So this week's reading for EDUC440 was indeed the most interesting to me since reading Anderson's critical analysis of the failures of Brown vs. Board of Education (which was superbly educating). Herein, the authors conveyed a look at the ways in which standardized testing and standardized test-taking are problematic in addressing the cultural affectations of a diverse classroom.
More specifically, Professor and education expert Linda Darling-Hammond examines the promise, success and failures of President George W. Bush's 1000 page "No Child Left Behind" act 2002, expanding on the understanding of uneven schooling in the Unites States. She critiques the use of punishmentand sanctions that pressure schools to educate students to test well rather than expand their academic abilities and understandings.
Coupled with the already uneven schooling situation in the wake of an improperly executed "Brown vs. Board of Education," the sactions that fund schools that are able to perform better encourage the better teachers to work at under-performing schools as only a temporary spring board into the former schools, further disadvantaging students. Since the problems of NCLB were not clear to me up until I began taking this class, here is a link to a fictional analogy that parodies the situation, which can help anyone understand the issues without being an educator or education student:
http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/no-dentist.html
Delpit, Anderson and Wayne Au all expand Hammond's picture of a problem-ridden school system by racializing the questions of why NCLB does not work. The ability for a child to test well, as NCLB encourages, is contingent on his/her ability to thrive in an Anglo-American classroom that instills test-taking strategies: "I believe we must overcome... the narrow and essentially Eurocentric curriculum... so that they do not reflect the only... 'the public lives of white Western men.'" (Delpit, 181). To illustrate her concerns, Delpit explores many examples of social location making success in accessible for diverse students such as the problems brought about by decontextualized multiple-choice problems that would otherwise be accessible for a wider range of students, the stereotyping that leads to "[in]appropriate instruction" of individuals, and the misinterpretation of community norms that do not match the mainstream norms such as Native American story-telling codes.
Even more interestingly, Anderson uses the concept of "Stereotype threat" as a way to explore certain semi-structural problems in instruction that encourage students of color to become self-fulfilling prophecies of failure, or to concieve of their success in potentially harmful ways.
In my reading of the poor educational climate described hitherto, the need for education reform on multiple levels is dangerously necessary. I think Hammond's recommendation for a less flawed system of operation (ESEA), wherein a continuous improvement model that incorporates "multiple measure of achievement" (6), can allow enough flexibility in the classroom for teachers to also combat some of the racialized disadvantages that exist in classroom instruction. Essentially, if a teacher had more discretion in evaluating how her students live up to an educational standard, disparate cultural norms, means of expression and individual needs could no longer act as hindrances to a student's success.
--TAHS
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VEry interesting article.lol...quite amusing, actually. What kinds of education reform should replace the current policies? I love when we say they should be changed but don't present any solid and feasible suggestions for change. How do we go about giving teachers this kind of "discretion" while maintaining uniformity in learning and skill acquisition in schools?
ReplyDeleteThat article was really funny! I agree with your point on Hammond's recommendation that we need to incorporate "multiple measure of achievement". That it is something I also touched upon in my blog this week. I just don't know what that method should be. Since each child learns and tests differently how do we go about this. I am reminded of the time Prof. Smith said how she allowed one of her students to do an art project instead of writing an essay...I thought that was awesome but when it comes to federal government it gets confusing. Do you have any ideas on how we can reform the way in which we assess students? I wish I had some...but I don't.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Prof. Smith. It is so easy to say change is necessary but much more difficult to present concrete suggestions that can actually work. As, I stated in class in regards to standardized testing, it is almost impossible to eliminate them. Knowing that, it seems feasible to me to keep them but lessen their importance. An alternative can be an essay. I love writing essays and if I were to ever teach that would be my ideal measure of progress. Multiple choice tests assess a students' ability to memorize and recognize correct answers. An essay on the other hand, allows a student to show their ability to think critically and analyze issues.
ReplyDeleteIn order to maintain standards I think their should be benchmarks and certain things a student should know by a certain age. But I think there should be multiple measures to assess these bench marks.
If I were asked point blank what concrete reforms need to be made, I would have a hard time responding without stammering. I think Hammond's praise of foreign education policies, however, are very pursuant to my natural suggestion to mirror foreign methods of assessment.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the elimination of standardized testing would be an inefficient way to handle the matter. I just think that using more contextualized problem sets and employing more investigation and critical/creative thought on the part of the students in the tests could work.
The practical problems remain, however, that it is cheaper in terms of time and money to scan scantrons. This is a very frustrating ordeal:
I agree that the bench marks need to be there and multiple meters need to be in place to assess a student's ability to reach these bench marks. I just think that we are up against more structural, economical and paradigmatic obstacles in reaching this.
I agree that essays would be a good evaluation for students as well. But I feel that students should be assessed in a variety of different ways. Projects, research, mock scenarios, and other things like that could turn into a good portfolio and way to assess a child's learning. Since all students learn in different ways, we need to assess students in all different ways. I feel that this would show the potential of each student, strengths and weaknesses. However, I don't know exactly how the grading system would work compared to other teachers. Like what is one teachers A compared to another and etc. I don't know how you would solve that.
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