Suffering in Silence… Standardized testing from the view of an educator & parent
Guest post by Renny Fong (TimeOutDad)
As our children are undergoing the gruel of the high stakes standardized tests in New York, I can’t help but notice the silence. So many voices silenced. So many stories left unheard. Will all the time, money, and effort that has been spent on making the tests, preparing for the tests, and grading the tests make our children any better off than before these tests?
Did these tests ask our children how they’re doing, how they’re feeling, what they’re thinking, and what they care about? Did these tests ask our children to innovate or create anything? Will these tests tell our children what their gifts and talents are? Will these tests tell us what our children’s hopes and goals and dreams are or what their ideas are for a better today and tomorrow? Do these tests really care about our children at all?
Instead of asking questions and finding solutions to real problems, our children are asked to answer questions that have only one pre-determined (and sometimes, quite a debatable) answer. Instead of sharing about their