Hi, SDAI--

Learning outcomes and test scores are not the same things, and the sooner Americans get the picture that intellectual achievement can't be scored numerically any more than intelligence can (q.v., IQ testing), the sooner we'll have a realistic picture of what works.

Giving children test answers is indefensible, out-and-out cheating. Millions of teachers across the nation, however, teach to standardized tests, so that we have turned out a nation of expert test-takers. Unfortunately, this skill will not prepare anyone for creative problem-solving, negotiation with peers, composing a simple paragraph, or even maintaining personal hygiene.

Teachers teach to the test because they're under pressure by their managements to raise the test scores, since this is what politicians point to all the time to justify cutting funding to schools. They're fighting for their budgets. It's interesting to note that, with the exception of the SATs (our national de facto college admissions exam), private schools are under no pressure to do this. The parents of children attending these institutions (who also tend to be more involved in the schools' operations, as they feel personal ownership) can see their children's progress and have no reason to appeal for testing as proof. Public schools, on the other hand, have to quantify their work in ways that can be put into a bar graph in the newspaper for the consumption of the taxpayers, many of whom are not parents.

The portfolio system with educational outcomes and benchmarks is a more cumbersome system to grade, and doesn't fit in a graph, but it allows for greater depth of learning and breadth of instruction than focusing on test outcomes and press releases.

Regards--
Mary Anne