As Bridget Phillipson seeks to increase testing in schools (again) with a new reading test for 13 year olds, as a way of combatting the problems in literacy among school children, which is clearly a serious issue, I'm reminded of the phrase:
'You don't fatten a pig by weighing it'
What is needed is more investment in schools & staff to enhance the environment in which children learn & to help them discover the joy of learning... more testing just sucks the joy out or education!
@ChrisMayLA6 'More testing' does far more (permanent) damage to #ActuallyAutistc children than just 'suck[ing] the joy out of education.'
It's worth noting that places which are actually good at education, like Finland, do no standardised testing AT ALL.
It's child abuse; it should be banned.
@simon_brooke @ChrisMayLA6
If we had standardized testing* in America, we wouldn't need more tests. One test per year is sufficient to get the data you need to assess your educational system. Finland does a statistical assessment where only a selection of schools each year take the tests instead of every school, which gives the same overall data, albeit with less granularity.
I remember taking the Iowa tests when I was a kid. It was a bit annoying to take the test (who likes tests!?), but you got interesting data afterward. There was no "passing", no "failing", just scores you could use to see your strengths and weaknesses. I wish it were done across the nation - and get rid of all these so-called "standardized tests" that are anything but standardized. What standard?
*I'm frustrated at how we label things with words that don't mean what the thing is.
Emeritus Prof Christopher May
Simon Brooke
Samuel Smith