With the latest international testing results coming out,
the eyes of the world have turned in admiration to Finland as it continues its
dominance in educational standings. While many review the results and
strategize what parts of the unique education system might be adapted to
improve things here at home, others are more interested in parsing words, sharpening
the axes they grind in town meetings and union halls. The golden chalice for
many of this type is the lack of high stakes testing in Finland.
Since the time that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was signed
into law, it’s become a given for many teachers that high stakes testing sprang
up spontaneously from the ether solely to torment hard-working teachers. For
youngsters in the classroom now, it’s an easy sell, if the teachers try to make
it. Most of them have never been in a school system without some kind of
painful test regimen. A look back reveals a far different chain of cause and
effect.
Growing up in the sixties and seventies as I did, I saw a
lot of changes in the education system. Forced integration came to our town
when I was in sixth grade. Affirmative action, in the form of racial
preferences, was close behind. Into tenth grade, there was no mandatory
graduation testing that I recall in my area, and only one required course, Americanism
vs. Communism.
Late that year, things began to happen. I seem to recall a
large number of news stories addressing the issue of “Functional Literacy.”
People were graduating high from high school without the skills of reading or
basic math. Estimates ran as high as ten percent for adults that could read
nothing at all, and twenty percent that read so poorly they were virtually
unemployable.
In 1978, I was part of the first class in my school to take
the Florida Functional Literacy Test. I don’t remember many of the details.
There was some vocabulary, basic math. I took it, passed it, and forgot it.
The test would be described in today’s terms as a “high
stakes” test. Those who could not pass it were to be issued a certificate of
attendance in lieu of a high school diploma. The purpose of the test, however,
was diagnostic, not punitive. Those failing the first attempt would be shifted
from their regular English requirement to a class that emphasized basic skills
in math and reading. It was the sort of thing that could never be done today in
most places, parents and teachers scared to death about the self-esteem of
their precious little ones. As if it was possible to maintain self-esteem when
you can neither read nor do basic sums…
There were at least two more opportunities for the students
to retake the test later in the year and pass after sufficient progress. Most
people did pass. A few did not. And that’s the first time that I recall the
education system completely abandon its responsibility on a large scale. The
requirement for passing the test for a diploma was cancelled. All students were
graduated on the basis of their course work.
There were all kinds of arguments about whether or not
cancelling the requirement was the correct thing to do, even as the arguments
persist today. One fact that could not be argued against, however, was that the
school system had lost its credibility as professional educators. It was
apparent to all, not least to the children, that political considerations were
now more important than the teaching of children.
Testing continued to expand, but the diagnostic focus
shifted. Emphasis moved away from how best to improve children’s learning to
blaming those who appeared to do better. Tests where minorities scored lower
were labeled racist, never addressing whether the tests actually measured
skills vital to the child’s success. Gender differences were declared proof of
discrimination. And through all of this, school districts continued to develop
more elaborate tests only to grant waivers in many cases when the inconvenient
results appeared.
I do not blame teachers solely for the loss in credibility.
They were under incredible pressure in many cases by parents and administrators
to declare that children were succeeding, regardless of how true it might have
been. I do blame them for their part in resisting any type of accountability
measures that would have allowed the identification and firing of incompetents,
for letting the professional standards drop so low that our schools of education
are the last refuge of the underperforming college student. And I blame them
for protecting themselves above the children by establishing a system of unions
that makes it virtually impossible for millions of children to escape failing
schools.
I never remember taking a course where the instructor
“taught to the test.” It wasn’t needed. They taught the curriculum. Most
passed. Some failed. While inconvenient, failure was also an opportunity. It
was a chance to shift into courses that were appropriate. Far from being a pit
of failure, vocational training was a program where many that did not have the
desire or aptitude for college to succeed in school and life.
High stakes testing was never the cause of the problems in
education. It is the result of years of problems that should have been
addressed, but were not, or were not addressed adequately. The test results are
the symptom. Parents and teachers across the nation are aware of the problem.
The question is whether or not the nation will summon the dedication to solve
it.
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