Cheers For Testing Season
From Forbes.com
All across the U.S., it is testing season in schools.
Time for students to get ready to take the annual Big Standardized Test, the state-level standardized attempt to measure educational achievement with a single math and reading test. For many schools, the results will determine, in part or in full, the school’s rating.
So to pump students up, the school may have pep events. Teachers cheer and dance. Students belt out test prep chants. Special guests visit. Search “state test pep rally” on Youtube.com and you’ll see video after video after video after video of schools working to get their students pumped up for the state test.
This new rite of spring is a display of how test-centered schooling has led education astray.
The heavy emphasis on the testing season sends a message to students that taking this test is the main point of their school year, their ultimate educational destination. Many schools incorporate the young classes in pep events, so that kindergartners cheer for the older students and thereby learn to start looking toward this test as a major part of their years ahead.