Rethinking Standardized High-Stakes Testing.

Turn on the news, read the newspaper, open an education journal, and listen to politicians' sound bites. You will likely hear some familiar refrains about raising the bar, accountability, standardized testing, and tougher standards. Standardized tests are not new, but the stakes seem to be higher than before. Educators, academics, and politicians strive to find common ground as they face the daunting task of improving children's education. The six articles reviewed here reflect a growing trend among educators to take a deeper look at the implications of high-stakes testing on classroom teaching and, ultimately, on students.

GOALS 2000: What's in a Name? Ohanian, S. Phi Delta Kappan, 2000, 81(5), 344-355. Ohanian presents a stinging review of politicians' and corporate leaders' efforts to set goals for education in the United States, such as outlined in the A Nation at Risk report, the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, and Reinventing Education: Entrepreneurship in America's Public Schools, by Louis Gerstner, Jr., Chairman & CEO of IBM. Ohanian lists and critiques the goals of the Goals 2000 Act, for example.

Citing many examples of how high-stakes testing is abused, from poor test questions to publishers concealing scoring errors, Ohanian asserts that corporate America's heavy involvement in standardized testing has brought an unwelcome change. Previously, such testing was simply one gauge among many of a child's progress. The author sums up her perspective with the statement, "Somehow, while we were looking the other way, the politico / corporate / infotainment brotherhood has infiltrated our classrooms. This time, the sky really is falling" (p. 355). Ohanian raises many questions worth considering as we ponder the future of high-stakes testing.

MAKING THE GRADE. Miner, B. Progressive, 2000, 64(8), 40-44. Miner asserts that standardized tests are not likely to go away soon, despite growing criticism from educators (and many parents). She faults politicians, corporate leaders, and think tanks for advocating reform that relies on standardized tests as a gauge of academic quality. The author asserts that this reliance has devastating consequences. "It leads to a dumbed-down curriculum that values rote memorization over in-depth thinking, exacerbates inequalities for low-income students and students of color, and undermines true accountability among schools, parents, and community" (p. 40).

Miner mentions three books that support her views. Standardized Minds: The High Price of America's Testing Culture & What We Can Do To Change It by Peter Sacks provides a comprehensive overview of the history of standardized testing. Sacks draws a relationship between the early uses of intelligence tests and the current uses of standardized testing to support theories claiming that Northern European whites hold an intellectual superiority over other groups. Linda McNeil, in Contradictions of School Reform: Educational Costs of Standardized Testing, refutes through firsthand observations the idea that test-based reform will raise academic standards for students of color. The final book reviewed, Will Standards Save Public Education? by Deborah Meier, contends that the education crisis cannot be separated from a more fundamental social crisis.

EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION VERSUS HIGH-STAKES STANDARDIZED TESTING. Hilliard, A. Journal of Teacher Education, 2000, 51(4), 293-304. This article criticizes high-stakes testing as invalid, and contends that the misplaced focus on testing has allowed people to "ignore the well-documented importance of the quality of teaching as a key factor in student achievement" (p. 293). The author compares the views of quality teachers toward standardized testing with those of teachers who are less productive, and finds that they differ markedly. The author states that minorities and the poor have suffered from testing misuse, and he calls into question the predictive value of standardized tests without regard for access to high-quality teaching. This article, while somewhat difficult to follow, reminds us that teachers are the true agents of change in the education field.

BURNT AT HIGH STAKES. Kohn, A. Journal of Teacher Education, 2000, 51(4), 315-327. Alfie Kohn highlights the many damaging results of high-stakes testing. He methodically takes issue with those who have, in his opinion, turned U.S. schools into giant test-prep centers. Kohn points out that no other nation in the world subjects its children to the quantity of testing that the United States does. He gives many reasons for this practice, including the desire to promote a back-to-basics approach, as a justification to privatize schools, to increase corporations' profits, a cultural need to be "scientific" about education, and sometimes sheer ignorance.

Kohn argues that the main problem with most standardized tests is that they fail to assess the skills and dispositions that matter most. He discusses what he considers to be the five most insidious features of testing: multiple choice format, time limits, frequent testing, tests given to young children, and norm-referenced tests. Possible consequences of high-stakes testing include cheating, teachers turning against students, an atmosphere that fosters defensiveness and competition, experienced educators who feel compelled to leave the profession, and a narrowing of the conversation about education.

FIGHTING THE TESTS: A Practical Guide to Rescuing Our Schools. Kohn, A. Phi Delta Kappan, 2001, 82(7), 348-357. This piece is aimed at administrators, teachers, parents, and students who want support in their attempts to delegitimize high-stakes testing. Kohn believes such actions could free us to pursue reforms that can truly improve teaching and learning. He discusses five practical ways that educators can protect their students in the short term as they pursue policy change. He also takes aim at four common rationalizations that some educators use to justify their apathy toward pursuing reform: "(1) Just teach well and the tests will take care of themselves. (2) This too shall pass. (3) My job is to teach, not to get involved in political disputes. (4) The standards and tests are here to stay; we might as well get used to them" (pp. 351-352).

Kohn emphasizes that he is not envisioning an all-or-nothing crusade, but rather a movement. He offers 14 specific suggestions to those who are serious in their desire to rescue schools.

THE AUTHENTIC STANDARDS MOVEMENT AND ITS EVIL TWIN. Thompson, S. Phi Delta Kappan, 2001, 82(7), 358-362. Thompson makes a case for choosing authentic, standards-based reform over high-stakes testing-based reform, which the author characterizes as the former's "evil twin." Thompson argues that authentic, standards-based reform is fundamentally concerned with equity and quality work, which, he says, differs radically from a factory-like process of tracking and sorting students. Because the two movements are sometimes confused with each other, the author compares and contrasts several of their characteristics.

Thompson concludes this carefully thought-out article: "We could realize significant progress in public education if the proponents of standards-based reform joined hands with the critics of high-stakes testing and effectively outlawed the use of high-stakes tests as sole indicators of student success" (p. 361).