"Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) made the point that “the world will not come to an end” if the federally mandated tests weren’t given — though for years, federal and state policymakers had acted as if it would."
Think about a problem you faced and solved today. Maybe your laundry machine broke. Maybe you left your phone on a bus. Maybe you started cooking dinner and realized you didn’t have any milk left. These are all examples of well-structured problems. Well-structured problems have one (or one best) solution to them. Laundry machines are fixable. You can get your phone back. You can buy more milk or change the recipe. We face a multitude of well-structured problems each day, and sometimes we solve them so fast that we don’t give them a second thought.
However, sometimes we face problems that are a little tougher to solve or figure out all the layers that exist. These are ill-structured problems. Ill-structured problems have a whole bunch of variables to consider, and they must be considered simultaneously in their context. Sometimes you don’t have all the information at the start, and it takes a lot more work to solve an ill-structured problem. There’s not a correct or obvious route to take to the solution, but most likely, there is an answer or a solution. Finances are an example of an ill-structured problem. You budget things out, you save money, you get hit with an unexpected bill, etc. However, this is a solution to this, and you are able to work through it slowly.
A wicked problem is a problem that might be unsolvable, at least by one person. These problems are complex and intertwine with each other and so many variables that sometimes solving one only leads to another. Solutions to these have real consequences and there are no trial runs. There’s no right or wrong, and there’s no end in sight. Think about things like politics, world hunger, and climate change. These things are big and messy, and people have opinions on them. Thinking about them kinda makes you wish you were just dealing with a broken laundry machine.
The education world is full of wicked problems, and it kinda exists as one wicked problem itself. Take a minute and in your head make a list of all the wicked problems that you can think of in education. To the right is my list of ideas that I came up with, but this is just the beginning.
Once you start thinking about wicked problems in education, you realize they are all intertwined. Teacher burnout leads to a higher opportunity gap, which is fueled by standardized testing, which are legislated by unqualified politicians because the image of teachers isn’t seen as valuable in the United States. It’s hard to know where to start, but my classmates John Gates, Bethany Kinnan, and I decided to try to start understanding and tackling the issue of standardized testing.
We each sat down and made a list of questions to get us started. Here is my list from brainstorming:
To make it more manageable, we landed on 5 big questions:
Why is standardized testing so prevalent in the United States?
How do standardized tests affect students?
How do standardized tests affect teachers?
What are they doing everywhere else?
What can we do?
Standardized testing is a very political issue, even though it might not seem like it at first. There are many ties between politicians and testing companies, which operate off our public education system for profit. The slides below give a brief overview of the timeline of standardized testing policies, which were rooted in white supremacy. It also gives a snapshot of the recent presidencies and their effects on testing in education, specifically with regard to No Child Left Behind.
To anyone who works in education, it is no surprise to hear that the over-emphasis on standardized testing is harming both our students and our teachers. Studies that go back to the 1980's echo the thoughts of students and teachers today, and it can be disheartening to realize that in almost 30 years, it seems that not much has changed. These slides give an overview of the some of the effects on those in the education system.
If the US's system isn't working, then we have to look elsewhere, specifically at countries that seem to out-perform us. (We must bear in mind that countries are ranked partially based on standardized testing scores, so it can be hard to objectively know whose system is actually working the best.) These slides summarize some specifics about England, Japan, and Finland, as well as broader observation based on research into 8 countries. After being disheartened by the issues in education today, we also offer some goals for fixing this and some actionable steps you can take today to help with these issues.
It can feel impossible when faced with a wicked problem, especially one where the solutions are not controlled by you. Us looking at the problem of standardized testing is a lot less actionable than a policy maker or administrator looking at it. However, that doesn't mean we can't help. By educating ourselves and those around us, we can begin to call for the change need, and hopefully, someday, someone will listen.
Dickinson, K. (2019, February 15). Standardized tests: Finland’s education system vs. the U.S. Big Think. https://bigthink.com/the-present/standardized-testing/
Economy, Margot PepperTopics: Political. “Monthly Review | No Corporation Left Behind: How a Century of Illegitimate Testing Has Been Used to Justify Internal Colonialism.” Monthly Review, 1 Nov. 2006, https://monthlyreview.org/2006/11/01/no-corporation-left-behind-how-a-century-of-illegitimate-testing-has-been-used-to-justify-internal-colonialism/.
Government Accountability Office. (2008). No Child Left Behind Act: Education Actions Could Improve the Targeting of School Improvement Funds to Schools Most in Need of Assistance. GAO Publication No. 08-380). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Haladyna, T., Haas, N., & Allison, J. (1998). Continuing Tensions in Standardized Testing. Childhood Education, 74(5), 262–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.1998.10521950
Haney, W. (1981). Validity, vaudeville, and values: A short history of social concerns over standardized testing. American Psychologist, 36(10), 1021-1034. doi:https://doi-org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/10.1037/0003-066X.36.10.1021
Hani Morgan (2014) Review of Research: The Education System in Finland: A Success Story Other Countries Can Emulate, Childhood Education, 90:6, 453-457, DOI: 10.1080/00094056.2014.983013
HB. (2017, March 14). Wicked Problems Have No Stopping Rule. Digital Insider. https://diginsider.com/tag/wicked-problems-have-no-stopping-rule/
Jakee, K., & Keller, E. (2017). The Price of High-Stakes Educational Testing: Estimating the Aggregate Costs of Florida's FCAT Exam. Journal of Education Finance, 43(2), 123+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A531624550/LT?u=msu_main&sid=bookmark-LT&xid=ec838f74
Kamenetz, A. (2015, January 9). Want your kids to opt out of standardized tests? The Constitution may be with you. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/want-your-kids-to-opt-out-of-standardized-tests-the-constitution-may-be-with-you/2015/01/09/bea151b4-973a-11e4-8005-1924ede3e54a_story.html
Leistyna, P. (2007). Corporate Testing: Standards, Profits, and the Demise of the Public Sphere. Teacher Education Quarterly, 34(2), 59–84. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23479018
Neill, D. M., & Medina, N. J. (1989). Standardized Testing: Harmful to Educational Health. The Phi Delta Kappan, 70(9), 688–697. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20404001
Rotberg, I. (2006). Assessment Around the World. ASCD Educational Leadership, 64(3), 58–63. https://neqmap.bangkok.unesco.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Assessment-Around-the-World.pdf
School of Education - American University. (2020, July 2). Effects of Standardized Testing on Students & Teachers: Key Benefits & Challenges. AU School of Education. https://soeonline.american.edu/blog/effects-of-standardized-testing
Stephanie Schroeder, Elizabeth Currin & Todd McCardle(2021)Education Activism in the Trump-DeVos Era: Opt Out Florida’s Leaders Respond to the 2016 Election,The Educational Forum,85:1,4-19,DOI: 10.1080/00131725.2020.1767248
Strauss, V. (2020, June 21). Analysis | It looks like the beginning of the end of America’s obsession with student standardized tests. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/06/21/it-looks-like-beginning-end-americas-obsession-with-student-standardized-tests/
“Testing Companies Mine for Gold.” Rethinking Schools, https://rethinkingschools.org/special-collections/testing-companies-mine-for-gold/
