Sending Off My Nervous Baby Into the World – of Standardized Testing
Posted March 13th, 2012 by Homa TavangarI’m mad this morning. My eight-year old (8!, yes, just 8! in third grade!) is a nervous wreck. Today is the first day of PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, or Pissed Students Seriously Anxious?!) Standardized testing at her school. They’ve been prepping for weeks (or is it months?) to score stellar points on the test. She feels personally responsible to do great and not let down her beloved teacher. They’re even allowed to break the ultimate elementary school rule and CHEW GUM IN CLASS during the test, since it’s supposed to stimulate brain activity. One lasting lesson here: do whatever it takes to get a high score.
The goal: so their school looks good. So their school will come out on top – again – in public reviews that get published in multiple media outlets which drive real estate prices upwards, and keep the local tax base healthy to pay for the schools. Fortunately, we haven’t gotten to the point where teacher evaluations are displayed publicly, like New York City, but it feels like an ominous threat. When the Philadelphia Inquirer publishes the standardized test scores of every school district in Southeast PA and Southern NJ, you bet everyone is scanning to see how their favorites and their rivals are faring. When Newsweek and US News print their top schools and yours makes the list, officials create a large banner to hang over the school entrance, the highway overpass, and the website front page. When the kids dominate the test, buyers target our school district and pay top dollar for a home here so their kids can attend the “top-rated” schools. Homes in my neighborhood often sell within one week, for asking price, even during these “tough economic times.” A friend in real estate told me that families from China are coming to their office with a million dollars in cash to look for a home in our district. No one told this to my 8 year-old, but it’s as if she’s internalized it.
Our school district, like thousands of others in at least 36 states, has invested in an online test prep program called Study Island. Sophia wants to practice taking tests every night now, and for about the past week, this has been her primary “homework.” I’m ok with the quality of the program, and realize the kids need to practice how to take the test, in order to level the playing field – if others are practicing then I feel better if my child is prepared, too. I’d rather not buy in to that thinking, but when your child attends public school, this sort of activity becomes part of the “price” we pay. Other critiques of the test prep program are found here and here, from a teacher. I also realize that kids in some countries, like Singapore, parts of China and Korea, with some of the best test results in the world, prep even harder than ours. But I also know that in countries like Finland, the world’s top-rated education system, such testing doesn’t occur until 12th grade, and no teachers, students or schools are judged based on standardized testing. While the East Asians are increasingly seeking to get out of the anxiety-inducing, creativity-crushing, test-prep culture, we are looking to emulate them.
Exacerbating matters, I found out that our Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Corbett’s “proposed 2012-13 budget calls for a 43 percent increase in funding for educational assessments, to $52 million, even as it keeps school funding generally flat and cuts spending on state-related universities.” This also comes at a time when our school district is considering imposing fees, like a $50-$100 fee for every club a high schooler will join – an act which won’t bring in much money, but is sure to increase social isolation; and down the street, in struggling Chester-Upland schools, teachers are working without pay.
Yay – the exam secrets revealed!Last night when Sophia was going to bed, she asked me, almost shaking: “mommy, can we say some prayers so I do ok on the PSSA?” I said something like “Sure, let’s also say prayers so you feel peace in your heart. You really don’t need to worry about the test. You are going to do fine. Your sisters (8 and 10 years older than her, who were among the first to experience standardized testing, before the frenzy kicked in) never prepared for the test. They just got enough sleep, had a good breakfast, and went to school happy. I hope you can do that. You’re going to be great. You’re more prepared than anyone I know!” I don’t think I reassured her much.
This prayer we said helped her more than my pep talk:
O God! Educate these children. These children are the plants of Thine orchard, the flowers of Thy meadow, the roses of Thy garden. Let Thy rain fall upon them; let the Sun of Reality shine upon them with Thy love. Let Thy breeze refresh them in order that they may be trained, grow and develop, and appear in the utmost beauty. Thou art the Giver. Thou art the Compassionate. (From the Baha’i Prayer book)
This is a prayer she’s been singing and saying since she was about three, and last night it took on special significance. I hope she’ll remember the qualities of beauty, love, inclusion and inspiration emphasized here. She’ll have enough worries, tests and challenges when she grows up. For now, the education I really hope she gets emphasizes resilience, curiosity, compassion, and creativity. These are the qualities our world so badly needs – but are tough to capture when filling in the bubbles.
Has testing taken over at your home? How are you handling it?
12 Comments
November 6, 2012 at 3:14 am by Weekend Spa Breaks for 2I enjoy what you guys tend to be up too. This type of clever work and coverage!
Keep up the excellent works guys I’ve you guys to our blogroll.
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March 17, 2012 at 11:00 am by Leean interesting article re: another angle on the testing problem -
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/papers/wymiwyg.html
in NC, the TEST begins in 3rd grade, and one of my third graders had several crying sessions about her “permanent” record, etc…
and many of the second graders feel exaggerated anxiety about entering third grade because of the test.
such a sad situation, the undue stress placed on these kids.
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March 14, 2012 at 11:50 am by sylvia martinezHana,
Please don’t resign yourself to this. Tests are not inevitable, they are a nationwide crusade to devalue public education while simultaneously putting dollars into the pockets of people who make the tests and want to run private test prep factory schools on the public dime. Read Susan Ohanian http://www.susanohanian.org/ and Diane Ravitch.
I opted my kids out of this testing. You can do it too. You have to ease your child into it because of the kinds of mind games the schools play on kids who just want to do well like your daughter. It may be better to wait a few years until she can handle it, but consider it. There are lots of parents doing the same.
But even if you opt her out, the damage is being done by the prep work that has replaced real learning. This is what we have to fight. These tests are not going away, and they are stealing time and funding away from what really matters in schools. Teachers are worried about their jobs, parents don’t know what to do, and so everyone is allowing this to happen.
These test prep study guides, even electronic ones, and not good for children and not good for learning – it’s worse than just a waste of time, they convince children that the goal of learning is to guess what the teacher or test wants to hear. It undermines learning in an insidious way that simply has to be pointed out by moms like you. Everyone is thinking the same thing – I guarantee you if you ask the parents in your kids class, they are secretly wondering the same thing, but scared if they say it, it’s admitting their kid is flawed.
Alfie Kohn wrote ‘tandardized Testing and its Victims’ http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/staiv.htm , and ‘Fighting the Tests: A Practical Guide to Rescuing Our Schools’ http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/ftt.htm
There articles offer facts and resources that parents can use to fight these tests.
Your daughter is showing remarkable perception about resisting something that is truly bad for her.
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Homa Tavangar Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 9:54 pm
@sylvia martinez, Thank you for your wonderful comment and excellent resources. I’m getting so many messages similar to yours. We really do need to push back – but many have been for a long time, and that’s where I’m surprised by the lack of change. The politics and economics really do need to shift (one reason I think Momsrising is terrific!!!) while parents need to stay attuned with their children, and speak out for them.
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I have so much to say about this, but let me start here…my brother is a teacher in Finland and I have quizzed him extensively on their education system. They revere teachers like they do doctors or lawyers. The public looks up to them. The classes are taught more as discussions…it is a back and forth. Not as much as a here is what I am teaching, now go home and do homework. The teacher’s job there is not to move on until they know that every student understands it. That is why there are no officials tests until graduation. Of course, not every educational system is perfect, but we can certainly learn something if we look at others at not assume that our is the best. I’ll just leave it at that for now.
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Homa Tavangar Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 9:56 pm
@Meredith, Have you seen the film “The Finland Phenomenon”? I hyper-link to it in my article here, with the word Finland. It’s excellent! Confirms all your points.
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The sad part is, this is what politics has done to our children. In an effort to not leave child behind, tests like these leave tons of children behind. Here in Virginia, standardized testing starts in Kindergarten. The entire curriculum is based upon the tests, even in Special Needs classrooms where life skills should be taught. Instead of learning how to feed himself, Tommy, who is non-mobile and non-verbal will be forced to take a standardized test so that his school will receive state and federal funding, though he cannot hold a pencil or write his name. And my son, who is a 13 year old 8th grader, will be attending school every Saturday from now until May 12, 2012, to prepare for the Geometry section of his standardized test. Also here in VA, the child fails their grade if they do not pass their SOL tests as the testing is used as their finals. All three of my children (13, 11, and 7) freak out during this time of year of these tests. I was hoping that it wasn’t like this everywhere as my husband is retiring from the Navy after this school year and we’re moving back “home.” But, I guess it is.
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Homa Tavangar Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 9:28 pm
@Bobbi Taylor, that sounds worse than what we have, but the scary thing is that this process seems to be spinning out of control – your experience might be what awaits us. I’m really, really sorry to hear this. And also sorry that what I describe isn’t new, but just seems to get worse, while everyone seems to know better. Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
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Thank you for sharing your story, and your daughter’s. As a mother to a little girl who feels the weight of the world on her shoulders, these tests make me very angry, and very sad. Sad that the joy of learning is trumped by competititon and scoring. And for children that tend to be high-stressed, these tests can be so scary, and completely erode their confidence in natural learning. I’m thankful for the chance to homeschool next year, I don’t have the heart or stomach, nor the patience for public education.
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Homa Tavangar Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 9:30 pm
@Melanie, Homeschooling definitely looks appealing, especially during standardized testing season. Good luck as you embark on this new education journey! Hope you’ll stay in touch via twitter @growingupglobal or comment on facebook.com/growingupglobal.
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My heart goes out to your family and to all those others who are dealing with this type of testing. Among many others, this is one reason why our family has chosen to home school. Last year my daughter took a standardized test for the first time without preparation and no hoopla with other home school kids. She tested extremely well and said it was fun. I would have been ok if she didn’t test well. It really has no bearing on her overall education, in my opinion. I am so saddened and angered by the damage being done to children’s emotional well-being by the stress and pressure placed on them to perform well. I love that your daughter chose to say prayers to help her through this trial.
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Homa Tavangar Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 9:34 pm
@Jana, Our eldest daughter, now a freshman in college, also didn’t have the burden of these tests since elementary school and so she didn’t feel this stress – definitely had a more carefree experience! I also hope that my daughter can continue a prayerful, reflective attitude to get her through difficulties. It touched me so much that she did that, so it meant alot to share that. Thanks for your comment.
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