“The principle goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things,
not simply of repeating what other generations have done
- men who are creative, inventive and discoverers”
- Jean Piaget
The accountability movement has created a generation of problem solvers who rely on the fact that they will have multiple choices. This is the time of year where many states begin giving their standardized assessments. I thought I’d provide some thoughts about what I believe and practice as a leader in regards to standardized testing.
I believe that….
- students should be creators of content not consumers of bubble sheets
- true learning and discovery are open-ended and have no answer choices
- students that are taught to think and problem solve without answer choices can easily navigate a multiple-choice test
- putting a multiple choice test on a computer does not make it more engaging or effective
- time spent on teaching test-taking strategies would be better spent on teaching a love of reading
- students are passionate about saving the world not circling the best answer
- performance based assessments provide a more authentic form of assessment
- students should get multiple opportunities to demonstrate knowledge of a concept
- no teacher got into this profession for the purpose of teaching students how to bubble in answers
- the leader has a responsibility to go beyond what a multiple choice assessment can measure
These are just a few of my beliefs in regards to the current accountability movement. What do you think? What would you add and/or delete?
