On Testing and 8th Graders
Wherein Peter Greene drops some knowledge
Since No Child Left Behind - a bipartisan effort to introduce “accountability” into public schools back in the early 2000s - standardized testing has taken on a whole new meaning in schools.
By now, it is - standard.
The results of these tests have implications for teachers and for schools and for school districts. Not for the kids taking them.
While similar tests in the 1980s and 90s provided information (and weren’t always an annual event), now, they have stakes.
And supposedly reveal things.
Like Peter Greene, I’m cynical of the relative value of the current testing model.
And, as Greene explains, there’s a pretty solid reason why 8th grade test results don’t always match “gains” demonstrated by 4th graders.
Testing has, of course, given rise to a new set of springtime traditions. The pre-test pep rally. The pre-test hype video. The pre-test earnest talk. The elementary students may still get some inspiration from these, but now you’ve got eighth graders who have been through this year after year, test after test, practice test after practice test.
The entire foundation of test-based accountability is the assumption that students will sit down to take the test and actually care and actually try. Elementary kids? They are game to throw themselves at whatever you give them to do. 11th graders? They have learned that there is some senseless baloney you have to work through in the adult world. But 8th graders? Nobody has fewer shits to give about your adult nonsense than an 8th grader.