I do believe there are students that aren't good test takers, as you have stated.. So, all in all achievement tests do not tell everything about a child.
But there has to be some measure to take on what is being taught in the school that will be useful in years to come and in Life in general.

There are not tons of jobs out there for people that are totally for "Free thinkers". There are basics that must be learned. In grammar school, Jr. High and through out High school.

I agree a class will benefit from the teacher if he/she reviews material which the students don't understand. I am for that as I am sure every parent is.
I can't believe anyone would believe in
telling students to guess on the answer on these testings. Of course it does go on. But a child would just have to be very unusually lucky and rare to guess the correct answers on these type of tests, and make good. But it could possibly happen but sooner or later on the next test this guessing on test would catch up with the student. I don't believe any teacher wants her class to guess at answers. She wants them to know and feel confident they know the answers.
Sometimes you may have a child one year that doesn't do that well on a test and the following year because of maturing or because the child is trying his/her best they do very well on the tests. This is not uncommon at all.

I think there is time for "Teaching the Basics" along with critical thinking. There has to be room for both.

Mommabear

I think testing is a very useful tool. And it is needed. But the standardized test are just that test that are suppose to show what the majority of the children have learned and just how well they have learned.

I am for "Teaching the Basics" first. By that I am meaning to teach Reading, Writing, Math, English, History, Geography,Science. Other things that aren't the basic like the "Arts" and perhaps "Additional Information 'advanced' in any of the basics mentioned above" or studies in any additional science or other suject should be just that extra.
If the "Basics" are studied then the average child should achieve well on the test. He/she should be at their grade level or above their grade level.

Some children may be at their grade level but just aren't good at shading in those circles with their number 2 pencils :-) Or their Number 2 pencils might break, or they on a real bummer day , after having a bad experience with the first No. 2 pencil, lose their second no. 2 pencil, and are afraid or unsure whether they should ask for an additional pencil. This sort of bummer day could make the child not even complete the test!
I am not making these things up, these sort of things DO Happens!
You can't always tell , just by the test alone. But they are needed, to give a general overall view of what a majority of the children know, and are taught.

My reaction was to Alfie Kohn's website, not your response. Sorry to be so abrupt.

I don't think the tests are meant to tell EVERTHING about a child. Just how well the child did on the test. There is much more to a child than his/her test scores. However, we need to do a purely academic assessment of the kids to see where they stand. Some of the uses of the test scores are indeed specious, but that doesn't mean the test themselves are useless.

Flowergirl:

We can't bring every child down to the level of the kids who are in the worst situations. The purpose of standardized tests are NOT to ensure that the kids parents take care of them. I feel sorry for kids who live in places where there is nobody to take care of them properly. However, that is not an excuse for not testing them.

Mommabear

I have said in the past that some of the things these tests are used for are stupid. I don't see the sense of taking money away from schools that are already doing poorly and giving the money to schools that are already doing well. I just don't think that a poor political process is a reason to stop assessing the academic progress of all kids.

I think the Alfie Kohn article is opinion dressed up as academic research.

Mommabear

Why?

Either the child knows the material or he doesn't. Does factoring in SES with the scores change the level of knowledge and skill the child possesses, or change the quality of that school from which a low set of scores came?

Ok, proceeding past the first two paragraphs, hesitantly.

Alfie is predisposed to his own conclusion, because early on, he states:
"We must make the fight against standardized tests our top priority because, until we have chased this monster from the schools, it will be difficult, perhaps even impossible, to pursue the kinds of reforms that can truly improve teaching and learning."
This predisposition makes me tend to want to challenge his stats with research of my own. Flowergirldeb, I recommend that, as you strive to your goal of becoming an educator, that you challenge everything you read and hear, with a healthy amount of doubt - enough doubt to check facts and stats for yourself. Every writer in the public forum has their own agenda, and may gather and display only those stats that support their own agenda.

I agree that tests and their results are being misused, and that some teachers forego some curriculum to 'teach to the test'.

However, throwing out the test is not the answer. The test, in and of itself, is not the cause of the problem. Each parent must stay involved in their local boards of education meetings, and PTA/PTO's, and in their children's schools. When evidence of misuse is seen, address it.

Many times the standardized test CAN tell about the teacher also. One child of mine that always made in the 90 % category on the Standford Achievement test ( that is the upper 10%) One year when she had the worst teacher that only got page 30 of the 300 page MATH BOOK- she made 77% instead of in the upper 90's on her test. The teacher that year thought it was great! My daughter had made the highest in Math on the test in her class. (I wonder why??) I had helped her but was trying to provide her with books and having a younger child come in with reading etc.
The child (daughter)that year made straight A+ , but I wasn't impressed.

I worked on the Math that summer and the next year she again made in the upper 90's in everything. So, I DO think the Achievement test as well, can many at times tell if the teacher is teaching or not. Without my help that year my daughter may have made in the 30-40% range even though she has a high I.Q.

This test tells what the child learned, either by what he/she was taught , or by if the child paid attention and learned, but not an I.Q. test. Or as a child I know did in the earlier grades did on His test , he just marked "C"s on every answer and so doing NOT very good. This of course did not tell a whole lot of anything about the child,THAT YEAR this is an exception to the rule though.
(Someone told this child that most of the answers were usually "C" so he saw just didn't even read the questions and shaded in the "C" 'sounds like something that would be on "Leave It to Beaver" doesn't it :) This is an unusual case. And like I said before some very young children that have not taken this sort of test may have trouble with shading in the circles one year, but the following year they should catch on enough to know what to do.

This test is needed to test both the student and to help determine if the teacher is doing his/her job also.

Flowergirl,
Did you not have to take an ACT test or a SAT test to enter college??? No one let you in without one(?)
These type of tests are expected in Life. And if you are a teacher of any kind - for children in this country -(at an accredited school)you will be expected to give achievement tests, whether you like them or not. You will probably not have a choice in this matter.

Here is a link to a speech by Richard Atkinson, the president of the Universities:

http://www.ucop.edu/pres/speeches/achieve.htm

A quote:

"Aptitude tests such as the SAT I have a historical tie to the concept of innate mental abilities and the belief that such abilities can be defined and meaningfully measured. Neither notion has been supported by modern research. Few scientists who have considered these matters seriously would argue that aptitude tests such as the SAT I provide a true measure of intellectual abilities."

A great option for anyone who doesn't want to take the SATs or does poorly on them is to go to community college - they never require SAT scores. Once you have your two-year degree at a community college, most states have agreements where you can automatically transfer into state universities if your GPA is high enough, even the most competitive state universities. Even in states without these agreements, most colleges don't require SAT scores from any transfer students, since they have already proven what they can do in college. And, you are considered a transfer student after earning just 45 credits - one year at a community college.

I went to a few community college classes while I was in high school, and the experience was really rewarding, and I think, in a way, that it would be a better experience for a person who just graduated high school than attending a big university would be. Going to classes with adults who are working, and have children, and paying for their own schooling, really makes you realize what the value of an education is. Going to classes with a bunch of 18- and 19- year old kids who are being supported by their parents but living on their own, well, you can have a lot of fun (I know I did). Anyway, I didn't mean to go off on a tangent, I just meant to say that it is really not hard at all to get into a good four-year-college without taking the SATs.

It has to do with which college you want to attend. I am sure my daughter could have entered any college that she wanted to, but she chose to stay in state and go to college.

I understand and know about how you can transfer grades from a Jr. College to a four year college. But Jr. Colleges in this state require the ACT test.

I hope that you do incorporate the basics into your learning program as well.

I know of no college in my area that does not require that an ACT or other test be taken before entering college. Perhaps because you took the test long ago-the requirement of the test was fulfilled, no matter the score.

I mean it's not like YOU get to decide this at times. And there is that something called "Tenure" that you just might not get if you don't do whatever the school system you teach at requires. Or worse you could get fired for not following directions, before the tenure situation ever came about.

If you want to keep your job you will teach what the principal tells you to teach. The teachers are GIVEN the curriculum. They usually have some latitude on HOW they cover the subject matter, but the subject matter is not of their choosing. So if certains days are meant to be "test prep" days, you will have to comply.

Mommabear

The basic curriculum will include teaching the kids to read a paragraph and glean the "main idea". This is a big part of the reading tests. You WILL have to teach this whether you like it or not.

The basic curriculum will include some worksheets on the type of math problems that are found on the standardized tests.

Nobody will tell you HOW to teach this material, but the material will be provided TO YOU. You WILL have to teach it whether you agree with it or not.

Mommabear