I have to admit I’m torn on the issue of high-stakes testing. In a recent article for the Washington Post, Valerie Strauss aptly describes it as a national obsession in education thanks to No Child Left Behind.
Her piece includes a column by Kenneth Bernstein, an award-winning teacher and education blogger. Bernstein, who is now retired, offers a warning to college professors about the students graduating from the nation’s high schools and arriving in their higher ed classrooms.
Bernstein offers a firsthand account of why many college freshmen struggle: they’ve spent the last decade learning how to identify the right answer in multiple choice-style questions; they’re not required to make cogent arguments to substantiate their choices.
The second point Bernstein makes: the teaching profession has been whittled away by policy makers and politicians who have never taught a child or managed a classroom. Even exceptional teachers are routinely ignored, a point made by National Teacher of the Year, Anthony Mullen, in his blog “Teachers Should be Seen and Not Heard” writes Bernstein.
Would we ever knowingly agree to have surgery by a doctor who was taught from a curriculum developed by people with no medical training? The idea seems absurd, but I’ll bet Bernstein’s question resonates with many teachers and principals.
At a recent breakfast with a friend who happens to be a dean at a local college, I was surprised to see how her love of teaching had waned in recent years. Many freshman today are not at all prepared for the rigors of college, she said. The first year of college is now spent on remedial learning for many students, she said, and the problem isn’t confined to students who come from urban school districts.
For that reason, Bernstein concludes his piece with an apology to his college colleagues. But I think his apology was directed to all of us, especially the students.
This article appears in Feb 13-19, 2013.
Tim,
How are you “torn”? You see good in this?
Dave
How many students are really spending a year of college in remedial courses? Why would such a student even be accpeted to college?
Anyway, the linked article’s main point was that by focusing on multiple choice tests his students were never taught to write or think properly. Furthmore he didn’t have the time to teach indepth, as the breadth of material was too great. He then asserts that teachers have little/no say in changing the way things are done in their classrooms so he apologizes to the other teachers.
I’d be curious what a math teacher thinks, compared to this guy (social studies).
Response to “cantwritegoodly”, who asks “why would such a student be accepted to college?” That is an excellent question, and it has two distinct answers. If the college in question is a community college, and the student has a high school diploma, they have to accept him/her, and taxpayers are subsidizing the tuition for those remediation courses. If the college in question is a private school, the answer is simply business: they charge the same for a remedial English or Math course as they do a 4th year Engineering or Physics course.
Given that it used to be difficult to get into a private college, these schools run a risk of watering down their “brand” if they take on students that aren’t ready and, as a result, can’t complete a degree program in 4 years. It is conceivable, though, that that same college is evaluation potential Engineering or Technology students on their SAT Math scores, and find the student lacking only in areas they deem less relevant to the degree, such as English. I’m not sure I would hire and engineer with weak technical writing skills, but then again, they aren’t asking you or me who they should accept. If their parents have money, or the student can get a grant or a loan, then that student represents revenue.
Excuse me, and this is supposed to be news?????