Public Schools' Annual Review

Public Schools Have a Review Every Year in the Form of a High Stakes Test

This May, all California public schools will administer the CST, or California Standards Test. This test is meant to measure the effectiveness of instruction and the level at which the students are achieving. In many ways, it does just that. The questions are based on a multiple choice format and the questions are created by a think-tank in Sacramento of educators, elected officials, and hired help. On the other hand, there are many aspects of education it fails to assess and therefore it is not the answer to the problems facing education. I am writing from the perspective of a public school teacher who has 9 years experience in the system.

Teachers are evaluated on a set of standards for the teaching profession, but the emphasis of the test results cannot be dismissed. When billions of dollars rest on the results of the test, it obviously is a factor. Schools can have serious consequences if they don't meet their CST targets and therefore hiring and firing decisions are inevitably being made in the interest of scoring higher on the test. So what does this test really tell us about what is happening in the classroom?

The truth is: not much. Teachers can and quite often do teach "to the test," leaving non-academic and socializing issues by the wayside of this supposedly "greater plan" called No Child Left Behind. With all allegiance being given to the test, PE and Social Studies get left behind as well. Science is tested at the fifth grade level, but since it is not at any others it is taught with less and less emphasis in public school. Are we to assume the future leaders of our civilization will not be needing social skills, science, and physical education? I find the lack of assessment in these areas quite troubling.