Baylor education speaker bemoans emphasis on standardized tests
An overemphasis on standardized tests feeds a false narrative about failing public schools, and that leaves room for ineffective privatization and breaking up of neighborhood schools, according to Diane Ravitch, a former assistant secretary of education.
Ravitch spoke to a crowd of educators, civic leaders, academics and students Thursday night at Baylor University.
Texas education officials have done some things right, including avoiding Common Core State Standards, Ravitch said.
But the country’s system of attaching school and teacher ratings to student test scores originated in this state, she said. President George W. Bush brought standardized testing to the country with No Child Left Behind, and President Barack Obama amplified the ideas of that program when he introduced Race to the Top.
“Race to the Top is No Child Left Behind on steroids,” Ravitch said. “NCLB punished schools. Race to the Top punishes both schools and teachers.”
Both place standardized test scores as the ultimate metric of educational success, but education is responsible for much more than test preparation, Ravitch said. A full education should inspire creativity and imagination and instill the courage needed to succeed and to advance the nation, she said.
Despite lagging behind other countries on international tests, which the United States has done since such tests first were administered decades ago, America has outperformed other nations economically, creatively and by many other practical measures, Ravitch said.
“The test scores of 15-year-olds indicate nothing about the future performance of our country, nothing at all,” Ravitch said.
Beyond education’s broad roles, teachers influence only a small part of students’ ability to perform well on tests, she said.
Poverty and affluence are the ultimate predictors of students’ success on standardized tests, not their teachers’ ability, Ravitch said.
‘Family wealth index’
“Standardized tests have been called a family wealth index,” she said.
Solutions to poverty are the ultimate educational solutions, Ravitch said.
As schools have failed to live up to the standards set out by federal and state programs, many have been closed.
Private companies have stepped in to offer charter schools as replacements to public schools, but there is no evidence to suggest these schools are any more effective at educating children, Ravitch said.
In some cases, these schools’ CEOs and managers earn multimillion-dollar salaries. Ravitch listed several examples, including Chicago’s publicly funded charter system of schools, which Baylor education speaker bemoans emphasis on standardized tests - WacoTrib.com: Education:
