A Reflection on Rethinking Testing and the Education Profession (Chapter 3 & 4 of The Global Achievement Gap - Tony Wagner)
Testing, the most direct way to measure something. In schools, we use it to try and 'measure' how much students have learned. Unfortunately, as Tony Wagner also mentions in chapter 3 of The Global Achievement Gap, testing has meant assessing how many facts a student can memorize. It does not measure how creative a solution a student devise for a problem, or how to think critically. It most definitely does not measure how well a student works in a group or if the student can even lead a group. In a rapidly changing world where facts and information are updated on a near daily basis, memorizing facts is not as important as assimilating that information and integrating it into a solution to novel problem. The true measure of competence and work readiness is definitely not measured by a multiple choice test, AP test or even SAT. As educators we must challenge our students to think critically, analytically, and to work in groups to solve problems they have never encountered before. We are actually doing a disservice to them by giving them answers and tests where there are clear cut answers. Instead, we should focus on evaluating them through a series of different tasks and how well they can solve new problems by integrating information that they already know and new information.
By changing the tests, we can also change how educators teach. Many educators are very complacent in the way that they teach because they are preparing students for a test that could potentially have far reaching ramifications if students overall do poorly. If too many students score low on a test, then the entire school could be affected. This is why teachers tend to teach to the test, it is what they are expected to teach. Of course there are factors that affect how educators teach: vastly different professional development, education, accreditations, administration, and a lack of a cohesive vision for a district. Districts need to set realistic, long term goals for teachers, where preparing students for the new global work force is of the upmost importance. After setting those goals: districts must also provide the necessary professional developments to support those teachers as well as the necessary staff to help those teachers develop effective teaching
By changing the tests to better reflect what will be expected of students in the workforce and changing how educators teach to better reflect those same workforce expectations, we will be better able to prepare students for the globalized workforce.
Testing, the most direct way to measure something. In schools, we use it to try and 'measure' how much students have learned. Unfortunately, as Tony Wagner also mentions in chapter 3 of The Global Achievement Gap, testing has meant assessing how many facts a student can memorize. It does not measure how creative a solution a student devise for a problem, or how to think critically. It most definitely does not measure how well a student works in a group or if the student can even lead a group. In a rapidly changing world where facts and information are updated on a near daily basis, memorizing facts is not as important as assimilating that information and integrating it into a solution to novel problem. The true measure of competence and work readiness is definitely not measured by a multiple choice test, AP test or even SAT. As educators we must challenge our students to think critically, analytically, and to work in groups to solve problems they have never encountered before. We are actually doing a disservice to them by giving them answers and tests where there are clear cut answers. Instead, we should focus on evaluating them through a series of different tasks and how well they can solve new problems by integrating information that they already know and new information.
By changing the tests, we can also change how educators teach. Many educators are very complacent in the way that they teach because they are preparing students for a test that could potentially have far reaching ramifications if students overall do poorly. If too many students score low on a test, then the entire school could be affected. This is why teachers tend to teach to the test, it is what they are expected to teach. Of course there are factors that affect how educators teach: vastly different professional development, education, accreditations, administration, and a lack of a cohesive vision for a district. Districts need to set realistic, long term goals for teachers, where preparing students for the new global work force is of the upmost importance. After setting those goals: districts must also provide the necessary professional developments to support those teachers as well as the necessary staff to help those teachers develop effective teaching
By changing the tests to better reflect what will be expected of students in the workforce and changing how educators teach to better reflect those same workforce expectations, we will be better able to prepare students for the globalized workforce.