We’re all interested in what happened in Connecticut this past week: little girl goes missing for a few days, causes a state-wide search, national Amber-alert, Twitter frenzy, social media fracas, then luckily, the kid ends up being found. The caveat is the reason she gave for going into incognito mode: she was stressed over the state standardized tests.
Almost immediately, the Washington Post’s Answer Sheet blog jumped on it, and, once again, the issue of test anxiety and the merits of standardized testing are put into light. I found the beginning of a parent forum asking, “Are we as parents, adding to the stress?” , and I start thinking: are we as teachers adding to the stress? Are school districts? Are state Boards of Ed? Is Arne Duncan?
We all are.
Think about it- we’ve created and are part of a system that is under such pressure for results we’re making the experience of school a pressure cooker- when it should be a place of wonderment and inquiry. We’re so eager to get data, and positive data at that, that some may have even changed students tests to improve their school’s chances. We know that SATs don’t ask for ideas- they only ask for answers, so even the highest level of standardized tests don’t ask for critical thinking. We also know that SAT scores are directly related to income, and that with a few hundred dollars of test-prep classes, you can become an “expert test-taker.” It’s a game that we’re all playing, and everyone is losing. We’re watching the pot boiling, hoping for change.
Even our own President Obama said today that standardized tests are too often used to punish students and teachers and shouldn’t be the only method of measuring student success. So what’s the answer?
How about eliminating the test altogether? Or at least changing the concept of what we know as the traditional test?
Video Games as “Tests”
I recently came across a fascinating article in the Harvard Education Letter (let Harvard be the one to change how kids get into college- oh the irony). This article is about using video games as tests or simulations. The article posits: what if World of Warcraft or Halo actually tested a student’s ability to think critically? This simulation could pull students’ knowledge and ability to solve problems, reach new levels, conduct inquiry, and draw from the their experience in the classroom. To quote the article directly,
“based on these principles, Gee and others (Gee & Shaffer, 2010) are currently developing new models of assessment that immerse students in virtual worlds to measure abilities that are difficult, if not impossible, to capture on pencil-and-paper tests, such as the ability to solve problems and conduct scientific inquiry.”
This reminds me directly of- and sorry to draw from Star Trek you non-trekkies- but- the Kobayahsi Maru Test, which was this life-like simulation that every Starfleet Academy member had to endure in order to graduate. We’re still stuck in, as Sir Ken Robinson puts it here, an industrialized version of education, and our tests are proof positive of that. Our students are multi-tasking, multi-level, multi-communicative, multi-social, and our state and national standardized test don’t address these skills at all.
According to Christ Dede, Professor of Learning Technologies at Harvard, game simulations over written tests: “provide more complete and accurate information on student abilities because every decision a student makes is recorded. That information is more accurate than asking a student to “show your work.” The volume of information also makes the data on student abilities more reliable than the more limited information available from written products.”
Will this type of test prove to have a different form of performance anxiety, or will this be a more authentic assessment that students might actually be excited about taking? We’ve been talking about 21st Century learning for some time now. Isn’t it time we started talking about 21st Century assessment?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lead6R8uhY