Why Teaching to the Test is Educational Malpractice
Malpractice is defined as “careless, wrong, or illegal actions by someone (such as a doctor) who is performing a professional duty.”
In some fields it can get you arrested. In most it’s at least frowned upon.
In education, however, it’s encouraged.
In education, however, it’s encouraged.
In fact, as a teacher, you can be singled out, written up or even fired for refusing to engage in malpractice. You are bullied, cajoled and threatened into going along with practices that have been debunked by decades of research and innumerable case studies.
Take the all-too-common practice of teaching to the test.
Not only do students and teachers hate it, but the practice has been shown to actually harm student learning. Yet it is the number one prescription handed down from administrators and policymakers to bring up failing scores on high stakes standardized tests.
Never mind that those same test scores have likewise been proven to be invalid, racially and culturally biased and inextricably linked with parental income. When the only goal is raising student test scores, what’s a little malpractice between friends?
In this article, I will explain the top five reasons why this policy is harmful. But first, Why Teaching to the Test is Educational Malpractice | gadflyonthewallblog:
