In
the past, tests were looked at as the only real way to measure learning. If you did not give a test, you were left
with a feeling of incompleteness. This
was magnified by the fact that both parents and administration expected
it. For some people, testing is no problem. For others, even the mere mention of a test elicits
sweaty palms and heart palpitations.
My own son helped me to see things
differently. He is borderline dysgraphic
and dyslexic. Yet he is an amazing
hands-on learner. He issues are not
severe enough to merit help by an IEP, but still had great difficulty when
testing. His 8th grade
history teacher came to us with a request.
He wanted to verbally test him. His score went immediately from a “D” to
a “B-“. This started a journey of
alternate ways to find out what he had learned. I recently have become greatly
interested in a group of exercises called “thinking maps”. The last school I was at did several in-service
trainings related to these. I was very
interested to hear one trainer say, “Do I have to give a test over this? No, I do not.
I already know they understand it.”
Of course the students do not mind either. I like the idea of “alternate ways of finding
out what a student knows. I just wish we
teachers had a little more freedom to use them.
There are still parents and administrators that do not want to
change. Even in the “old days” there
were a few innovators.
I
still remember my final exam in college Zoology. By a strange twist I ended up taking the
class one-on-one with the smartest man I have ever met. Dr. Cunningham had skipped his Masters and
gone right to his Doctorate. He went
from college freshman to Dr. Cunningham in 5 ½ years. There was no written exam, only oral. We started on the human body. “Start with the mouth and trace the path of
food through the body, giving all enzymes, organs, and processes helping digestion”,
he said. That was only the
beginning. He did give small hints as needed
as we went along. It really did not seem like a test, more like a conversation.
Yet, I dare say that when we were done he was aware of what I knew about the
subject. I received a B+. I can also say that of all the classes I studied
in college, I remember his the most.
Testing has its place and will
probably never be phased out, but there is a need to look for an use other less
stressful ways of verifying learning.
