Test Subversion 201
It’s not about being radical, and it’s not about subverting for the sake of subverting. It’s about genuine care and concern about learning.
Tests are not the things that are wrong in our classrooms, it’s how we use them. It’s how we give and use the tests that requires thought and subversion.
"It’s the way testing is carried out that is the problem, not testing itself. You have to give feedback on performance to learners - how can you do that without some way of assessing what their performance is?"(Testing…testing…one two three.English360 blog)
And what is the purpose of that feedback? Is it to generate a number for a report? Is it just something teachers and students have to do because they’re in school? Or is testing a way to provide feedback? A catalyst for reflection, review, discovery, and redelivery (if you’re a teacher.)
Sadly, my test taking career has largely been something I’ve had to do because I’m in school. I rarely recall revisiting material that was not "passed with success" on a test. The band just played on, with or without you. My test taking career reminds me of Disney’s Sport Goofy as he does the obstacle run. He clears the first few hurdles with no problem, but then things start to go wrong. Instead of clearning the hurdle, he starts to collect them. He jumps, but not quite high enough. The hurdle gets stuck around his leg. Goofy starts to slow, but somehow manages to move forward. He comes to the next hurdle, and again doesn’t manage to jump high enough. Another hurdle rolls up his leg and gets stuck around his waist. He stumbles forward and ends up crashing through the next hurdles, dragging them along with him as he moves along toward the finish line.
Ok, so I can’t believe I’m using Goofy in this discussion, but the point of this post is hit home rather well with his example. If we’re not thinking about HOW we give tests, we’re turning our students into Goofys. Are tests just something they have to jump over and pass, or are they reflective tools - for both students and teachers?
Do we slow down after a test (hurdle) to see if content being tested was actually understood by our students? Do we, as teachers, take time to redeliver material that was not taken on by students? Or are we guilty of marching ever forward in our dedication to cover the year’s required content? The material may get covered, but if we look back will we see our students jumping high and easy, or will we see them lost in a failed hurdle?
Testing is not only about the student. It’s also a measure of how well we delivered and worked the content in class. When a test is given, we should mark ourselves as well as our students. Maybe the way I delivered or worked through the material didn’t connect properly with my audience?
This morning I did something I’ve never done before with my students and their test. (See previous post.) I spent a few hours last night marking them, but from a very different perspective. Inspired by James’ The Demise of the Red Pen and Konrad Glogowski, I hauled out my trusty pencil and set to marking. But not marking to asign a grade, it was marking to set the stage for meaningful feedback.
James asks: "What if we invested in walking through the text instead of skimming from an ‘objective’ distance?"("The Demise of the Red Pen" ) Indeed. What if? What if, and WHY NOT?
Today’s class was a walk-through. We slowed down. The test showed some pretty important holes, and instead of just passing out their grade and moving forward with what was next, I tossed the book, and handed back their tests without their grades.
James’ recent post Real Teaching Means Being Quiet (Sometimes)… really left me with a lot to think about.
"After walking through constructing a post, I have my students mark each other’s blog entries using the same rubric I will use tomorrow. As I walk around the room I find myself in a strange situation…overhearing students talking through their peer’s post and adding suggestions and or compliments I realize that I have nothing to do.
They are teaching each other." (Real Teaching Means Being Quiet (Sometimes)…)
Students teaching themselves…What a thought. I don’t always have to be the "great answer man." In fact, I know I’m not that. But isn’t it funny how tempting it is to just give students the answer? So today and last night, after reflecting on these guys’ posts, I decided to throw out the conventional one sidedness of test taking. I decided to take my own advice and value the journey just as much as the end product.
I returned their tests without a final grade, and paired them up to work on revisiting their incorrect answers together. I paired my stronger students with weaker ones, and the result was magic.
Instead of me broadcasting the answers, my students helped each other discover the correct ones. I just floated around, and dropped in to offer advice and suggestions, but never the complete answer. I heard and saw amazing things: A "strong" student correctly, efficiently, and clearly explaining why a sentence structure wasn’t quite right to a "weaker" student. Then, not five minutes later, the "weaker" student became the teacher, and she correctly, efficiently, and clearly explained why the "stronger" student had gotten one of his passive sentences wrong.
It really was a magic moment. But it was magic for all of us. I think I learned just as much, if not more, than my students did from the exercise.
Testing is an important tool in the classroom. HOW we test is what we really need to think about. A test should not just be about a final grade, it should be the little kid in the back seat of your car asking you constantly "are we there yet?" Tests should draw out reflection from the one who administers it: Did we cover this material in a way that met my student’s needs? Are we just going to march onwards after I hand out the final mark? Am I going to make the choice of placing value on learning from mistakes?
Do my tests invite students to reflect on their own understanding of the material? Am I inviting them to dive deeper if need be?
Tests should be 100% all over that.
Subvert the marching band test and the condition of Goofy. Slow down and make sure you’re all there. Have you lost people along the way? Is someone getting stuck under a hurdle?
Test Subversion 201: How does everyone feel about that?
