Term Paper on "Standardized Testing and Its Victims"

Term Paper 4 pages (1242 words) Sources: 1 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

This occurs very conspicuously when Kohn presents what she refers to as "fact 8" which consists of the assertion that more and more teachers are leaving the field of teaching because of the heightened amount of standardized testing. Kohn readily admits: "I have no hard numbers here, but there is more than enough anecdotal evidence -- corroborated by administrators, teacher-educators, and other observers across the country, and supported by several state surveys that quantify the extent of disenchantment with testing -- to warrant classifying this as a fact. Prospective teachers are rethinking whether they want to begin a career in which high test scores matter most, and in which they will be pressured to produce these scores" (2000). The problem with this assertion is that there are not facts or evidence offered. Kohn is merely sharing the anecdotes from her limited life experience.

This is extremely problematic as Kohn is offering up limited hearsay up as a fact. If Kohn truly believes that she has collected enough narrative evidence from these educators to classify this claim as a fact, then she needs to engage in a formal research study in order to corroborate her findings in a manner which will be actually useful to her. Furthermore, when Kohn does attempt to offer evidence, it's again clear that it's not actually evidence, just more hearsay, but from a sophisticated source. Kohn cites the New York Times who asserted that "a growing number of schools are rudderless, struggling to replace a graying corps of principals at a time when the pressure to raise test scores and other new demands have made an already difficult job an increasingly thankless one." This continues to be just conjecture, though vividly worded, just from a different source this time and one which happens to be better regarded.

Kohn's argument begins to pick up steam when she stops presenting these trends as "facts" but seeks to present these trends as implications. Thus, the second part of the essay is generally the strongest. Kohn argues that there has been conjecture throughout the years that the tests might be biased. This is indeed true, yet something that no researcher has been able to prove without a shadow of a doubt. Kohn also illuminates a disturbing trend, most of the people who excel at these types of exams (white males), are generally those who can afford the expensive test preps programs that many of these tests require in order to triumph at them. This means that anyone from a socioeconomically disadvantaged background simply isn't going to excel at these standardized tests. This marks one of the strongest facets of Kohn's argument: in this argument she is merely pointing out a few disturbing trends and then drawing a logical conclusion from them, that nearly any reader who is aware of the basic patterns with standardized testing can get behind. Furthermore, Kohn draws another strong conclusion based on other trends, though intelligently does not present this conclusion as a fact. Kohn cites the increased pressure on raising test scores and how that can fall heavily on the shoulders of teachers who teach in low-income neighborhoods to minority students: many of these teachers are in danger of being driven out. Thus, this creates a lose-lose situation for minority and lower-socioeconomic students.

Thus, the essay by Kohn does do a larger service to society at large in that it brings attention to an issue which has a significant hand in skewing the playing field in education and in light. While Kohn does make a few strong arguments and fair points, she also makes her faire share of flimsy ones.

References

Kohn, A. (2000, September 27). Standardized testing and its victims. Retrieved from… READ MORE

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