There are many reasons that we can site to oppose the use of high-stakes testing in American schools.  Yesterday, I reported on a case in Florida in which several middle school teachers decided not to do hands-on, inquiry-based activities with their students.  These science teachers decided that a more direct instruction approach was called for, and indeed, they found that their student’s test scores improved on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).  This is sounds like a very good decision on the part of these teachers, and indeed, it may be.

However, the behavior of teachers in this case represents a disturbing collateral effect of high-stakes testing.   Here is an example how high-stakes testing is threatening the “ideals and purposes of American education.” And in this case the nature of science teaching.  Are we to be convinced that using inquiry and hands-on activities in the curriculum is a waste of time because the goals of science teaching that attributed to inquiry-oriented teaching are not measured on high-stakes tests such as the FCAT?

This is one example of the logic used by our test possessed education system that was put into action by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).  As Nichols and Berliner state in their book Collateral Damage, the NCLB has created a system of “threats and incentives tied to test performance that will energize teachers and their students to work harder and more effectively.”

As they point out, this is a factory model that was used to manage workers who were doing difficult labor intense tasks.  But today, most businesses depend on the knowledge or intellectual abilities of their “workers” and surely, using punishment and reward, as we have seen imparted on our public schools, is not a part of the model business world.

We are corrupting the nature of (science) teaching by continuing to use high-stakes testing as the only indicator of student achievement and teacher effectiveness.  What would happen if we were to eliminate high-stakes testing immediately from being used as a determinant of a student’s grade in a course, or whether the student moves on to another grade?

The first thing to happen would be the enormous release of pressure on students and their parents who have been convinced that the only way to know if their child is successful is how he or she does on a 40 – 50 item test, that may or not be related to what went on in their classroom.   Pressure would also be released to allow teachers and administrators to act professionally and create environments that are conducive to learning by all students, regardless of where they live.

Another result would be the freeing up of the curriculum enabling teachers to make professional decisions about content and pedagogy, and relate the curriculum to the needs and aspirations of its students.  Now, because of the Common Core State Standards movement combined with high-stakes testing, most of the decision making about content is not in the hands of the professional that know what is best for their students.

Nichols and Berliner, in their book Collateral Damage, issue a warning that American education is suffering because of high-stakes testing, and that we should heed the warning and do something about this.