6/24/08

Plain Dealer Letter

The June 19 editorial “High-stakes tests are useful” perpetuates several harmful myths.

Most educators do not oppose high-stakes testing out of fear, but because the practice has a long record of failure and creates devastating collateral damage in terms of motivation, curriculum, learning, physical and mental health, student behavior, democracy and the burnout and attrition of good teachers and administrators.

We didn’t need tests to discover the learning gap between rich and poor; we’ve known about it forever.

High-stakes tests do not give solid information, because most of what matters in education is not on the tests. Not surprisingly, test scores are poor predictors of real-world success.

Educational testing is just as subjective as teacher evaluations. It’s merely a standardized version of some committee’s subjective judgments.

We could discard the tests tomorrow. More than 700 colleges and universities are test-score optional.

High-stakes testing allows politicians to micromanage classrooms, but it is one of the central obstacles to quality education in America today.

Karl F. Wheatley

Lakewood

Wheatley is an associate professor of early-childhood education and coordinator of early-childhood teacher education at Cleveland State University.

Emphasis on tests a misguided policy

Regarding the June 16 arti cle “Ohio puts No Child exams to the test”:

How distressing that choosing the tests that measure student achievement is the center of focus, rather than how schools might reach and teach today’s students.

No matter what the test, the evidence is clear: Educators need to focus on alternative teaching techniques, not finding alternative tests.

Barbara Oehlberg

Solon