Ok, this week’s offering is a truly fantastic article entitled “Why Standardized Tests Kill the Joy of Learning” by Cameron Sullivan. This is a subject or topic that I hold very close and like to stand on my soapbox about. As pointed out in this article, standardized tests do serve a purpose; they allow the school administrators to gain measures of success throughout the entire school district. The very great downside to standardized testing is that the greater importance and joy of learning is almost always lost in the need and drive for better test scores. We even cut our own throats further with this by making it a funding issue. Many school’s funding can be based on their testing averages. Many parents won’t send their kids to schools that have low funding, etc. It’s a vicious cycle. As the author states, “When a bureaucracy rewards schools primarily for high standardized test scores, teaching becomes self serving – for school districts, not for children. Impressive school rankings are meaningless if schools don’t embrace the value of a lifelong love of learning as the clearest pathway to success” (Sullivan, 2010). I’ve seen the results of this in my nieces and nephews. They have no love of school, learning or anything even closely related. Reading is something that only geeks do and is to be avoided at all costs…homework is passé…and “college? Really? Why on earth would I go to college?” I am entirely serious. These are straight from my nephews, ages 13 and 15. They look at school as something to be endured. It both saddens and sickens me to see these bright young minds so disillusioned. Life is about learning, and sadly, they will learn that truth the hard way.
By contrast, my younger siblings and I were homeschooled (me only from 9th grade on). Not something that is the answer for everyone, but it's what saved me. I HATED school. With a passion that cannot be matched. I didn’t hate learning, but I associated learning with attending school (my first misconception), and so had myself convinced that I hated learning. I am not a good tester, so I always struggled and felt stupid. Once I had finally had enough, my parents finally decided to take the chance and began homeschooling me…I graduated from high school 1 year later. Not to say this will be the story of every homeschooler out there, but it is extremely common to homeschoolers in general. Why? Because we do things differently and it works. I immediately became responsible for my own education, which gave me motivation. I was allowed greater freedom in my studies, and my subjects were wide and varied. I didn’t have to wait for anybody else to finish before I could move on. Now, I understand that there are restrictions in public school classrooms, and I’m not saying they don’t serve a purpose, but there are other alternatives and they should not be belittled or sneered at, because they work. And to wrap back around to the article…homeschoolers consistently score higher on standardized tests than 99% of public schooled kids. Why? Again, because it works! :D
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