Testing

Jim Knight, MP, the School’s Minister, came to the defence of school testing yesterday, after the Commons Select Committee for Children, Schools and Families released its quite critical report on Testing and Assessment. The Minister supported school testing arguing that it plays a very important role helping to prepare students for critical GCSEs and A-level exams later on.

The Commons Select Committee had a more discerning view on the matter. In their third report, the Committee warned that testing is narrowing students’ educational experience. “We received substantial evidence that teaching to the test, to an extent which narrows the curriculum and puts sustained learning at risk, is widespread," the MPs stated, displaying concern about the current system in place. The published report concludes by recommending that national testing be reformed.

Although I have never been a big fan of standardized testing, I do understand that testing is a useful and necessary way to evaluate students’ performance across the country. I would therefore not argue to eliminate national testing altogether. In my opinion, the problem with school testing is when teaching becomes too heavily focused on students doing well on national exams for school ranking purposes. For this reason, I believe that the reform being proposed by the Select Committee is an appropriate and good one.

Motivating and inspiring students is one of the biggest challenges teachers face. I think that more creativity needs to allowed and promoted in the classroom, and focusing solely on testing certainly diminishes the chances of this from occurring. Testing is an inevitable part of the education evaluation system, but it’s crucial that it doesn’t dominate the learning environment.