CURMUDGUCATION: What Duncan Got Wrong About Testing

CURMUDGUCATION: What Duncan Got Wrong About Testing:

What Duncan Got Wrong About Testing

With the whole world of education to talk about, Arne Duncan somehow ended up centering his Big Speech around testing, and indeed, that was picked up as the main story. So what, if anything, did the Secretary of Education get wrong about testing?

Short answer

Pretty much everything.

Long answer

First, Duncan positions assessment in the center of his education universe. He starts out by describing a large vision of education, one that is filled with innovation, meets the needs of every child, promotes equity, provides opportunity, values all subject areas, and provides every school with sufficient support and resources. And somehow considering all those aspects of a grand vision of education leads him to a Big Standardized Test. That's it.

It's like someone who describes the awesome heights and sensations of a gourmet dinner, teasing you with visions of tastes and textures, savory combinations and a palate immersed in gustatorial ecstasy and then, after all that description and anticipation, at the moment of the Big Reveal, draws back the curtain on--- a can opener.

Testing is Chef Duncan's can opener.

Teacher evaluation

After all this time, Duncan still sees VAM as viable and valid. He wants a teacher evaluation system that will "identify excellence and take into account student learning growth." He says that "good" assessments should be only one part of that picture, but he has never endorsed any method of measuring student learning growth other than a Big Standardized Test (let's just call it a BS Test for short).

Testing is still the cornerstone of Duncan's vision of teacher evaluation, despite the endless parade of debunking that VAM has received.

College Readiness

I believe parents, and teachers, and students have both the right and the absolute need to know how much progress all students are making each year towards college- and career-readiness. 

It's a weird construction. Parents deserve to know how all students are progressing, or just the students they are the actual parents of?

Anyway, I guess this means that students who aren't going on to college, who are bound for trade school or the military or stay-at-home parentage don't need to take the test. Duncan also uses this argument to support yearly testing in grades 3 through 8, which again raises the question of college-bound eight-year-olds. I seriously doubt that we can identify as third grader as "on track" for college, but if we can, why not have them fill out college applications on the spot? If the BS Test has that much magical power, why not put it to use. I mean, if your third graders is already accepted to Wassamatta U, you'd have ample opportunity to start financing that college education.

Test Prep

Duncan continues to act mystified by the source of all the time wasting test prep going on.

I am absolutely convinced that we need to know how much progress students are making – but we also must do more to ensure that the tests – and time spent in preparation for them – don’t take excessive time away from actual classroom instruction. Great teaching, and not test prep, is always what best engages students, and what leads to higher achievement.

But "higher achievement" is not what the USED has thrown its weight behind; it has attached all the incentives to higher test scores. The feds have created a system in which the continued existence of school buildings and teaching careers is based on test scores. Duncan is a man who has pointed a gun at schools and says, "Get those test scores up, or else I'll shoot. But don't let the tests distract you from other things." And he still hasn't put down the gun.

A Revealing Quote

 We’ll urge Congress to have states set limits on the amount of time spent on state- and district-wideCURMUDGUCATION: What Duncan Got Wrong About Testing: