As I walked into the auditorium on the afternoon of Thursday, April 2nd, I was automatically overwhelmed with the cheering of the Joseph Henry Elementary students gathered there for a “pep rally.” “Why would elementary students have a pep rally?” you might ask. Well that is an interesting question.

The students were gathered for a pep rally to hype them up for Common Core testing to begin after spring break. They all seemed excited and joy radiated from every face in the crowd. The teachers and other staff members began the show and the enthusiasm became even more apparent.

Teachers and aides came out on the stage dressed as news reporters, investigating the methods of taking a Common Core test. The news reporters went into a classroom, where they found Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, played by elementary teachers. They were sitting at desks labeled “A.C.E.S.” I soon found out that this was a review session for the kids. They were coaching them to take their tests. A class commenced among the ninja turtles and their teacher, talking about writing an “essay” on how to make pizza at home. They soon began explaining the meaning of “A.C.E.S.”

“Oh no… How am I going to begin my essay?” the first turtle whined. Then all of a sudden a golden ninja turtle played by Coach Cannell, the elementary gym teacher raced on stage yelling “Dude!” The turtle began to explain the meaning of “A” in “A.C.E.S.” The “A” is for “Answer.” As the show went on, the other letters were explained as well. “C” for “Citing sources” and “E” for “Explaining” and “S” for “Sum it up!’” And every time one of the turtles learned the meaning of each letter, the whole auditorium began to yell, “Knock, knock! You’re about to get shell shocked!” as lights flashed and cheerleaders shook their pom poms. A pep rally? Or a coaching session?

Teachers across the state seem to be annoyed with the idea of subjecting their students to so much testing. And for what? So the state can assess how “well” the teachers are teaching and how “well” the students can regurgitate the information. Is it worth it?

According to Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development writer, James Popham, standardized testing under the new Common Core is not effective and is only used to test teachers.

“Educators are experiencing almost relentless pressure to show their effectiveness. Unfortunately, the chief indicator by which most communities judge a school staff’s success is student performance on standardized achievement tests.”

The tests are not used for furthering the education of students, but rather to test if teachers are doing what the state wants them to do. Popham also says that Common Core testing is not a good measure of the success of students, but has no relation whatsoever.

“Employing standardized achievement tests to ascertain educational quality is like measuring temperature with a tablespoon,” says Popham, pointing out that standardized testing does nothing and measures nothing. So what’s the point?

Some say to keep an open mind. Good idea. Maybe this could be helpful in education and will prepare kids better for their futures. Maybe so. But what about childhood? Do you remember sitting in a classroom and testing as a kid? If you’re anything like me, you remember spelling and cursive books. You remember subtraction flash cards and learning activities created by passionate teachers and you remember recess and fun. Childhood is about learning. But it’s also about being a kid as long as you can and feeling excitement in learning new things. Not sitting at a desk and taking tests.

I will keep an open mind. These tests could work. The next generations could all go to Yale and Harvard and become little Presidents of the United States. Anything is possible. I’m just thinking from a parent’s perspective. If this doesn’t work and it does damage, you can’t just send kids back to kindergarten and start all over again. It doesn’t work that way. When it’s done, it’s done.

If I was a parent I would want my kid to be a kid while they can. I would want them to do paper mache globes and finger paint the alphabet for as long as possible. I would want them to have their time. Time for learning, yes. But also a time for discovering, adventuring, and wondering. Time to be a kid.

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar99/vol56/num06/Why-Standardized-Tests-Don%27t-Measure-Educational-Quality.aspx

Do you have an opinion on testing? Are you a student, parent, teacher, administrator, community member? Tell us what you think, leave a comment below. Thank you.