Who Really Benefits from Testing in Schools? (originally posted 10/13)

"Alternatively, the states themselves could become major actors in the test-making industry. Though some states now use commercial "off-the-shelf" tests, states are increasingly developing their own tests or are customizing the commercial tests to better "align" them with their curricula standards. Georgia, for instance, uses Harcourt's Stanford Achievement Test for grades 3, 5, and 8, yet it uses its own state-developed tests in grades 4, 6, 8, 11, and 12. Many states now use such hybrid assessment systems" 

Dear friends, 

We saw it in Chicago recently, now Philadelphia is getting ready to start the new school year, but having a huge problem in figuring out how to fund the schools. 

At the heart of the problem, strangely enough, is the fact that, because of the No Child Left Behind Act that was originally instituted by Pres. George Bush and continued under Pres. Barack Obama, entire school systems are under the thumb of the Testing Industry. 

But who really benefits from all of this testing? Is it our students, or is it, perhaps, corporations, politicians, and lobbyists that are inflating their bank accounts with the many billions of dollars that this test-giving and evaluating enterprise (No Child Left Behind) brings? 

To be sure, in and of themselves, academic achievement tests provide no measure of one’s ability to perform well outside of the classroom. That fact is particularly true, since while we are able to measure that which is made up of matter, as far as I know, not even the most ingenious physicist or the most advanced technological instrument would be able to measure that which is immaterial - such as the human mind (or spirit). 

Surely, while we can’t measure it, we are able to make that which is immaterial tangible, especially in the form of art. However, the Testing Industry sees no use for that; therefore, our schools don’t either. Hence, the reduction, if not eradication, of all arts programs in our schools nationwide. 

Nevertheless, on the link below, is an article that shows the Testing Industry's booty. Please check it out. Cheers! 

G. Djata Bumpus http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/schools/testing/companies.html

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How and Why the Testing Industry itself Cheats - NOT Our Students!

"Once I attended a range-finding meeting with other test-scoring experts and English professors from around the country, the bunch of us trying to figure out how to score writing samples for a national test. After that group of experienced test scorers and esteemed writing teachers had hammered out some consensus regarding the writing rubric and writing samples we'd been reviewing, we were told we were scoring "wrong." We test-scoring experts and writing teachers were told our scoring wasn't matching the predictions of the omniscient psychometricians (statisticians/testing gurus), and we were told we had to match those predictions even though the pyschometricians had never actually seen the student responses." -

Dear friends,

We often hear “news” stories about both school principals and/or teachers either submitting phony test results or actually helping students “cheat”, in order to prevent their schools from being penalized for having poor test scores. Well, it seems that the actual cheating starts long before the tests are even distributed to the schools.

Still, at what point will our unscrupulous federal politicians and the corporations who sponsor them decide to stop the charade that is the Testing Industry and allow the aforementioned school principals and teachers to exercise their passions and educate our children?

On the link below, please see the article by Todd Farley. He is the author of "Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry.". Farley's opinions have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post and Education Week. Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/for-profit-standardized-testing-industry-cant-be-trusted/1230845 Read full post