Question 5: Gov. Phil Murphy has run into opposition to his plan to change standardized testing in New Jersey. What do you think he should do now?
Timothy Alworth: Governor Murphy should continue to push for standardized testing reform. I believe that standardized testing is not necessarily a bad thing in theory. It can provide valuable information on a student’s strengths and weaknesses and provide teachers and students with data to measure their progress. However, I also believe it needs to be administered correctly and serve as an accurate representation of student achievement. I don’t believe the PARCC test provides an accurate representation. I believe that the PARCC test is poorly designed and confusing for students, especially the younger test takers. Additionally, standardized testing should only be one of the tools used when evaluating students, teachers and schools, and in my opinion the Parrc test has become overly relied upon as the measure of success. Consequently, schools devote too much time to test preparation and teaching to what is on the PARCC test which takes away valuable classroom learning time. I think we are wasting resources by teaching kids how to take a test, instead of just teaching kids.
The PARCC test is somewhat unique in its structure and administration- it is computer based and has some rules and procedures that are difficult for test takers. Children are asked to drag answers across the screen and use online tools that don’t work if you don’t click in the exact right spot. Therefore teachers have to waste class time teaching the students how to take the test. They need to be instructed how to answer certain questions in the format that they are presented which in my opinion is a waste of class time. And while there have been some improvements since the first year, there are still a number of glitches and errors with the test which interrupts the students, such as the sound not working for certain questions or the screen freezing midtest. These technical errors should have all been perfected before administering the test to children.
The reliance on the PARCC test as a measure of teacher ability and school success is problematic. It is not a true reflection of what is going on in the classroom and the impact that teachers have on the daily lives of our students. Because a school is judged on PARCC scores, teachers are forced to focus the material to what the PARCC is teaching, sometimes minimizing other aspects of the curriculum. Students are aware of the importance of these tests and are therefore more anxious and stressed than they need to be. Fortunately the state has acknowledged that PARCC tests have been given too much weight and reduced the percentage that scores are used in teacher evaluations. But we need to do more.
Murphy needs to continue to push for reform. Test scores should not be given the weight that they are. Testing should be used to measure student achievement, so we can help the students with their weaknesses, not to judge the students, the teachers and schools. The PARCC test needs to be changed to a test that more accurately measures a students’ abilities in the classroom. The use of PARCC has become an exercise in how well the student can navigate the PARCC test, not a measure of true student achievement.
