Why You Can't "Standardize" Children - Another Reason to Homeschool
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 at 5:01AM
'Tis the season.
In our neck of the woods it's the CRCT.
I've taught in systems where it was the ITBS. When I taught in the state of Texas it was the TAAS.
Whatever the letters you give them, standardized tests cause children to dread going to school for a week (sometimes longer) because they know the drudergy and boredom that awaits them.
I am well aware of the "NEED" for standardized tests.
I have a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership and Supervision. I spent two years of my life learning how to perpetuate the mass education and standardization of our nation's children - to turn them all into dutiful workers for the state. Before that I spent 10 years administering tests as a teacher in the public schools.
I could spout off dozens of "whys" for standardized testing.
I will be giving my own children the ITBS next month. I don't want to, but I have to (per the state of Georgia), and I know they need to be familiar with the reality of testing in our society.
No matter why they take the tests, children can't be STANDARDIZED, and neither can their learning.
Children are More than a Test
If you really KNOW a child, you know they are so much more than a test. They are heart, soul, creativity, feelings, and a host of other things.
How can you measure subjective qualities like that?
Judging children by a test totally discounts their personalities and God given abilities.
Standardized Tests Can Be Outdated and Biased
When I was teaching I had a child ask me a question during the ITBS. This child was supposed to answer a series of questions based upon a picture.
That picture was of a telephone booth. This was the year 2000. Phone booths were nearly obsolete, and in our suburban area this child had never seen one and didn't know what it was.
I couldn't help them.
That child missed every question in that section.
Their self esteem suffered because of a dumb test. I remember feeling so powerless.
I also worked in a 100% African American school. I wasn't aware how biased these tests are against African American children, but they are.
Ridiculous, right?
The system is so broken it's just overwhelming to even think about fixing it - so we'll just keep doing what we are doing.
Teachers Are Devalued by Standardized Tests
I know so many wonderful teachers that were required to "teach to the test". They knew it was wrong, but they had to follow the rules of their administration.
I worked in one school where we had to place our learning objectives on a bulletin board in the hall... specific objectives in state mandated language. When people from the central office came by they were supposed to see evidence of "instruction to match testing goals."
Blech.
Those poor teachers. Talk about stifling creativity.
Those poor students.
Poor everyone involved, really.
Standardized Tests Bring Out The Worst in People
People will go to great lengths to ensure their school performs well on "the test".
Just consider what went on right here in Atlanta a few years ago. How sad.
Reading this sums it up:
It "confirms our worst fears," says Mayor Kasim Reed. "There is no doubt that systemic cheating occurred on a widespread basis in the school system." The news is “absolutely devastating," said Brenda Muhammad, chairwoman of the Atlanta school board. "It’s our children. You just don’t cheat children.”
You just don't cheat children.
Or do we?
A Personal Story
I didn't really think very deeply about standardized tests until my daughter was affected by them. She always tested well. So well, in fact, that her second grade teacher recommended (after good test scores and personal observation) that she be "tested" for the talented and gifted program at her school (called REACH).
As a parent, I was very proud. She took the tests.
We waited for the results.
Rather than receiving a call, or even an email, my daughter got off the bus one day with an envelope. The gifted teacher had given it to her that day at school and had told her not to open it. It was for mom and dad to open.
She excitedly gave it to me, anticipating the results inside.
Looking back, I should have waited and opened it privately. Instead, however, we opened it together in the driveway.
Inside, the message (in bold type) said:
"Your child, Anna, did NOT qualify for the REACH program."
From that instant I had a very disappointed little girl in my house. Nothing we could tell her would make her feel better about herself.
I didn't care one bit about her not getting into the gifted program. I cared about my precious girl's heart that had been crushed - her self esteem trampled on.
I expressed my dissatisfaction with the teacher and the principal.
I kept thinking in the back of my mind how she would be pigeon holed into a track of classes in middle school - not eligible for "honors classes" because she wasn't on that gifted track.
I felt sick to my stomach. How could "THEY" know -- that my daughter - at the age of 8 - could be confined to a lower track than other children?
This was one of the final nails in our public school coffin.
The final nail came when in the beginning of third grade, at the first parent-teacher conference, her teacher told me what a lovely girl Anna was. She said (and I quote) "I don't see her as "gifted" but she certainly loves to please and this will take her far."
I wanted to mention how this "desire to please" and "love of learning" might just ensure her success more than someone who was naturally "gifted". Her drive and determination might actually serve her better in life.
I knew then and there I couldn't leave my child in this environment for much longer.
Oh, I know many children that did just fine there, but I wasn't willing to leave my child's future in the hands of a system that clearly didn't have her best interest at heart.
And I think, if many parents really ask themselves what is best for their own child, they would agree with me.
But I also think that many parents are just too uninformed, hesitant, or afraid of homeschooling to give it a try.
My daughter left that school just one month later... and the rest is history.
Yet Another Reason to Homeschool
My children's education now is SO FAR from what I was perpetuating 15 years ago.
I "measure" my children's learning through interest led, creative endeavors now.
I am so thankful for the right to homeschool. I am thankful to let my children be who God created them to be. I am thankful they will not be judged by their ability to "bubble in".
I am thankful for the courage we had to pull our kids out of a system that so obviously segregates, subdues, and shuts down our children.
In recent months I've thought a lot about how fortunate we are to homeschool, and how that decision has changed my family's life in so many ways. You might enjoy these popular posts:
How Homeschooling Turned Me Upside Down
Stop Telling Me Why You Can't Homeschool
I Want To Start Homeschooling But I Need Help
I'm curious - do you have to give your children standardized tests in your state? What are the requirements?
What are YOUR thoughts on standardized tests?
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Reader Comments (30)
Gratefully, our state does not require testing. However, two years ago I decided it was time to test them, just in case. I had a 5th grader, 6th grader, and 9th grader. They scored exactly where I thought they would. It confirmed to me that I know my children and don't need testing to tell me where they are in their learning. That is the only time they have ever been tested. I think we will wait for the SAT for our next tests.
We aren't required to give standardized tests in AL. But most homeschool moms I know have given them to their kids one time or another. I have no interest in putting my kids through them.
When I was in California (1983-86), I took those tests a couple of times. The first time, I was chosen as the best student to represent the county. I was given an award and told by counselors and professionals that I was gifted. The second time I took them, I was a freshman in High School. Again I was labeled as gifted and when they found out I was going to Brazil they wondered why. When I told them I was a native of Brazil and had only lived in the US for the past 2.5 years they could not believe how I had achieved such high scores in those tests.
I knew better than believe that I was gifted. Don't get me wrong, I think we are ALL gifted in one area or another. We are all exceptional people with talents and gifts that are unique and given to us by our Creator. But when they told my parents I was gifted, what they were saying was that I had some exceptional intelligence that was able to score high on those tests. Not so... I was just a very logical person and knew how to take tests. Most of the subjects covered in those tests were dumbed down. So yeah, while I took advanced math, science class, French and other academic courses, instead of the home economics and drama classes, I wasn't super dedicated. The classes were really dumbed down. I remember NEVER taking homework home. I would do homework in class. Sometimes, the day it had to be turned in while the teacher was verifying who was present in class.
I really liked to read and write. I had a great imagination. Was depressed most of my teen years (never on medication)... but other than that, I was just normal. When I went to Brazil, I had to really hit the books and dedicate myself to some hard core studying. I flunked one year in High School because I taught I could continue the lifestyle I had in California.
So yeah, I don't really care about putting my kids through testing right now (they are between 10 and 3y.o.)... maybe when they are in High School... don't know. I am more concerned about instilling in them a love for learning... finding out how they learn best, what they like to do, find their talents and gifts, try out new opportunities. I don't want to fit my kids into anyone's box!!! I want to keep them out of the box at all cost! :)
I feel blessed to live in a state that does not require testing. Yeah!
PA requires testing in 3, 5, and 8th grades. We've always used the CAT, and my boys usually just blow through them and get it over with in a day or two. They hate them, but they know they have to "play along".
Your article hit me in the gut, 'cause I had roughly the same experience with my Eldest Manling. The teacher "caught" him reading books she felt were far above his reading level in third grade (the fifth Harry Potter, as a matter of fact). She said there was no possible way he could understand what was in the books as he only tested at...whatever level, which was nowhere near what the HP books were leveled at. I just looked at her and said, "you do realize that's an 800 page book? if he didn't understand it, don't you think he'd have give up?" (He finished it prior to this particular conference.) She was adamant that there was no way he could be reading like that, and then she also went on to comment that "he's always reading during class time too."
*insert deep breath*
Was he being disruptive or not completing assignments? Was he reading while she was teaching? "Well, no." PAUSE. "But he gets his work done far too quickly, and then he's back into his book." Is he failing to complete his work properly? "No. But I don't understand how he's getting done so quickly and correctly. He TESTS far below the gifted level."
I had to take a moment to apologize. I had in fact been responsible for the creation of a child EXACTLY like his mother. There was no one else whom I could blame, his father not being the bookworm that I am. Obviously this child's "failing" could only be laid at MY feet.
I asked to see the last "leveled test" he had taken, and I nearly fell asleep just trying to read through the dumbed-down story. I looked at his teacher and said, "Could the reason be that, rather than my son NOT being up to the test, this test is actually NOT up to my son? I doubt I COULD get through that without a strong cup of coffee!" She stated that she didn't see why a story had to be "interesting" for a child to perform well on a test.
That was the point where I cut her off and said, "Never mind. I'll stop distressing your perfect little world. He's going to be homeschooled from now on." And we left the school, and he's never been back. He graduates in less than two months. No he's not gifted. He's turned out to be a rather ordinary young man...with an extraordinary heart and a love for God that I can't explain. But to me and his father and three younger brothers, he's all ours. And I don't regret taking him out or the almost ten years of homeschooling since.
I also live in Geogia and this is the first year we've experienced the CRCTs. Our second grader had to take them and they "prepped" for 45 days (wasted an entire 9 week session) cramming all the information the students "had to know" down their throats. He was so stressed and worried about the CRCT that he got his brother, who's in first grade and didn't have to take the test, stressed out about it! And to add to (I think it was Carrie's comment), they have done nothing but party and play since CRCTs finished. There was basically a month of school left after CRCTs and it's like there was nothing of importance after the test was over...which I guess is correct when you are teaching to the test. Your job is done come test time. :(
We have decided to homeschool our boys starting next school year and our oldest is already asking if we can just start now. He doesn't even want to finish this year! I find it incredibly sad that he is that eager to get out of school, but completely understandable when you look at what it has become thanks to the common core requierments and CRCTs. And, in conversation with his teacher, I found out that the DOE has changed things so that starting next year the teacher's salaries will be based upon their classes' CRCT scores! This is just getting better and better...
We are required by the state to test 3rd, 5th, 8th and 10th grades. I do not like standardized testing at all. I don't think these kind of tests show anything as far as what the child knows. Add in that some children [and people] do not test well [my youngest STRESSES about anything connected to the word test] and the results are even more useless.