Testing+and+science

Issues

 * High stakes testing inverts reality, where test data becomes more real than the students who took the test
 * Test data is misused for political purposes
 * The interpretation of test data is a misuse and abuse of statistics

Good science begins with observation of whatever is being investigated. Every day, good teachers are scientists in the classroom, observing students, hypothesizing what next steps should be taken, implementing learning plans, and assessing student progress. The teacher sees the whole child: physical well-being, emotional health, the kinds of understandings and misunderstandings the student has, the depth of understanding, and whether or not a student can transfer knowledge to other situations. The teacher can appreciate the different ways a student may demonstrate what he or she has learned. The teacher brings humanity to education.

The current regime of standardized testing replaces the whole child, with all of her or his complexities, with a set of numbers gathered from multiple choice tests. While these numbers can //help// a teacher assess a student's progress, they tell only a small part of the student's rich story. But these numbers, in the current regime of standardized testing, are placed ahead of the student, and become the only measure of the student's worth and progress. The humanity of the child, and of education, is drained away and replaced by sterile statistics. The reality is lost in the numbers. This is bad science.