Any standardized test given on a
specific day gives only a snapshot of a student’s abilities and can reflect
only a part of the multiple facets of a student’s skills. Students are truly
not tested only on specific skills, such as their ability to multiply two
numbers together, or comprehend a reading passage, but they are being tested simultaneously on their ability to
persevere through a long and grueling series of questions, some with multiple
parts. We all know of the research that shows us that children who have
experienced trauma often self sabotage their school work, have difficulty
sustaining attention or diligence in a task requiring any kind of stamina, and
are very quick to give up when presented with a difficult task. Why would we then
give them a high stakes assessment such as the NECAP or any other difficult
and lengthy test that produces
high anxiety in even the most even-tempered of children? Tests which ask 8 year old children to sit SILENTLY for 90 minute blocks for 5 days?
The ability to take a standardized test and keep working in
the face of extreme anxiety is a skill that children need to learn in order to
succeed in this world. They will need this skill in order to take their SAT,
their drivers’ test, and in order to overcome their anxiety and perform well in
a job interview. But children who have experienced the hardships of poverty,
trauma, and neglect need to overcome larger hurdles than those who don’t.
Therefore, the tests themselves are inherently harder for these children. And
we know and have seen children from challenging backgrounds simply give up, and
say “I won’t!” because it is much less painful than stretching their comfort
level and finding out, possibly, that “I can’t.”
I am convinced these tests are damaging our children. Yes, they need the skills, but they need to learn the skills in the comfort and safety of a classroom where mistakes are allowed, encouraged, and acknowledged as a critical component of learning.
Graves also adds that testing does not allow “children to demonstrate serious thinking through writing, drawing, conversation, and debate”. I like how Graves brings to attention that the text of the tests students take is inferior to that of a professional. Graves follows this argument with pointing out that “Real authors order their information to engage their readers, and their characters have real personalities, breathe real air, navigate real life”. No one enjoys reading lifeless text. I am sure we can all relate to reading a dry, uninteresting piece where our minds drift off and find something more interesting to think of. It is not fair to ask our students to take a test that is long, uninteresting and not an accurate method of measuring learning.
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