Negative Outcomes of Testing
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Category:
Quote |
Issue(s) Addressed:
Inherent value/intelligence Building society/citizenship Developing the "whole child" Standardized testing in math/reading/etc |
Attribution
Diane Ravitch, former assistant secretary of education in the administration of President George H. W. Bush, research professor of education at New York University, and author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education.
Guest on the Diane Rehm Show, March 11, 2010.
Item Text
When asked what the No Child Left Behind legislation has done to the American school system, Dr. Ravitch replied that it has "caused teachers in grades 3-8 especially to focus on testing in reading and math. Now, the more you put the emphasis on testing in reading and math, which certainly are very important skills, the less time there is to teach the arts, science, history, literature, geography, civics, and there are schools that have eliminated recess and physical education because the children need more time. . . .
"Children are getting higher scores because they're being taught to take tests. So they reach high school, and they have test-taking skills, but they don't know anything. They don't have the background and the knowledge--the general knowledge. . . .
Diane Rehm: "What would your idea of a good national curriculum look like?"
Diane Ravitch: "When I served in the first Bush administration, the thing that I was most interested in was promoting national and state standards, and at that time, my idea of national and state standards was in the arts, and science, history, literature, geography, civics, even physical education, but it was a well-rounded education. There's a great quote from John Dewey which I always think of, and that is "What the best and wisest parent wants for his child is what we should want for the children of the community." Now people who live in affluent communities do not limit their children to the basics. They do not say, 'You're going to take tests in reading and math, and you're going to spend three months out of the year preparing to take the state test.' They would be incensed if that was imposed on their children."
"I would like to see only one federal mandate, and that would be, 'Every child should have the opportunity to play a musical instrument.' I think that would be a wonderful starting point. . . . The arts, for many children, that's the reason they come to school. It's the opportunity to sing in the chorus or to play in the band."
Links
Submitter Information
- Name: MENC Staff
- Email: advocacy@menc2.org