Standardized tests not the best way to assess students
There could be a multitude of reasons for the poor performance on the test
Standardized-testing, in the form it is in now, is not an effective way to ensure quality education.
As a former elementary teacher with HWDSB who took early retirement due to my disillusionment with public education, I have long protested the wasted time, resources and money that I saw being spent on EQAO testing at the Grade 3 and Grade 6 levels. In theory, testing students to assess if they are learning the curriculum and that teachers are teaching the curriculum, sounds good, especially to the average person. However, many things sound good in theory but aren’t always effective when put into practice. This is the case for EQAO testing.
Numerous variables involved in the testing are not the same for all students and cannot be controlled for. Some students write in their own classrooms with their regular teacher; others must write in a different classroom with a different teacher. Some write in an air-conditioned room; others write under sweltering conditions. Some are primed with school kickoff assemblies, special breakfasts and treats; others do not benefit from this kind of cheerleading. Some students are provided with extra EQAO preparation under the guise of after-school “homework” clubs or given sample EQAO questions to work on at homework with parents; others get no extra preparation and their parents can’t help them. Some students have an experienced Grade 3 or 6 teacher; others have an inexperienced Grade 3 or 6 teacher or even a first year teacher. Some students care how they do on the tests and put forth effort; others do not try.
There are other factors that impact testing results as well such as the fact that Special Education and English as a Second Language students in the designated testing grades must write the tests yet are not even working at that curriculum level. Further, students like my son, who I withdrew from the test, are given a score of 0 and that is calculated into the school’s results.
These variables are factors that cannot be controlled for and can skew how well a student performs on EQAO assessments and puts the validity, reliability and fairness of the assessments into question. If a student performs well on a standardized test it would suggest that this person has a good understanding of the curriculum expectations. However, if a student performs poorly, this doesn’t necessarily indicate that they do not have an understanding or that the educator did not do a good job of teaching. There could be a multitude of reasons for the poor performance on the test.
What EQAO does tell us is that schools teaching students from higher socio-economic status, whose native tongue is English and who have fewer special educations students do better on EQAO testing. Furthermore, the EQAO data that is accumulated in a given year is compared to data from previous year’s classes in that grade yet the students being compared are not the same students. That is like comparing apples and oranges.
Standardized-testing, in the form it is in now, is not an effective way to ensure quality education and improve student learning. It will never accurately assess real learning. As it is now it is merely a political tool. If it was really about student learning they wouldn’t publicize the results beyond the school and Board level and the tests would be administered in a more appropriate and less stressful way.
If we want quality education we should ensure: that we only graduate high quality teaching candidates; that teachers have an opportunity to spend at least three years in a grade to become competent; that teachers are qualified to teach what they are teaching; that there are specialized teachers at the elementary level; that the math curriculum at the primary level focuses on the Number Sense and Numeracy strand; that students in elementary school have mastery of the curriculum in English and Math before they are passed on to another level; that special education students and programs have more funding and less bureaucracy; and that basic lesson plans covering fewer curriculum expectations be provided to teachers with tests for teachers to use when they have completed a unit to assess teaching and learning.
The current government is set to review how students are assessed as a result of dismal scores in EQAO math tests despite spending $60 million on a new “math strategy”. In light of that, trustees at The Peel District School Board are asking the Ministry of Education to suspend EQAO tests for all students this year. I encourage HamiltonWentworth District School Board to do the same. As a matter of fact, I encourage all school boards, teachers and parents to ask for the elimination of The EQAO bureaucracy and ensure the quality of the education system in ways I have suggested above. The $40 million dollars spent on EQAO yearly could be better spent putting an Educational Assistant in every classroom.