What does it mean, really?

Friday, February 12, 2010

It certainly is good news that the Hollis/Brookline school district had the second highest average of students in “proficient” and “proficient with distinction” levels for math and reading in our area. They beat out students in Merrimack, Milford and the Wilton-Lyndeborough district and they should be proud. But what does it mean?

Does it mean that these third-, eighth- and 11th-graders are destined for greatness? Perhaps, but it’s a bit soon to tell. Check back in about 20 years, perhaps a bit more.

Tests are fine, as far as they go, and here’s how far they go: They often show no more than how well someone does on a test and are not indicators of future success.

Indeed, some people who simply don’t do well on tests do very well in life. Come on, do you really think Donald Trump would ace a NECAP test? What about Brad Pitt? Everyone has a talent or a skill, and it can’t always be measured by a standardized test. So what do we learn from these tests? It’s hard to say. Do we learn that students are inherently bright? Or do we learn that, in order to keep the federal government from saying unkind things, we teach kids what they need to know to do well on tests? Or is it a bit of both?

Frankly, we think standardized tests are given too much weight. Some universities are beginning to downgrade – or even ignore – SAT scores because they know such tests don’t really tell them a darn thing about the kids who took them. What kind of students will they be? Ones who learn by rote or ones who think? What kind of students do we want? The thinkers, of course.

Now, of course, that is not to say that success on standardized tests is an indication that a school district is putting more emphasis upon learning for the tests than they are upon thinking. That would be nonsense. The probability is that New Hampshire just has a lot of really bright kids who think like Einstein and test like … well, whoever you can think of who really tested well and later became a great thinker. And if that’s the case, that’s fantastic.

But what if it’s not? What if, in some – oh, let’s say mythical – school district far to the north, teachers feel the pressure to get kids to do well on standardized tests so their school is not deemed one in need of assistance? What about those kids? What will become of them if too much emphasis is put upon test success and not life success?

We need students who can do it all perfectly – they test well and they think like little thinking wonders. Maybe they even dance or sing or play a musical instrument.

OK, we’re not going to get perfection, so what we have to shoot for is that old canard, “the well-rounded student.” But how do we get him or her if we keep making such a big deal about standardized tests? We don’t.

Sure, testing is important: We can use it to learn what kids don’t know. But we have to be careful that we don’t assume that because Johnny isn’t a math whiz, he lacks skill or talent. Maybe Johnny is the next Steinbeck. Maybe he’s the next Woody Allen. Or maybe he’s that kid who’ll grow up to fix your car better than it’s ever been fixed before. Standardized testing isn’t going to tell us that, but fixing your car or your roof is pretty darn important on a day to day basis.

So, yes, applaud those schools that do well on standardized tests but let’s not get hung up on it.