We are A Test Driven Society by Niki Hayes (Standardized Testing)

Like It or Not, We are a Test-Driven Society

by Nakonia (Niki) Hayes

Legislators in 25 states have passed laws requiring standardized tests be used for accountability purposes in public schools. Educators, parents, and students are openly opposing these tests in increasing (and organized) numbers, and are demanding to know why this "test mania" is taking place in the U.S.

It goes back to World War II. In 1941, the U.S. military had to develop a fast way to place individuals in jobs that would allow the United States to win that war. Due, in part, to this country's ability to place personnel in positions based on intelligence and aptitude tests developed in the 1930s and 1940s, the U.S. was victorious in that war.

Consequently, because of what was considered an effective, successful use of testing, a major industry developed that now offers decision-making support to governments, schools, and employers, with tests to meet every imaginable need.
As a middle school counselor in 1997 in Killeen, TX, I became aware of teachers' worries about motivating students and parents to take seriously that state's mandated test, the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS).
Our school was located in the middle of Fort Hood, the world's largest military installation with 45,000 active duty troops in the US Army. There were 30,000 students in the district and 47 languages. Sixty-seven percent of our school's 800 students were economically-disadvantaged and/or minority. In general, our particular students, as well as their parents, rarely wanted to "connect" with the school or the community because of the ever-present impending move due to military orders. Getting students to take the state test seriously, when they didn't think they would be around for more than two years or even to graduate from a Texas high school, became a major concern. The resulting, and potentially devastating, impact on the school's overall "test scores," with related misperceptions about teachers' and students' competencies, needed to be addressed.

For one thing, we knew the constant "harping" and attention on the TAAS by bureaucrats and legislators through the years were causing both an aggressive and a passive resistance among the teachers, as well as among students and their parents. Pizza parties and pep rallies and Saturday tutorials were increasingly being used throughout the state's school districts to motivate students to do their best. Hype and efforts to generate enthusiasm were becoming well-established activities among educators.
(Remember that state testing began in Texas in 1983, so it has become a ruling force within the education community today and is touted nationally as an excellent example of "accountability.") In fact, everyone was sick of hearing about TAAS every single day of the school year and having every activity and lesson built to support the TAAS. The state commissioner for education, Mike Moses, kept saying, "If you're teaching to the curriculum, you shouldn't have to be teaching to the TAAS." But, the test scores were the showcase of the school, and educators knew their test scores would be published and compared to each other in the media. Educators had a reputation to build and, then, one to maintain.
The test was obviously designed to be an accountability factor for adults in the schools, not students. Why should the kids or their parents take it seriously when the scores had no personal impact until the student's senior year in a Texas school?
It seemed that we were missing a golden opportunity to teach students, simply, about test-taking as a general "fact of life." I thought, "We take tests to be beauticians, real estate agents, to drive a vehicle, to get into college, to get into the military, to go up in rank, to get a license for many occupations. Learning how to take tests of all kinds should be a major part of the education process for our students."
I decided to put together a "test flyer" or "fact sheet" that never mentioned the word "TAAS," but that explained how testing is, indeed, a fact of life in today's world. (This flyer was based on information from Education Week, Vol. XVII, No. 17, Jan. 8, 1998.) I listed all states that now require a high school exit test, those that were considering such a test, and other factual information about SAT or ACT requirements for college scholarships in athletics. (This was the most influential tidbit of information for my sixth grade boys, ninety percent of whom planned to play for some college team and then play professional football or basketball.)
The fact sheet also showed graphs of what employers and college professors said are missing among high school graduates, such as grammar and spelling, ability to write clearly, basic math skills, and organized work habits. The things of least importance were ability to use computers, work with others effectively, and being respectful and polite. Sixty-eight percent of the employers surveyed had said high school graduates lack the skills to succeed in the world of work, and fifty-two percent of the professors had said high school graduates lack the skills they need to succeed in college. (Students may start college, but only about 20% finish their studies on schedule.)
This flyer was written for my sixth grade students, but I also wanted it to be useable for parents and the general public. I took the flyer to each sixth grade history class in order to reach all students (which included those in special education) and reviewed it with them. I asked them to find their home state and see if it had an "exit" test for high school. Many were shocked to learn that their state did have such a test. My budding athletes learned about test scores that are needed on the SAT or ACT in order to earn college athletic scholarships. We looked at 27 jobs that do not require college graduation but that do require written examinations (tests!) in order to be licensed in their fields.

It was an opportunity for me to explain "GPA" to them and how every grade and every test must be taken seriously, no matter what the class, or where the students reside. I asked them to take the flyer home to their parents. During parent conferences each grading period, we handed out the flyers. When new students registered, which was frequent, we handed out the flyers.

We handed out a lot of those flyers. And we had a lot of parents say, "Oh, I didn't know that South Carolina—or Georgia or Nevada or wherever—has an exit test for high school graduation." We began to see a different attitude among parents (and teachers) about the importance of the Texas state tests.
We believed this different approach to the TAAS helped make a positive impact on our middle school students and their subsequent test performances. Scores increased significantly over a three-year period (into the 70^th percentiles), due to good teaching methods, a strong curriculum, and (maybe) this new approach to "general test-taking." The kids weren't being asked to make good scores just to make the school and teachers "look good." They were being asked to learn skills needed to take the test, true, but they were also learning how to use skills on other tests, no matter how many new locations they experienced as military dependents.
It will be important for educators not to get caught up in the hype of state mandated tests and their scores, if they want the students to take the tests seriously as something that is important to them, the learners.
For example, the Tacoma, WA, public schools plan to place a special seal on the diplomas of students who pass various tests, including the relatively new Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), beginning with the class of 2000. It is hoped this will help persuade students "to strive for excellence" on the WASL, in particular, according to a newspaper report. Administrators explained they wanted to "communicate very clearly these tests are significant." More importantly, the story went on to say the seals and copies of high school transcripts could encourage employers to consider the students in a more favorable light in the adult job market. A related action, therefore, is being encouraged from companies that have said they want proof of students' abilities in academics. Partnership for Learning, a business coalition that supports education reform, is expected to announce names of companies this year that will start asking for transcripts from job applicants.
The newspaper story reported a poll, conducted by the nonprofit Public Agenda, as saying that 84% of the students surveyed would work harder if they knew employers would be seeing their transcripts.
Washington's Board of Education is also considering the idea of requiring districts to note on students' transcripts which of the 10^th grade assessments were passed, as of this year, to show mastery of core subjects. (Washington plans to require passage of the WASL for high school graduation in 2008.)
If the accountability card is going to be played by politicians and other adults with regards to the public education system, there must be recognition that such accountability is to be aimed at all concerned, not just those with the responsibility of teaching. There is an equal responsibility among those who are learning. Until that is addressed, the "accountability" of state mandated tests will continue to build a test anxiety that is unhealthy and unproductive. This anxiety will be among the adults first, not the children. And, what adults model to children is well known to have an impact on children's attitudes and behavior.
Not surprisingly, students will learn to despise such "defining" tests. Can this test-resistance or test-anxiety behavior help students become lifelong learners or workers in a test-driven society? Can we, as educators, help those who think they are helping children with the simplistic move of teacher accountability by using mandated tests meet the challenge of using those same tests in a positive way for all learners?
Tacoma's ideas, along with those of businesses, are at least a step in the right direction. Proof of learning-- and that includes knowing how to compete with tests-- will be as important as proof of teaching in our quest for education accountability.

About the Author:

Niki Hayes was formerly Principal of North Beach Elementary School in Seattle, Washington. She is now retired. She previously worked as an education specialist for Region 12 Education Service Center in Waco, Texas where she served as 504 coordinator for its 79 school districts and as a teacher trainer for the SPED programs. She has also been a principal for a P-12 public school on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Niki has her master's degree in counseling, a bachelor's degree in journalism and is certified and experienced in administration, mathematics, special education, counseling and journalism. She has done some doctoral work in mathematics education at the University of Texas in Austin. Nakonia (Niki) Hayes can be reached at n.c.hayes@worldnet.att.net

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