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Spooner ( ism ) on Standardized Testing
By Shuana Niessen
Spoon · er ·( ism ) / SpŌŌnә r ( izә m /) 1 . a verbal polemic in which the speaker ( named Spooner ) intentionally exposes the undemocratic impacts of a policy ( such as standardized testing ), often to grave effect .
Dr . Marc Spooner must be doing something right . He ’ s been a multiple winner of the Prairie Dog ’ s Best of Regina Poll for Best U of R Professor , including the 2013 poll . When students were asked why they thought Dr . Spooner was chosen for this award , one student commented , “ Marc always tells it straight to you even if it isn ’ t what you want to hear . It pushes you to work harder , think deeper , and become a better student , learner , and person .
The readers of Prairie Dog also recognized Marc as the 2013 recipient of the Best Citizen Activist Award . This isn ’ t a big surprise considering that Marc also “ tells it straight ” when it comes to systemic social issues such as poverty and homelessness . Most recently , however , Marc ’ s voice has been raised against standardized testing . He views the issues of poverty and achievement as directly linked . Marc says , “ Poverty is the biggest learning disability . Testing scores are not telling us anything . If you want to know something about achievement , tell me where the students live , and I can tell you , as Alfie Kohn says , ‘ with chilling accuracy ,’ how well they are achieving .”
Marc views education as liberation , though he recognizes the existing tension between indoctrination and liberation . He asks , “ What are the telling signs of a democratic classroom ? Creative engagement , discussion of significant current events , and political or democratic engagement .” These three aspects are necessary for students not only to function in the world , but also to envision and build a better world . And it is these three aspects that are omitted when the focus becomes standardized testing . “ We have to be careful in what we are trying to achieve when education is reduced to test scores , a method all too popular in dictatorships .”
The push for standardized testing is perplexing to Marc , given that “ even the architect of standardized testing , Dr . Diane Ravitch , is now one of the biggest opponents of it .” Searching for a metaphor to shed light on this backward movement towards standardized testing , Marc says , “ It ’ s like instead of building cell phone towers , we are building land lines . Or , if you take standardized tests in September and call this formative assessment , it is like driving a rear-wheel drive in reverse and calling it front-wheel drive . It ’ s still a rear-wheel drive car !” Further , standardized testing diverts funds from the classroom , moving funds from the public to the private sector , to publishing companies who write and print tests , and to computer companies who administer results . And , the results that are published provide a distorted view of teaching and learning and greatly affect morale .
Marc continues , “ It ’ s not like we don ’ t have great models to follow : Look at Finland , a social democracy , which has narrowed the gap of inequality . They have a strong middle class ( something that is eroding in our society ). Their teachers have autonomy , professionalism , and a master ’ s degree . They don ’ t have standardized curriculum ; schools themselves determine what they will teach .” Yet , Finland is regularly in the top five on every measure on the PISA scores . “ That ’ s the kind of society I want to live in ,” Marc says , “ one that minimizes inequity and allows teachers to be professionals and students to take up all the benefits of a democracy .”