Standards for the Assessment of Reading and Writing

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in the Standards for the Assessment of Reading and Writing make a whole lot of sense. Point 2, for example, "The primary purpose of assessment is to improve teaching and learning," makes clear that assessment is a natural part of the process of educating children, not a punitive measure designed to assuage the egos of legislative bodies. If, as stated in point 1, "the interests of the student are paramount in assessment," and assessment is used to inform teaching and learning, it seems to me that the current craze of the nation to focus on high-stakes assessment instruments that have a profound effect on the development of a child, is misplaced. The real issue is what do we want from school for our children? Do we really believe that high-stakes testing helps develop critical thinking among school children? Do we really want to create a generation of students that can guess well but then (as in the case of Florida) cannot identify key political personages in the state or nation or, as in the case with some of my own students, cannot identify key continents, oceans, and cities on a map? I am quite concerned that what we are becoming is a nation that, in trying to cope with the onslaught of information, has decided to retreat into a cocoon of safety without metamorphosis.