Tests are a Tool, Not an End
by State Senator Liz Krueger

Last year I created a high school civics education program to encourage students to think critically about government and politics. Through experiential learning and active participation, they demonstrated a level of civic understanding that I cannot imagine would have been measurable through a written exam. I realize this is a microscopic example, and I do not claim any pedagogical expertise. I am simply recognizing that there are many ways to learn and to demonstrate mastery of complex issues. If our goal is to prepare students to be civically minded citizens who will actively engage in a democratic society, strengthen communities, and meet the challenges of family life and the careers they choose, we must provide them with every opportunity to excel. If high stakes tests have the potential to limit our children’s opportunities for success, they cannot be the only road provided to move toward educational attainment.

Public opinion polls show that two-thirds of Americans currently support standardized national tests and curriculum for school children. Standards seem to be a focus at every level—assessing students and schools for proficiency, ensuring quality teaching, providing school options, and funding and enforcing changes at the worst schools.

The dilemma is not the understandable demand for more “accountability,” but the dangers of moving toward a “one-size-fits-all” model of education where our schools evolve into “one-size-fits none” teach-to-test factories.

Uniform tests present clear goals and used as an evaluative tool can provide students, parents and schools a way to measure progress toward meeting these goals. But, there are dangers in viewing standardized test results as the end product of education. First, these tests should only be used as a method of determining the progress that has been made and who needs special assistance to move toward target goals. Second, we need to continue efforts to address problems with reliability and validity of standardized tests when they are administered.

All children are different, and using high-stakes testing as the only measure of success is sure to result in failure for those who are not great test-takers. Because of the concurrent pressures on teachers and administrators from standardized testing, they may in turn give up on the children who need the most help, viewing them as not capable of learning because of their lower test scores. We also can’t allow our desire to standardize accountability to result in exacerbating the current situation where New York has dismal graduation rates; with documented reports of struggling students effectively being counseled out of school rather than counting toward overall dropout rates.

Setting high standards for every child is a laudable goal. But, the devil is in the details, and we should look to the relationship between fair funding and the standards movement as we make critical education policy decisions. How can we, in good conscience and absent good public policy, demand increasingly high stakes standards from our students while failing to provide the educational supports necessary to ensure success?

Further, no one should have the illusion that all children can hit the bulls-eye in the same educational target. Some of us are better at math than English, and vice versa. A one-size-fits-all measurement is not the answer we need. It’s our job not to discourage our children, but to help them find their way.#

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