Virgil wrote, “fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus, singula dum capti circumvectamur amore” or translated, “But meanwhile it flees: time flees irretrievably, while we wander around, prisoners of our love of detail.”  Over this week and last students throughout New York State have been toiling through that yearly slog more commonly known as the Grade 3 ~ 8 ELA and Math tests.  However, as we are, as a collective body of parents and schools, anxiously awaiting the results from these mandated tests society has become lost in the fog of these very assessments.   We have lost sight of the true purpose of assessments; gathering data and using it to make sure that we are presenting the very best for our students. 

Quickly, research tells that what has been accomplished by mass mandated testing is a ratcheting up of the consequences associated with assessments as the outcome correlation is determined directly from the stakes associated with the test (Abrams, Pedulla, & Madaus, 2003) and even though assessment-based reforms have been around for some time, their purpose has changed from a traditional measure of intelligence to judging the quality and equality of education for all (Carnoy et al., 2003).  The belief that standardized accountability can be used as an educational motivator to improve performance and guarantee that tested subjects remain central in the curriculum through external pressure is seen as a powerful lever by policymakers (Mazzeo, 2001) but I posit that the real outcome of standardized accountability has become a narrowing of what schools have historically taught; essentially removing the development of the whole child. 

So, I say, chill out, use the tests as the tools they were designed for and let’s have some fun again. 

God Bless,

Scott