The Arbitrary Albatross: Standardized Testing and Teacher Evaluation

The Arbitrary Albatross: Standardized Testing and Teacher Evaluation


Photo credit: wfryer via flickr

Author and teacher Aaron Pribble reignites the discussion over the legitimacy of using standardized test scores to evaluate teacher performance.  Like most teachers, Pribble is opposed to the idea, and he blogs about his rationale in The Arbitrary Albatross:  Standardized Testing and Teacher Evaluation.

Pribble begins by pointing to the lack of precision offered by the results of a single test.  According to Pribble, "student results from standardized tests should not be used to evaluate teachers because the data are imprecise and the effects are pernicious.  Including such measures is both unfair to teachers and detrimental to student learning."  Pribble points to two primary flaws in standardized testing:  individual and environmental factors affecting student performance; and random variation that may cause a fluctuation in scores not related to teacher efficacy.  Both, the author argues, are unfair.  For example, environmental factors such as a student's socioeconomic standing, motivation, or family issues may adversely affect a student's scores.  Further, the performance on a one-time test may be negatively affected by things beyond the teacher's control, such as the amount of sleep a student receives, illness, or other emotional issues.

Pribble also points out that high-stakes testing can lead to cheating or at least a "teaching to the test" mentality. As an example, he points to the Atlanta Cheating Scandal, arguing that connecting teacher evaluations or pay to the results in, "a perverse incentive to manipulate the system."  In addition, Pribble claims that standardized tests do not lend nicely to higher-order thinking; rather, they encourage rote recall of facts and statistics that do not produce the rigor that most good teachers require in their classrooms.  Bubble sheet testing does not a scholar make.

The author ends with a suggestion for reform, a call to action that includes student input and responsibility for learning, and an evaluation of a student's work over  a period of time (think: portfolio).  By video-taping lessons, evaluating a range of student performances, and engaging peer feedback, the administration can gain a much better insight into a teacher's efficacy than by looking at scores on a single standardized test.