Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education/Assessment/Testing

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Jessica Harris 22 September 2007

How can we develop a new testing system, emphasizing such areas as creativity and knowing how to work with ideas and abstractions, and functioning on teams?

Introduction Students are different from one another, and therefore think differently. One child may reach a conclusion through the elimination of incorrect answers, another may be able to narrow down the possibilities through key words that they recognize/remember from class lectures, while another may distinctly remember the passage that inspired the question. Children will always be able to reach their conclusions differently, and this is perhaps one of the most wonderful gifts of all, variety, because it is through other’s viewpoints and collaborations that great work is accomplished. Current System The current system is a set of standardized testing common referred to as the Virginia Standards of Learning assessment test. These are given to students at regular grade intervals throughout the entirety of a student’s education, from elementary school to the end of high school. These tests measure knowledge retention of certain subjects only, such as science or social studies courses with little to no emphasis on music or the more creative aspects of public education. The prevailing theory is that these creative aspects are less important than other subjects and their inclusion into testing material would place more on a student’s plate to know and these creative skills are view as “less useful” in the real world then their more practical counterparts. The Problem So, the question posed is why are schools expecting students of different academic levels and thought processes to reach the same conclusion year after year? The majority of teachers and administrators have insisted that the best way to maintain the school’s tests scores are to present material in the classroom that is guaranteed to make an appearance on state testing. Details and elaboration is deemed unnecessary and even a “waste” of classroom time, because teachers are required to rush through material, covering the subjects quickly and concisely, in order to ensure that students across the state are at the same level at the end of the school day. Teaching SOLs were an easy way to guarantee that students were being presented with the same material, and should therefore be able to answer the same questions at the end of the year. Through this system, students are being encouraged to maintain a certain level of knowledge. Students who have difficulty understanding material are being tutored and given additional lecture time to keep up test scores, while students who understand the material are being held back from actual learning because they have accomplished the level of acceptability in the classroom. Smarter children are reaching the same conclusion: “As long as I can pass the SOLs, I don’t need to learn anything else.” How Students are coping with the problem Students in general are learning how to answer a test question in order to be awarded with the maximum amount of points. When faced with an essay question, children are likely to answer the question as how they personally believe the writer of the question expected it to be answered. Creativity and personal opinions, although occasionally incorporated into essays, are often dismissed because students assume that the graders will immediately “mark down” their grades because they didn’t answer the question the “right” way. Therefore, our children are being conditioned to study and conform to the grader’s standards. Judith Harris, in The Nurture Assumption,1 reviews significant amounts of evidence taken in via tribal societies. She concludes that imitation is our natural way to learn. Village children are given over to the care of slightly older children. By imitating slightly older children, they learn to survive and thrive. When children experience astounding successes, they tend to imitate the very successful example for following assignments and tasks. There can be lots of natural success when we imitate successful examples. Although this can be beneficial in some cases, in most all that it does is reduce creative thought and out-of-the-box thinking. Instead of taking initiative and exploring several different approaches and ideas, students are restricting themselves by taking a “safe” route for the assignment. This philosophy is also being continued in the workplace. When reports and presentations are required, the worker will present the information in such a way that they believe the receiver expects it to be presented, therefore restricting new ideas and possibilities. Possible Solutions Students are taught in today’s school systems that there is only one correct answer. This does not parallel the real world, for there are always multiple alternatives and possibilities to solve a problem. What children today are learning is that in order to succeed in life, they need to find the most correct answer, instead of identifying answers that, although not the most correct, also answer the question. It is necessary for students to be able to automatically assume that there is more than one correct answer, and through reasoning and thought processes, be able to identify which is the most accurate, and therefore, the best course of action. This is achievable through a variety of alternative test questions. 1. Fluency test Items. Ask questions that have more than one acceptable answer, and give credit based on the number of correct and tenable answers a student offers. Ask the student to rank the answers according to which answers are best, which are average, and which are less than average in quality. Example question: What are the reasons that an artist might be inspired to make a drawing of a landscape? 2. Write the opposites test. The students are asked to fill in the blank after each word by writing the opposite meaning of the word. In research, highly creative people have been found to intuitively come up with opposites faster and more frequently than average creative people. 3. Essay test. Essay tests can assess creative thinking or they can be directed at only memory and knowledge. Good questions can be posed to require imagination and problem solving that builds on knowledge acquired in the course and on thinking skills practiced in the course. For example, "List and describe the drawing and seeing skills you practiced during our 'Negative Space' assignment. Then write a different assignment that you could do at home to practice the same skills. Make it as different as you can, but still practice the same seeing and drawing skills." Once a teacher is able to incorporate some of these alternative questions, he/she needs to make sure they are comfortable with the way several of your tests forms work, keep refining them until the teacher and their students agree that they achieve both valid and reliable results. A valid test faithfully measures what your course teaches rather than general knowledge that many student would know anyway. A reliable test consistently measures which students learned the most and you can be confident that luck was not a major factor in the results. Students are taught in today’s school systems that there is only one correct answer. Even in questions that have the answers of “E. All of the Above”, students only have to reason that if two of the four are correct, then the others must also be correct, when the truth is that they didn’t know that the other two answers were accurate. Instead of students simply expecting there to be one correct answer, they need to be able to expect there to be the possibility of more than one being correct. Some teachers are exploring fluency test items, questions that have more than one acceptable answer, and points being awarded on the number of correct answers that the student circles. Group Dynamics It is much easier to grade a child’s intelligence through test questions and creative expression than through observation of their group interactions and dynamics. The question has been posed in the past: should we incorporate group interaction into grades? Although it is a very important component of our future, there is no consistent and unbiased way to gauge a child’s “skills” for group work. In order to grade student’s skills, it would be necessary to divide the classroom up into multiple groups, and this would automatically create problems and inequalities. If there is a “problem” child, or one that refuses to do their fair share of the work, then the group with he/she as a member would be severely disadvantaged, and could possibly receive a lower grade. A fellow group, on the other hand, could have two or more extremely bright students with access to resources that other students might not have access to. Some teachers have tried to make up for the uncertainty of group power through peer evaluation forms, attempting to ensure that a child will not refuse to complete an assignment and simply mooch off of the other group mates to receive a good grade. However, in cases where there is a socially-inapt student that is disliked, or even hated, then it is possible that the group mates may lie on the paper and ensure the particular students failure through a simple he-said/she-said argument. There will always be groups that, through collaboration, will insist on giving the entire group a perfect score, giving them an unfair advantage as compared to groups that honestly answered their questionnaires and may have received mediocre scores. Whether or not group interaction will ever be included in testing in the future is uncertain, but there will always be obstacles and hindrances to the application of such an endeavor. Conclusion In today’s schools, there is no room for inspiration, no real motivator to learn for the simple joy of learning. The Solution is to incorporate unique test questions that not only measure the knowledge that the state deems as “necessary for future success”, but that encourage thought and creative processes, as well as engaging students in inventive discussions with other classmates in order to foster a group dynamic that will be invaluable in the real world to come. References

Harris, Judith. The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do. 1998. Simon and Schuster, New York. 
Kotulak, Ronald. "Word Test Used to Spot Creative Geniuses." Chicago Tribune, October 2, 1983, page 1.   
Rothenberg, Albert. "Creative Contradictions"  Psychology Today, June, 1979. Pages 55-79. 

Diepenbrock, George. "Parents Criticize School Testing." LJWorld.Com. 06 Apr. 2007. 18 Sept. 2007 <http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/apr/06/parents_criticize_school_testing/?education>.

Mathews, Jay. "Let's Teach to the Test." 20 Feb. 2006. 12 Sept. 2007 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/19/AR2006021900976.html>.

Sidebar http://youtube.com/watch?v=jLfYHXDO-bc Example of how the current system reinforces noncreative solutions to testing. http://youtube.com/watch?v=4bkvsXCMqfo A question posed to presidential candidates inquiring about whether teachers will ever be able to teach again… not to the test.

Multiple Choice Questions:

Which of the following are possible alternatives (for the age-old test questions) that foster creative reasoning? Warning: There may be more than one correct answer A.) Essay Test with “Good” Questions B.) Fluency Test Items C.) Write the Opposites Test The term “SOLs” stand for: A.) Standards of Learning B.) Standardized Organized Labs C.) Simply Ordinary Learning When children experience astounding successes, they tend to: A.) Explore other ways to complete similar assignments B.) Imitate the very successful example for following assignments and tasks. C.) Compare the success to past assignments, and reflect on how to improve their future ‘projects Through “teaching to the test” (SOLs in particular) who is hurt? Warning: There may be more than one correct answer A.) Above average students B.) Average students C.) Below average students Through research, it has been found that students who are easily able to identify opposites faster and more frequently than average people possess: A.) Average levels of creativity B.) Below average levels of creativity C.) High levels of creativity

Multiple Choice Answers: 1.) A, B, and C 2.) A 3.) B 4.) A , B, and C 5.) C

Essay Question: Summarize in a short paragraph the problems with today’s testing systems. What is a solution that could ratify one or more concerns about the current system?

Sample Essay: Teach only to the test Stifle creativity Rigid and inflexible teaching that does not comply with real world scenarios

The problem with today’s testing system is that it teaches only to what is on the test. By their very nature tests are only a sample of the most likely parcels of information that a given student should know in order to cope with real world issues. This problem is two-fold. The first problem is that it teaches an inflexible and rigid solution structure that does not comply with the fluidity of the current real world market. The real world demands that students are capable of thinking of non-standard solutions in order to obtain a competitive edge and succeed in life. A solution that would be acceptable would be to have tests use a multiple choice format that rewards students for choosing the best, and most likely scenarios, with points given for creative solutions applied to the question. This could be accomplished by using a “multiple multiple” choice format, wherein the question has two or more correct answers that students must identify from at least 5-6 possible choices. This concept reinforces total learning of seemingly random effects to incorporate them into a real world solution or overview. This format would also serve as a better indicator of preparedness because students would have to read more often and know more material then just the basic knowledge of “what is on the SOL’s” to date. In this fashion tests could be made better to improve overall learning capabilities and student performance in general education.