Prophetic Words from an Old Article

In this article, the author Alfie Kohn explains that the largest factors (the author claims 89%) are non-instructional, which means that teachers aren't the real issue in today's American educational deficit.  When the largest factors are socio-economic as opposed to instructional, incentivizing and merit pay aren't going to make any difference.  By punishing teachers for test scores, policy makers are trying to discourage teachers for problems outside of their control.  The ironic part of this whole testing craze is that standardized tests were never meant to measure the quality of education, or test the abilities of a teacher.  These tests, such as the SAT's, CAT's or CTBS, weren't even meant to evaluate the quality of a student.  In fact, many students who simply guess and use "superficial"approaches to test taking can do just as well or better than the students who study for long periods of time and think deeply about each question.  

Most educators agree that making one standardized test the base for decision making that could really affect the person's future, is foolish and irrational.  A single test just cannot evaluate someone's entire education and/or intelligence.  It's insane, because no matter how good the test is, a single test can only measure specific knowledge, and a good test should evaluate depth, not breadth.  Also, the anxiety of taking a single test which determines major aspects of your life could easily throw off the scores, and the fluke of someone who isn't well educated but is good at guessing would put people in positions they aren't qualified for.  

Last but most, is the resources dedicated annually to preparing students for taking tests, not to mention creating the tests, evaluating and paying the salaries of those who make the tests.  Money is a crucial aspect of an education, not that it solves everything, but money allows for extra-curricular programs, contemporary technology, recess/play time, and elective classes such as art and music.  By diverting the available resources to standardized testing and poor quality and complicated teacher/student evaluations, the available funds that should be dedicated to such worthy educational endeavors, disappears.  These are irreplaceable and invaluable aspects of education, and we need to think seriously about the consequences of eliminating them.  

This article from 2000 discusses these issues and more       http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/staiv.htm