Different Angle on Standardized Tests
Google “single standardized test” and you’ll get a couple hundred scolding comments about how “using a single standardized test as the sole determinant for graduation, promotion,tracking and ability grouping is not fair” and that “test development experts agree that it is not appropriate to use performance on a single standardized test for making high-stakes decisions for individuals,” et al.
The Sweetwater Union High School District in southern California has taken these comments to heart, and requires students to “write reflective essays, compile classroom work samples and make their case for graduation before an interview panel to earn their diplomas.” District administrators consider the senior portfolio “an in-depth gauge of students’ abilities that can’t be captured in a fill-in-the-bubble exam.”
But there’s a constituency that objects to the portfolios: the students. According to a story in today’s San Diego Union-Tribune, some students consider the portfolios “a last-minute scavenger hunt to assemble transcripts, letters of recommendation, job applications and work from their high school years.” One student testified before the school board and called the portfolio “busywork” that interfered with preparation for Advanced Placement exams.
