I Almost Fell For It

5/2/2014

Recently, I received an email from my son's school district via PowerSchool that his CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) score had been posted. A sudden urge hit me to quickly open up the PDF file to see how he scored. I went through the data line by line eager to see how he matched up against his peers nationally. I was quite impressed with the results and soon found myself smiling as any proud father would. For now, I know that he will bode well with his education in the years to come because he works his tail off in school and at home to expand his skills and knowledge.

But then it hit me. I soon realized that I fell into the "standardized testing" trap. What was I thinking? Don't get me I wrong. I am a firm believer in using assessment data to impact student success. Stakeholders must realize though that it's only one piece to the puzzle. The excitement generated from awaiting the results of these types of tests is not worth the price of admission. If anything, as parents we must be using our enthusiasm to ask questions pertaining to the data and how it will be used to guide instruction.

So what comes of all of this? Parents, including myself, must under-react when they receive their child's test scores. The urge to compare needs not to happen. The focus instead should be on the whole picture pertaining to things like grades, social and emotional growth, character development, and extracurricular participation to name a few. Add in the test scores and then you are able to truly see the progress your child is making. Getting caught up in the "your school's test scores are worse than my school's test scores" doesn't help anyone.

How will I react when I receive my son's PARCC results next school year? Not sure. I hope with a more subdued reaction that takes into account all the other tools of measurement that keep track of his progress. Honestly, I will be more concerned with the impact PARCC might have on the day to day operations of my son's school. I will also be keeping an eye on how his school will make sure they budget for extra equipment and infrastructure upgrades to ensure that innovative classroom instruction is not disrupted while others are testing. I also want to be very open with the fact that I am more interested in my son's teacher making a connection with him on a personal level and how they will expose him to meaningful learning experiences.

The state of education is in a tricky place right now. Make no mistake about it, it's great to see students being challenged more and data being used in creative ways to impact student success. But we must make sure that the whole child is addressed and resources are being utilized appropriately. As children become older we must be aware of over testing, particularly in the Spring months with Final Exams, PARCC, SATs, and possibly NAEP. So what are your thoughts and hopes moving forward? Please share in the comment section.

10 Comments

Kelly Christopherson link

5/2/2014 12:47:26 pm

It's amazing how easily we fall into that trap - how well did you do? What was your mark? Having returned to graduate studies myself, the tug to compare sometimes slyly comes along. It's at this time I have to remind myself, it's not about the grade but the learning. That's when I return to the feedback - go over the strengths and areas of improvement.
You're right, we need data to improve but we can't get caught up in studying the data. It's only one part of the learning whole as you point out. At some point, I hope that education moves away from assessment points - and moves to a system where there is continuous feedback for improvement - a cycle of learning, trying, feedback, reflection - then starting all over again. In this cycle, all students can be successful. Hopefully, we can slowly eliminate the comparisons and focus on the improvement.

Brad Currie

5/3/2014 09:58:46 am

I agree with your thinking Kelly. As a parent I have no interest in how my son's school matches with the neighboring district. Comparisons based on test scores helps no one. Rather, we should be focused on sharing innovative best practices with neighboring schools. This will ultimately have more of an impact on student success.

Charity Stephens link

5/3/2014 01:37:35 am

I love these quotes..."it's great to see students being challenged more and data being used in creative ways to impact student success. But we must make sure that the whole child "...."teacher making a connection with him on a personal level and how they will expose him to meaningful learning experiences."

Sadly there are teachers that resist open communication between school and home. Then of those that are open to it many of these teachers are only open to one way communication...school to home. As you know while there has been a paradigm shift in education many...many teachers have yet to make this shift thus holding on to old school mentality that teachers deliver information to home and the role of parents is to sit, listen and then "do something about" changing the desired result.

Being both a teacher and a mother here is my two cents when inquiring with "enthusiasm to ask questions pertaining to the data and how it will be used to guide instruction"....should you find yourself as a parent with a teacher throwing up a brick wall or as a teacher hearing of a situation then without a fuss say "I'm thinking it is in the best interest of (my/the) child for the conversation to be continued with more people at the table. Let's make an appointment with you (the teacher), the guidance counselor, the administrator and I (the parent)...(even the child if old enough), to generate a list of possible ways to better meet his/her needs."

So what are my thoughts/hopes in moving forward? I am forever hopeful that we are moving in the right direction...that direction always being what is best for the whole child. I do believe though we have a long way to go and it will take due diligence on the part of those that have made the paradigm shift to positively lead the way.

5/3/2014 11:23:44 pm

Charity,

Focusing on the whole child is critical if we are going to have successful and productive citizens in the future. Thanks for the insight and as I said before love your name. Take care.

Thom Loomis link

5/3/2014 03:08:50 pm

I completely agree. Using data to inform instructional decision making is truly important. Meeting the needs of the students is important. Testing students to grade schools and compare districts against each other is totally unecessary. Using student test scores to evaluate teachers is not realistic. How can we ever know if every student scored the best they could on a standardized test? We actually had a student ask his teacher, "doesn't part of your evaluation depend on how well I do on this test?" He then gave her a sly grin as if to say "I don't like you so I'm going to blow this off." She had no means to make him do his best and there are no consequences on him for scoring poorly. This type of assessment is a tremendous waste of time and money. The loss of local decision making and knowing what is best for our students has been taken away. We are now always reacting to a new federal or state mandate. Who really knows what are students are capable of better than their parents and their teachers?
Testing our students from mid-February through May on multiple standardized assessments is far from sound educational practice.

5/3/2014 11:26:14 pm

Thom,

Thanks for reading. As a parent I am not sure how this whole comparing thing will play out. Definitely need to keep reminding ourselves that test scores are just one piece of the puzzle.

barry saide link

5/3/2014 04:12:51 pm

Brad M. - great stuff. You really hit the nail on the head: it's about the whole child. Using yourself as an example really set the context for the message. Enjoyed!

5/3/2014 11:27:36 pm

Barry,

Thanks for reading. Sometimes as an educator you have to put your parent hat on and look at things a bit differently.

Gregg Taylor

5/4/2014 02:39:52 am

Thank you for sharing this. I agree with every point. The way testing has become the master of education is terrifying. In 7th grade, I took a test that included putting objects into holes on a board. A guidance counselor call my parents and told them how exceptional my scores were on that section and advised them to have me pursue a job where I used my hands, such as line worker. I was also taking algebra and physics successfully. He did not examine all the data. I was a percussionist since the age of four. My fingers manipulated the objects used in the test easily because of that. The counselor did not look at my academics or other factors before letting my parents know that my future would not require college. I was devastated and gave up on academics for a few weeks, until a teacher told me that one test does not provide all the information needed to decide a career. I did go to college and have served as a teacher and administrator for 36 years. I worry that parents that trust us will make the mistake of letting the test define their children. I worry that we are doing the same.

5/4/2014 02:51:36 am

Thanks for reading Gregg. Great point about one test defining who we are. If that was the case I definitely would not be where I am at this point in my life.

I Almost Fell For It

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