fuck standardized testing

So I was just reading an article in the Statesman about how Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Chris Bell, a former U.S. House member, doesn't think students need to pass state-mandated tests such as TAKS to advance from one grade to another. Finally, a man after my own heart.

Seriously, state-mandated testing is bullshit. Speaking from experience, schools tend to teach to the test and not what you're actually supposed to know.

Now, there were a couple of exceptions when I was in school. As someone who went through junior high and high school in mostly "Gifted and Talented/Honors" and Advanced Placement classes, I didn't really have to do most of the shit that the kids in regular classes were subjected to when it came to the Almighty TAAS test. There was also a technology magnet school at my high school, which I was enrolled in my first semester in high school. Those in the magnet school also did not have to take the mandatory TAAS preparation classes.

When I went from the magnet school to the regular high school (all within the same building), I was now subjected to take a very retarded, very mandatory, dumb-downed TAAS prep class. It was the biggest waste of time. (That was also, coincidentally, when I learned the most about how to skip classes.) But when I did go to this mandatory class, I learned what all the other kids in the school, the non-GT kids, were going through. Every class involved TAAS. In Algebra, they taught you nothing but TAAS math. In English, they taught nothing but how to pass the Writing and Reading portions of TAAS. In whatever science you were in, it was back to more TAAS, even though nothing in TAAS was science related. In history, TAAS. Everything you got taught was TAAS.

Oh, but it gets better. My sophomore year, we got treated to not one, but two mandatory TAAS prep classes: one for reading and writing, one for math. (I subsequently got out of both of those mandatory classes because some freak computer glitch had me classified as a technology student for the rest of my high school career, therefore getting me further away from the regular classes I was supposed to be in.)

So for those keeping score, that's three classes in two years that could be spent on other things, like trying to get ahead in school by taking another level of course or taking an elective such as art or computer science or band or choir or newspaper or yearbook.

And if you didn't pass all three portions of TAAS the first time around? You were subjected to the same mandatory classes all over again.

I remember for some reason it caused a scandal at my school when it was found out that I got perfect scores on the math and reading portions of the TAAS and a perfect score on the multiple choice section of the writing portion. But I got the second lowest score on the essay portion. The reason I didn't do well on the essay portion is because instead of writing an essay on the topic, I wrote an essay on why writing an essay on said topic was moronic and that taking this test didn't prove anything when the scores for the test don't matter to get into a good college or have a career and that instead of spending so much time on how to pass this goddamn state-mandated test, all that time could be spent on the actual course curriculum and maybe some SAT/ACT prep. Obviously whoever ended up grading my essay agreed with me a little bit or thought it was well written because I didn't get the lowest score I could've gotten. A part of me back then (and a part of me now) wishes I had completely failed all three portions of the TAAS just to prove a point that you can fail the test and still be a straight A student, to prove that the test was nothing but bullshit. But I didn't want to be subjected to taking the test again, so the rebel in me subsided (the only time in my high school career that I would back down from proving a point).

But my TAAS essay stated exactly how I feel about state-mandated testing. It forces schools and teachers to teach for the test and not on what students should actually be learning to try to pass to the next grade or get into a good college or, you know, succeed after graduation. The fact that if you don't pass a bullshit state-mandated test could keep you from advancing to the next grade is complete bullshit. That should be based on whether students are actually passing their classes! Students should be encouraged to learn and become better, not get stuck in a rut and only learn how to pass one bullshit test that doesn't mean shit after you graduate (and doesn't mean shit in any other state). Students shouldn't be taught how to do the bare minimum just to pass a state-mandated test.

In the course of this post, I've used bullshit five times (six counting this one) and shit three times (four counting this one).

So yeah, no more state-mandated tests, more teaching students they can learn anything they put their mind to and not the bare minimum. Of course, this will never happen. But it's nice to bitch about it.