Bob Schaeffer of FairTest, an organization committed to a fair use of standardized testing in K-12 schools and college admissions, recently spoke with Creative Marbles about assessments. Our conversation reminded me of questions I’ve been asking since I was a beginning teacher, “How do we know (i.e. grasp clearly in the mind) what another has stored in their heads and how does that happen amongst a large group of students?”
After talking with Mr. Schaeffer, thefreedictionary.com gave me more perspective on our conversation. “Assess: to judge the worth, importance, etc., of; evaluate. If to judge is “to form an opinion or estimation of after careful consideration”, and worth is defined as usefulness, then a standardized test will only be ONE form of data a school, teacher, parent etc will use to determine the usefulness of the student’s knowledge, through painstaking (i.e. careful) thought (i.e. consideration). Mr. Schaeffer agrees, saying, “Assessment should be constant in the classroom.”
Mr. Schaeffer recommends that parents keep an on-going dialogue with teachers to know the standards a teacher is using to measure learning. Parents naturally rely on their own school experiences and may add criteria when evaluating their student’s homework and grades. Knowing where the parent and teacher are in agreement and possibly not, can help parents guide students’ learning at home.
My questions about assessments haven’t changes as I’ve moved from the classroom to educational consultant. Mr. Schaeffer and I agreed that SAT and ACT scores are ONE of several criteria college admissions officers use in their evaluations. “Test optional” admissions policies, where SAT or ACT scores are not required for application, also expand choices for students who are not “good test takers.” Wake Forest University, Pitzer College, Lewis & Clark College and American University are several examples of selective universities that are “test optional.” (FairTest maintains a full list of test optional colleges.)
With college admissions tests–the SAT and ACT–students (and their parents) each year wrangle with test scores and admissions statistics and test prep and frustrating exchanges about how much and when a teenager will practice. It’s common for students and their parents to believe higher scores are not only essential for a competitive college application, but also a validation of the student’s intelligence. While Mr. Schaeffer offered a historical perspective of the SAT as stemming from an IQ test, which seems to echo parents’ and students’ ideas, he went on to talk about the possible influence of tutoring and plain, ol’ roll up your sleeves test practice in raising SAT and ACT scores. So, if a student can raise their scores (which Creative Marbles has also witnessed in advising and tutoring students about the SAT and ACT) with diligence and effort, then doesn’t that, at least, question the idea that innate intelligence is measured by the scores?
Quantifying knowledge is a tricky endeavor. The high-stakes consequences of both K-12 and college admissions tests further add complexity. The more knowledge a parent and student have about how the data from a standardized test can be interpreted, the more realistic perspective on the meaning of the scores. Similarly, research into college admissions “test optional” policies can help prospective applicants reasonably assume they’ll be evaluated holistically, with numbers (i.e. GPA) being only another, equal consideration. In the end, students’ inherent confidence about their learning will be the ultimate assessment.
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Jill Yoshikawa, Ed M, is a University of California and Harvard trained educator and Partner at Creative Marbles Consultancy. You can contact Jill at jill@creativemarbles.com or, read her short biography.
