How Can We Make Standardized Testing and Standards Better?

After reading “Rhode Island Teachers Respond to PARCC: A White Paper”, I found myself reflecting back on my time in school and how much I related to this. When I was in school I had trouble learning to read. Though I was not on an IEP (I went to a Catholic school that didn’t really offer IEP programs) I needed a great deal of help with reading assignments. Without that help during standardized tests, I was set up to fail. I am part of a minority group, but I don’t feel it had a great impact on my learning, but to a certain extent, I feel like I understand the “consequence gap” and how it can affect students.

When testing time came around, I would get anxious and even when I learned to read well, I’d always manage to choke when the test came. This carried over until I took the SATs and more. My scores were low, but my grades were the opposite. This doesn’t just apply to me though, I’ve had many friends that do well in school. They meat the standards that are set and pass with flying colors, but when a standardized test comes, they choke.

This also somehow guided me into another question that may seem complex and has a few parts. Considering the idea of “consequence gap” and that the groups in this category seem to struggle more, does this mean we should consider changing the standards in an area based on the needs of the school district?

After looking at the different standards from NCTE and the Common Core website, I noticed that they seem specific and general at they same time. They are specific in the sense that it may say something such as “CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1.E Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.” (Common Core) where it states the work needed to be done, however it does not say how to grade or judge the mastery of this standard, but it also doesn’t say how it needs to be taught. This can leave a lot of freedom for teachers so they can adjust the standard and how it is met depending on the district and socioeconomics of an area. This seems to be a common theme for NCTE as well, so do we just rely on that general idea or do we try and change the standard to fit the needs of students in a specific school.

If the standards are change depending on the socioeconomics of an area and the needs of the students, then they may be able to have better progression in school. If standardized testing is also selected on the needs of the students and given more freedom to adapt to students, then we could possibly get a more accurate idea of what students really know and what they can do.