Wednesday night, you were almost asleep. Out of the blue, you said,
“I took a test today, Mama.”
“What? Really?’
“Yeah. It was on a computer.”
(stay calm, Mama) – “Was it fun?”
“No, I hated it. We had to sit there for an ENTIRE hour.”
Sigh and ugh…
Why is your Mom not happy about testing? Here are a few reasons:
* kids spend WAY too much time doing these tests; test-taking is not a fun, engaging, supportive learning experience that helps you develop critical thinking skills, collaboration skills, communication skills – in other words, your time is too precious to be sitting in front of a computer for hours
* the tests are too often used as a measure for how capable one is – which is ridiculous as it is ONE type of way to know what someone knows
* tests are often very flawed – privileging a small group of people and discriminating against others
* results get misused to judge teachers without concern for many others important factors or misjudge kids resulting in all kinds of hurdles to jump to feel “successful” or “capable”
* teaching and learning become much less learner-focused; much more test-focused
I love you Baby – You and I can work together to change things.
G’night
