Standardized tests play serious games with children’s futures

If my Twitter feed is any indication then Wordle #265 caused the world a lot of consternation.

On March 11, 2022, Wordle released a very common word for its puzzle. The word appears on most kindergarten vocabulary lists. Not only did many people miss the word, but they felt sufficiently unhappy about it that they told the world.

Those who solved game #265 confessed that chance had more to do with victory than did skill. “I got lucky on that first letter today!” admitted one Twitter user who solved the puzzle in three tries. “One of the reasons I use an opening word entirely based on whim, not habit.”

This comment got me thinking about my SAT prep class at Boston Latin Academy. Just the day prior to game #265 I was giving my students some strategies for their upcoming SAT test. What happens when the Wordle dynamic affects students’ performance?

The SAT purports to be an aptitude test for which you cannot cram or study. But in reality it is a predictable test for which you can maximize your score by knowing certain tricks or patterns. While I am no fan of gatekeeping exams and am happy that more and more colleges are making the SAT optional, I also want to assist my students in the best way possible.

So I teach a prep class where we practice tips and tricks. When all else fails or when time is running out, I tell the students to pick a favorite letter and color in that bubble on their answer sheet. If they are lucky, they might get it right.

Which brings me back to

Wordle. People employ different strategies. The person mentioned above starts with a random word each day.

Sometimes luck is the biggest factor. I know someone whose starter word is “north.” One day all the letters were yellow. Success was obtained on the second try: “thorn.” Since Wordle does not repeat a word, my friend’s strategy will not be as successful moving forward.

Some rookies fail to solve the puzzle in six moves if they are unaware that letters can be repeated. “Vivid” was a word which stumped many such people. Knowing that letters can be used more than once and knowing that past words cannot be used, a person “in the know” will likely be more successful at this game than someone not equally versed.

The SAT and other standardized tests put students at the same competitive disadvantage. Such tests do not measure skill or intelligence, they measure preparedness. Which students are more likely to be prepared for the SAT? The answer of course are those from wealthier families (who can afford private prep classes) and/or from families where the parents attended college and thus have already undergone the process. They are in the know.

While the SAT may now be optional for my students, the MCAS is not. Far from being a test to ensure that all students can read or write at a basic level, the MCAS is very much like Wordle in that people brag about their scores.

Most people likely have seen on social media their friends’ Wordle scores. As long as you solve the puzzle in six tries or fewer, you win. So why does Wordle tell you if your score is 1/6 through 6/6? It’s for the same reason the MCAS rates districts: bragging rights.

There may be a compelling reason for the state to ensure that a diploma means a student can read and write at a certain level. But having tiers of passing categories seems to help school privatizers and real estate agents more than it does students.

The score of 240 is a passing MCAS score in English language arts and mathematics. The range of 240-258 is proficient (passing) and 260-280 is advanced (still passing).

The only reason to have low and high passing scores is to rank districts so that the state can praise the wealthier districts at the expense of the poorer.

Real estate agents boast to prospective buyers that the schools in the area have a such-and-such percentage of advanced MCAS scores. Are the teachers in those areas better at educating their students than other teachers? It’s doubtful. A more likely factor is that the districts with the better MCAS scores are also the towns with the highest prices for homes and the lowest percentage of nonnative English speakers. I’m sure it is just a coincidence.

Wordle is no more a measure of intelligence than is the SAT or MCAS. Standardized tests are a poor encapsulation of what a student has learned. Please keep this in mind the next time the state labels a school underperforming based upon these flawed tests.