When I was overweight, I bought a new scale, thinking a more accurate, computerized scale would help me lose weight. It didn’t.
Now, Illinois state bureaucrats think they will improve student learning because they have developed a new testing system–a new scale. The new scale will work about as well as mine did.
The millions of dollars spent on Illinois state testing is wasteful. States like Kentucky and Minnesota have taken a different tack. In those states, the money is spent providing teachers with a variety of ways to experience teaching and supporting them in their work to improve student learning. Instead of blaming local school districts for not teaching well, the Illinois State Legislature would do well to study other states, which support instruction and permit teachers to test students based on what they are learning about more effective ways to teach.
Complaints about the new system’s complexity are beside the point. Reforming schools through new and improved testing is like losing weight through new and improved scales.
