In the furor that surrounds standardized testing scores and what the scores mean, we often lose sight of the fact that not all tests are equal.
The majority of public school systems rely on tests such as the CRCT assessment, used in Georgia. These state-mandated tests are criterion referenced assessments, and they measure whether or not students have achieved specific skills or concepts. Sample questions can be as specific as "which of these shapes is line symmetric," "which of the underlined words is spelled incorrectly" and "which kind of simple machine is the knife blade as it cuts the apple" (reference). Others might ask students to solve word problems with math facts or revise incorrect sentences. The key, however, is that teachers can teach directly to the facts on the test. This can be an excellent measure for a student's short term memory, but rarely asks students to employ their judgment on how to use facts.
Darlington School gives the CTP IV (commonly referred to as the ERB), which is the gold standard in the independent school world for measuring student progress. The ERB's are norm referenced assessments, which measure how well a student can reason using the facts she/he has learned. Specific skills and facts have to be in place, to be sure, but the ERB's don't stop there. The teacher prepares the student by teaching not only discrete facts, but the skills needed to employ those facts in novel situations.
In math, for instance, inaccurate calculation for a problem is given, then the student is told: “Petra’s work is not correct. Explain what she did wrong and give the correct answer.” In reading comprehension questions, students are asked to “use implicit information from a passage read aloud to make inferences about the motives or behaviors of characters” (CTP 4 Content Standards Manual, 2011 Educational Records Bureau).
The ERB tests allows us to “Track multi-year progress of individual students, whole classes, and compare skill levels and progress with those of our peer schools. That way we can make sure we are on track, but also shape instruction to the individual student’s needs—shoring up weaknesses and challenging strengths” (reference).
Click here to read Director of PK-8 James Hutchins’ blog for a snapshot of how our students did this year.
Does Darlington teach the facts? Of course we do, in as engaging ways as possible. Do we repeat and re-enforce those facts through the years? Of course we do. What we will not do is shovel facts out of context into short-term memory then ask for them back—that kind of information is forgotten as soon as the quiz is over. The ERB’s help us to ensure that our students are learning to employ facts, to think critically, to be prepared for a world of novel situations.
