Teaching to the Test

As the debate rages in Maryland as to whether or not to use "high stakes" tests to determine eligibility for grade promotion or matriculation, a familiar refrain is resounding from a chorus of education establishment apologists -- teachers are spending too much time "TEACHING TO THE TEST".

Oh my God! I can't believe that anyone would waste precious school hours teaching algebra, biology, reading or government. I've not heard one comment that the skills on the test weren't basic or vital. Nor have I heard that the skills on the tests aren't skill that should be taught by the teachers and understood by the students.

Instead the arguments made against such tests are tangential to the issue.

At the root of the arguments is that the educational process suffers if students are asked to take a cummulative test that will determine graduation or grade promotion. You know, I've never heard that our doctors, lawyers or engineers, CPA's, dentists, or nurses are poorly trained or had a less than ideal education because they were forced to take boards or pass bars. I've never heard a law school professor claim that the training he provides in hampered by that nasty bar exam looming in every students' future. I wonder if those apologists would go to a doctor who wasn't Board Certified? Clearly there is a need to measure the progress individuals make in a given course of study. No one can assume that a person having consumed certain classes is a master of the subject or even proficient.

Teachers who protest such tests have something to hide.