Testing: assessment for learning or road to breakdown?

Assessment week

This past week has been a week of assessments in my department: all week long I have either been preparing students to be tested, or testing them, all so we can make sure that they are on track to get the level they're aiming for. Don't get me wrong, testing has its uses, but it can sometimes feel like we are testing for the sake of testing...to meet government ideas of school and education or just to get our head of department off our backs. Surely this isn't how its supposed to be?

A short story...

I'm going to start with a story: this story has occurred over this week and to me, highlights what is wrong with the testing system as it is. 

My year 7 groups have all been tested on Diwali this week, they had their books next to them, help sheets and didn't need to worry about spelling as long as I knew what they meant...all in all a fairly stress free environment other than doing it in silence. Yet one boy couldn't settle; he's not normally a student I have problems with so after numerous exchanges and two warnings, he was given a break time detention (a system in-line with my school's behaviour policy). Before break time I had a chance to look over my student's work and noticed that this lad had not completed his test and had barely scraped a level 3 (this is a lad who is able to get 4s and even 5s normally). I mentioned this too him gently during his detention to have him break down in tears on me...he was distraught that he was in trouble for doing badly! Immediately I informed him that no, he was not in trouble, I merely wanted to let him know and give him a second chance to complete the assessment at home. Much calmed this young lad went off to his next lesson complete with test in hand to complete later.

I've had it back now and have yet to mark it, but its looking promising.

The problem

The problem is this: why in the world are students getting so worried about tests that normally good children are misbehaving, not completing tests and breaking down in tears? This cannot be healthy...and it must have come from somewhere.

This students reaction has not come from me; I am fairly relaxed about tests; explaining beforehand that students have bad days and just to try their hardest. But it must have come from somewhere and wherever it has come from, I'm sure the person responsible has no idea the harm they have inflicted on this child.

Human or robot?

And now I get to the point of this blog. Earlier today I came across the wonderful work of @sparkyteaching who have produced a set of resources under the name of Shine!
These resources focus on the fact that students, whilst trying their hardest on tests and academia, should remember that they have other talents we do not test: other ways to shine.
What a positive message! I can't remember a single time in the last 6 months of my PGCE that the focus has not been on getting the best level or grade out a child. How depressing! That the whole system is set up purely on testing and not on creating well-rounded students who know their talents and cultivate them. You might not necessarily purchase the materials from @sparkyteaching but their principle is sound...these children need to know we are proud of them and their abilities, be they in our subjects or not. They are human beings with hundreds of blossoming abilities and miles of potential and we as teachers should be trying our best to encourage this passion and skill with all our heart, rather than pounding it out of them to produce identical, mindless, academic drones. What a boring grey world it would be if we all had them same abilities.

What can we do?

So next time you test you kids, as we all have to, I urge you to encourage hard work and trying their best, but at the end of the test, remind the students that whatever they do here, whatever they achieve, they have other abilities which are nothing to do with this test. They are all amazing human beings!