When Testing Gets in the Way of Teaching: Part 1

Confusing Compliance for Learning

“Sir, is this going to be on the test?”

As teachers we have all faced this moment.  

This situation plays out so regularly in our classrooms, it has become a cliche that we hardly give any thought to.  The way we too often respond to this question is worthy of some deep analysis, however, as the fallout of this question has serious consequences in the classroom. 

The struggle that happens in answering that question is enough to bring panic to even the most seasoned teacher.  Admitting that we are not planning on assessing the material might lead to inattention, disengagement, or worse of all, classroom chaos.  To test the material will result in some level of student compliance and a less stressful class for the next sixty minutes.  What to do?

“Yes, it will be on the test.” 

The lesson resumes.  The student pays attention.  The lesson is taught and a few days or weeks later, a test is given. The cycle repeats.  

This rather mundane ten second student interaction uncovers a major problem embedded in education today.  In the above situation, the teacher considered the attention of the student, the potential for classroom distractions and, understandably, their own personal stress in coming to a decision.  However, nowhere, was the idea of student learning given any consideration.  The major factor that led to the teacher assigning the test was classroom control.

How many times have you heard or said the following things in your classroom?

“Pay attention.  It’s going to be on the exam.”  

“You need to listen; this will be tested.”

“You need to turn around and stop talking so that you can pass this course.” 

I am willing to bet you have said similar things in your classroom.  I have.  I’m not judging.  Now in my role of principal, when I engage in dialogue with my staff about changing assessment practices and moving away from traditional testing, I hear the same ideas being argued back at me.

“But if we get rid of the exam, how will we keep them focused?”

“But if there is no test, how do we know they will do the work?”

“I feel the assessment helps the student to learn.”

We need to come up with a better reason to justify why something is meaningful than, “It is on the test.”  We also need to stop using assessment as a strategy for classroom control. If we are holding the assessment over the student’s head as a stick to keep them on task, we need to revisit our practice. 

There is no better approach to help students focus in class, to stay on task, and to prevent misbehaviour than genuine student engagement.  Students need learning to be relevant and interesting.  Testing is neither.  The way we typically assess is largely misaligned with those who we are there to serve – our students. 

Assessment has little to do with actual learning, although somewhere along the way, we have begun to confuse the two. 

If a student is only paying attention to get a good grade on a test, what happens to the learning after the test is written?  Students cram the information into their brains, do well on the test, then forget the information to make room for the next test in the next course.  We are raising kids to be great test takers and confusing high test scores for authentic learning.  What students have actually learned is how to game the system. 

This is not exactly our fault as teachers.  Many of us have been trained to teach this way.  In my first semester of my teaching degree I did a course titled “Assessment and Evaluation Methods.’ What we learned in that course was how to reverse engineer a unit where we design the test first, and then work backwards in order to develop our lessons.  This seems logical in one sense.  But when this is done consistently, it puts the assessment at the center of our instruction, and if assessment is at the center of what we do, where are our students?  

Assessment has little to do with actual learning, although somewhere along the way, we have begun to confuse the two. 

We can’t serve two masters in the classroom.  If we put our focus on the test, we cannot also put our focus on our students.  

If we truly want to engage our students, we need to be willing to give them some control of their own classroom experiences.  We need to let our students dictate where their interest in the curriculum lies and we need to let them tell us how they want to demonstrate their learning. 

This can be scary for a teacher to do, but it can be where real engagement and true learning can take place.  For many teachers it’s a scary thought because they often associate more student ownership with lack of control, lack of learning, and disruptive behaviour. 

But a quiet classroom doesn’t mean an engaged classroom.  And high marks on a test don’t mean you have actually learned anything.  We need to start thinking differently about these ideas.  

We need to kick our assessment addiction.