Paul Horton: A Teacher Writes to Arne Duncan
Guest post by Paul Horton.
Dear Mr. Duncan,
I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know what sane teachers are doing these days.
I attended a rally last night at Union Square Fieldhouse that brought together concerned teachers, parents, and students to discuss standardized testing in Illinois.
We went over sample PARCC reading questions from their website, and most of us guessed wrong on most of the questions. All 80 of us would have failed the test. My guess is that we had a normal curve in the audience, but statistical norms did not seem to measure the results in our somewhat random sample: we had people of all ages, colors, social classes, and grit levels.
My guess is that CPS kids will do much better than us adults, but I doubt that they will do any better than what our state superintendent of education proclaims is our "cut score."
I also shared some secrets I have learned as a teacher with thirty-two years experience:
1) Standardized tests do not measure anything important. In one of the questions we took last night, those kids who knew the arcane English use of "cross" would have answered the question correctly. In other words, the kids most likely to answer this question correctly were those who played with Thomas the Tank Engine and companion readers.
2) Many of my students who score the highest on standardized tests simply have the ability to solve puzzles. Many lack other essential forms of intelligence, and, more importantly, never learn to work hard. Extremely high-test scores might correlate more closely to lack of success, except perhaps in your typical financial or legal grifting.
3) Huge numbers of kids with huge potential simply do not test well. because standardized tests Paul Horton: A Teacher Writes to Arne Duncan - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:
