they walk in with confidence, and don’t have to feel that test anxiety before taking the test? How do I prevent sweaty palms and upset stomachs before handing out this test? These are all ways that I personally feel before having to take a test myself. I am scared, nervous, and negative whenever I have to sit down and take that exam.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part about this blog was number 9. “Tests don’t test what matters.” This to me is very true. Before reading past that line, I thought about what this meant to me. A few months back I was struggling to pass my praxis exam. I passed all of them but one, which was steering me away from the teaching profession. Two points was all it took to give me second thoughts about my future. But as I think back, that test does not define the teacher that I can become. Do these nonsense tests really matter? For instance, it definitely is not testing how I will be in the classroom, or how I would react to students if they did something obnoxious. I do believe that what matters in this type of test taking is being physically tested. Having someone watch how well I perform in front of a classroom, rather than being tested on math problems that you will never have to teach to second graders. With that being said, I do believe that tests don’t test what matters.
Testing has always been my downfall in a lot of different classes. I appreciate the professors that take into consideration that not every student will be a good test taker and it’s important to not grade your students on just that. Just like not every student will be a good writer. On the other hand, writing is the way of life. Writing is something that you’ll have to do throughout your days in order to be successful. Whether it’s in email, text, letters, etc. Writing is something that should be implemented in every single class setting. I think that’s more essential to a student’s future than testing is. “Test don’t test what matters” is such an important statement because all testing does is test memory. There are plenty of test I’ve Aced where I remembered every single answer based off a study guide. Then there’s test I have failed because I can’t remember anything. However, while I’m sitting in class and digesting the information given to me I understand it enough to comprehend what’s going on. But once I’m put a test in front of me it’s hard for me to go around that without feeling as if I don’t know my information. One thing about being a teacher is taking the Praxis. In order to be certified taking and passing the Praxis is required. Unfortunately, I could not pass my math Praxis by 4-6 points each of the three times. Now does that make me a bad teacher? I don’t think so. But you cannot move forward in the professional field without passing that test. Test are discouraging and a tough way to ‘test’ a student on their knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI have never been a fan of testing. In elementary school I dreaded taking tests, especially standardized tests. I can recall staying up countless nights attempting to study and drill the material into my head. This ultimately became a waste of time as I sat down in front of a test and the material I had studied would quickly vanish out of my head. My eyes would stare down at my paper as tears formed. Frustration is the emotion that I would feel when taking a test which is unfortunate as it makes students feel less confident in their abilities. I remember feeling stupid as I did not acquire the average score on the standardized test and had to be placed in classes for extra help. Testing is not everything, but the educational system continues to throw scores in student’s faces. It is unfortunate that various students are not accepted into certain colleges due to test scores which stops them from thinking about attending college. Now that I am in college, I have gotten better with taking tests but it is still common for me to forget the material studied. I like how you mentioned that when all else fails individuals, “Cheat, lie, plagiarize.” Cheating, lying, and plagiarizing is what students are left with when they continuously fail a test and need to pass a class. Students are always worried about the future and do not have time to live in present. This ultimately prevents them from enjoying school and topics that actually interest them.
ReplyDeleteBailey Vick
I don’t mind testing here and there for literature courses because we all fall behind in the reading so knowing we’re going to be graded kind of helps to keep us on track. For math, I appreciate testing more often that also contains old material to keep it fresh in our minds. I don’t like, however, when tests are a huge percentage of your overall grade.
ReplyDeleteI think testing should come in more ways than just paper and multiple choice. Some people understand better when it is read to them and the words don’t always have to be so fancy. Are you trying to confuse us or help us? The words don’t have to be rudimentary but they also don’t need to be like doctor jargon.
I’m all for testing sporadically as long as after testing a follow up or refresher is given to those who didn’t do so great. If I failed on a test, don’t just give me my F and keep it moving. Help us. That is the point of the test. Some teachers give the test and that’s it, they want you to figure what you got wrong on your own as you still learn and prepare for your new test with new and more difficult material. Teachers have the habit of leaving our low grades as is. As if we failed because we like failing or assume because we’re lazy and didn’t study the material. It doesn’t seem to cross teachers minds that our failure is due in part to their teaching.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to revise our graded papers for a better grade. You are truly one of the few who allow that in a college setting.