Teaching to the Test

Kirsten French

Teaching to the Test

Description of Research

The research mainly said no test is good enough to use as a primary basis to determine educational decisions. It is more harmful to the student’s education to teach to the test. The students may have the test information down, but they won’t be able to perform higher level thinking tasks. Also, teaching to the test can cause narrowing of the curriculum. If teachers only give a test on what is going to be on a standardized test, then students won’t get the other important parts taught to them.

It has been speculated that a standardized tests measures if a teacher is a successful and good at teaching. The research says that scores from a test don’t measure how teachers are able to convey material to their students. It has been proven that not only do students respond negatively to standardized tests, but teachers react negatively to the pressure as well. This could cause the learning environment to be negative, which would impact the students learning.

What do I agree with?

I agree that teaching to the test can hinder a student’s education to a point. There shouldn’t only be one massive assessment that grades the students overall achievement of their learning. I like the idea of including the students while creating a test for a unit. I do think schools need to have standards that they teach to, if teachers didn’t have standards to go by the students could possibly not get the valuable pieces of information that they need to be successful when they go to get a higher education.

What do I disagree with?

I disagree with the idea of a standardized test in general. Every student is not good at taking tests. As each teacher is going through the education program we are taught to differentiate the students learning to reach each student’s potential. How is one test differentiating the student’s learning? If a student is having a bad day and that could hinder their test taking abilities then that student is at a disadvantage and that isn’t measuring their full potential. This is why schools should have more than one type of test to measure the students learning. 

How is the research applicable to you as a teacher?

          As a teacher knowing how to structure class material is important, but even more important is how to structure it so the students are successful and successfully complete the learning objectives. By knowing that teaching to the test could hinder the student’s learning, teachers can prepare beforehand to not teach to the test, but incorporate the information from the test into other class material. Now that the Common Core State Standards are being used, it is a better way to teach valuable information to the students while incorporating the material that is going to be on the test.

How is this research applicable to students?

          As a student who was completely taught to the test I know firsthand how only teaching information to students that is going to be on a test can be hurtful to the student’s education. This research benefits the students, because of the research proving that teaching to the test can hinder their education. It’s great that educators are figuring out that students don’t only need to be able to construct a five paragraph essay. In the world we live in today being able to collaborate with other students, as well as be able to complete daily tasks that utilize their education from school.

Works Cited

Herman, Joan, and Shari Golan. "Effects of Standardized Testing on Teachers." CSE. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014.

"‘Teaching to the Test’ – Does It Help or Hinder Learning?" Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. N.p., May 2009. Web. 11 May 2014.

 

"What's so Bad about Teaching to the Test?" Great Schools. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014.