Standardized Testing: The False and empty promise of them improving education

A high performing school in a high income area has parents who get tutors for their children so they can score well on any test given.  The middle class and poor cannot afford the luxury of a tutor. The teacher at the school in the high income area will have high test scores and be a super teacher.
The teacher in the low income area actually works harder and has better results but it is not shown with the test scores.   All the while, class sized in the poorer schools increase but they stay small in the high income schools.   Standardized testing should not be used in teacher performance.


Another matter is the “mainstreaming” of special needs students, placed in crowded classes because of funding shortfalls or long backlogs in evaluating and classifying kids with ADD/ADHD, emotional disabilities or other issues. From day one, we see so many of these kids cannot focus long for “desk work”, demanding inordinate teacher time. But because they are as-yet unevaluated, they are considered “general ed” and will again skew teacher evaluations.
Because of other home factors such as neglect, abuse, depression or homelessness, success in school is increasingly supported by “wraparound” services like health checks, or counseling which look at problems more holistically. These services are close to non-existent in my school, while suburban schools in the region can offer weekly one-on-one counselor meetings for every student.


http://my.firedoglake.com/amerigus/2013/04/21/learning-the-hard-way-the-false-promises-of-standardized-tests/