My older daughter came home last
week, after taking a New York State ELA (English Language Arts) statewide
exam. Normally after she takes a test,
she mentions whether the test was easy or hard and what, if any, were the areas that give her difficulty.
This time it was different. She
complained about a reading passage concerning a race between a pineapple (that
did not move) and a hare. She indicated
that the passage made little sense and that the questions/answers made even
less sense. I actually thought she was
overreacting until I saw a copy of the passage and the questions in the
newspapers and on the internet. The paragraph was inane and the questions had
no logical answers. Ultimately New York
State agreed, and will not count this question in the scoring of the exam.
My younger daughter’s elementary
school New York State ELA took place over three days with a ninety minute exam
each day. The exam also started the day
the spring vacation ended. Not even a
school day in between for the kids to adjust to being back in school. Why does an exam like this need three days
and a ninety minute exam time each day? There
was also a question on the math assessment for 4th graders that had
two correct answers as well as an 8th grade math assessment question
that had no correct answers. Not good on
any count.
Exams are necessary. Evaluating students is necessary. We need to
be able to measure a student’s learning on a regular basis and use the results
to continuously enhance the education that is provided. But there are very
substantial costs if the exam is nonsensical in part or if the exam is overly stress
inducing. The first and most obvious
cost is the loss of confidence by both parents and educators in the government
entity that oversees the exam process. Can bad questions really measure
learning? Can questions without correct answers or with multiple correct
answers really measure learning? Or instead, when a student is told to select
the correct answer, will this just serve to confuse the student? And will three days of testing of 3rd,
4th, and 5th graders measure learning or, even more,
seriously stress out the students? How
many of us, when we were in third grade, would have the sitting power, patience
and perseverance to handle an exam that long for that many days?
But the real cost is a potential
loss of the love for learning on the part of our kids. What we all want from education is not only a
knowledge base but also a respect for the importance of lifetime learning. If
the questions and answers make little sense, if the exam stresses out young
kids, and if the end result is a dislike for school and for education we have
done a huge disservice. This is a time
for corrective action. We need to
rethink some of our exams and even more importantly some of our exam
philosophies.
these are shocking stories. where were the overseers? where were the beta testers (if any). this is a high risk domain that needs better management. shame on you NYS edu
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