Tests-Inauthentic Methods for Measuring Learning.

July, 2017

Elliot Eisner said,  “Not everything important is measurable and not everything measurable is important.”

Middle School: The Flat Years?

When my children were in middle school.  I read a piece that stated standardized test scores are flat or depressed for many middle school students.  What strikes me most about this is that I have witnessed perhaps the greatest level of intellectual growth during these “flat” middle school years.  I’ve noticed middle-schoolers have strong feelings about more abstract concepts such as social justice; they recognize the nuances of relationships, they can verbally express desires and fears, and they argue their position with reasoning although sometimes faulty.  I see metaphoric thinking and hear more questions about how the world works.  If anything, learning has been exploding during these years; learning is hardly dormant as scores might suggest.  My sense is that standardized tests cannot tap into that kind of learning.  It certainly cannot measure it.

 Watching Learning Happen While It's Happening

    It’s hard not to think of my own learning as an adult; the kind of learning that takes place everyday as part of being alive and a member of the human race.  We are all constantly learning and we can choose to do this formally and intentionally.  Although more often, learning  happens accidentally. (Examples: navigating the subway system in New York City, learning to body surf, making a new recipe, etc) In Creative Schools, author Ken Robinson enlightens, “The lives of most people have not followed a standard course. People commonly move in unexpected directions, discover new interests, or take unplanned opportunities.” And learning occurs because of it.

    Just a few days ago, my daughter learned to play the Beatles’ song  “Here Comes The Sun” on her guitar.  She taught herself. As she was working through it, I suggested she might want to try using a You-tube video.  She assured me that it was just easier to experiment on the guitar and try different notes until she got it right.  Either way, she didn’t need school or a teacher to help her learn (although perhaps she would have gotten it sooner but I believe the fun for her was figuring it out herself) and she certainly didn’t need an assessment to prove she had learned it.

 

“If true learning is enduring and meaningful, I can say this about tests- I have learned many things in my life and never needed a test score to prove it.  Conversely, I have passed many tests and never learned a damn thing.” (Roseann Cetta, 2017)