tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/testing-pressures-16599/articlesTesting pressures – The Conversation2015-10-26T20:39:46Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/497902015-10-26T20:39:46Z2015-10-26T20:39:46ZObama calls for limits on school testing. Here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99748/original/image-20151026-18443-afbisz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Why should schools need to moderate testing?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/riptidessportsgrill/16706404672/in/photolist-rshG4S-raWtnH-r94zXT-rso42M-raW9tF-raWjVT-r94NtK-raNDNN-rsnTGe-raWkvk-raWvb2-qvAWg4-rsnR8B-raW1LM-qvop1J-rsgjDD-rso9J8-9NXVjz-rshSM5-r94KJM-qvAYh8-raPvfq-rsgoZ2-raNxYb-raW3sT-qvogBq-rshZDm-rshQUN-rq66qG-raPuhU-rsgfip-r94Ape-qvAA4v-rq62Lh-raPPwA-qvopuE-r94Rar-rq5XC7-rsi3N7-r94Kgc-raW7Rc-qvARZD-rq6w63-qvB1Nk-rsgJHa-rsgyTk-rshBjS-9NYcHK-raWq7e-raW54P">Innisfree Hotels</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WhiteHouse/videos/10153858451374238/">President Obama has urged states</a> to cut back on too much testing. In a Facebook video message October 24, the president urged states to devote no more than 2% of classroom time to testing. The pressures of testing, he said, were taking the “joy out of teaching and learning.” </p>
<p>For a long time educators have been emphasizing the negative fallout of testing. </p>
<p>At The Conversation, we have been following the various developments related to the fallout of testing, including mass cheating scandals, the “opt-out movement,” teacher demoralization and evaluations that test teachers on subjects they have never taught. </p>
<p>Testing has always been a contentious issue in American education. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jennifer-keys-adair-155727">Jennifer Keys Adair, assistant professor of early childhood education</a>, University of Texas at Austin, <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-test-based-systems-even-young-kids-resist-learning-37569">says</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It was policy-makers, who without much input from teachers, researchers or parents, started pushing for testing, starting in the 1980s and leading upto the early 1990s.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But of late, protests related to testing have escalated to a point where students as well as teachers are “opting out” of state-mandated tests. <a href="https://theconversation.com/students-are-opting-out-of-testing-how-did-we-get-here-40364">“Opt Out”</a> has quickly turned into a nationwide civil disobedience movement against state-mandated testing in elementary and secondary education.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mindy-l-kornhaber-164028">Mindy L Kornhaber</a>, associate professor of education, Pennsylvania State University, <a href="https://theconversation.com/students-are-opting-out-of-testing-how-did-we-get-here-40364">writes</a>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Last year, Opt Out protests occurred in about <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/17/living/parents-movement-opt-out-of-testing-feat/">half the states</a>. This year, the movement has found support across all 50 states…In New York state alone, the number of students opting out has more than tripled this year. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Pressure on teachers</h2>
<p>Several factors have led to this situation. Among them is the kind of pressure that teachers find themselves under. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/steven-c-ward-122089">Steven Ward, professor of sociology at Western Connecticut State University</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/crisis-in-american-education-as-teacher-morale-hits-an-all-time-low-39226">discusses</a> how teacher job satisfaction has dropped “from 62% of teachers feeling ‘very satisfied’ in 2008 to 39% by 2012.” Teachers, he writes, were finding themselves under tremendous stress. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>over half (51%) of teachers report feeling under great stress several days a week, an increase of 70% from teachers reporting stress in 1985.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mitchell-robinson-190778">Mitchell Robinson, chair of the music department at Michigan State University</a>, writes about how music teachers are being evaluated based on subjects they don’t teach, namely math and reading. <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-it-get-more-absurd-now-music-teachers-are-being-tested-based-on-math-and-reading-scores-47995">He says</a>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Imagine for a moment, a physician being evaluated based upon their patients’ illnesses or injuries, not on the treatment delivered. Or consider the logic behind evaluating a steakhouse based on the fish you had at the seafood restaurant across the street last night.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That was not what the tests were meant to do. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/flynn-ross-172725">Flynn Ross, associate professor of education at University of Southern Maine</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/test-data-misuse-reaches-absurd-levels-42585">explains</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The data from these tests were intended to provide policymakers and educators with evidence to improve educational outcomes for the most disadvantaged students.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, she argues, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>instead of promoting equity and social justice, the <a href="http://ocrdata.ed.gov/">data</a> are being used, in some cases, to further punish and disenfranchise the most <a href="http://www.nyclu.org/news/high-stakes-tests-harm-students-and-teachers-undermine-equity-new-yorks-schools">vulnerable students</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>High stakes</h2>
<p>Academics point to many other negative consequences of testing as well. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/paul-thomas-117487">Paul Thomas, associate professor of education, Furman University</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-child-left-behind-fails-to-work-miracles-spurs-cheating-38620">says</a>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The focus on raising test scores led to other negative consequences as well – such as a increasing the emphasis on core courses while also eliminating electives such as art and even more teaching for the test. As a result, <a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED537412.pdf">expectations for students were also narrowed</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Thomas also points to the mass-scale cheating in Atlanta and Washington, DC – another fallout of testing pressures on teachers.</p>
<p>Of all these, the impact on kids has been the most troubling, says University of Texas’s Adair. Testing pressures, <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-test-based-systems-even-young-kids-resist-learning-37569">she says</a>, changes “the learning experiences of kindergarteners and preschoolers.”</p>
<p>But testing has also been a contentious issue, and some experts disagree. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/v-scott-solberg-160261">V Scott Solberg</a> associate dean for research, Boston University, <a href="https://theconversation.com/another-standardized-test-this-one-called-parcc-but-heres-whats-different-40056">says</a> test scores can help teachers improve their teaching.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As a parent, it provides me helpful information as well. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Others point toward countries that are already paying the “steep costs” of “high-stakes” testing. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/thomas-owenby-164032">Thomas Owenby, visiting instructor, education and youth studies, Beloit College</a>, who spent five years in Seoul, urges the US to learn from the costs that countries such as South Korea are paying for having a test-oriented education system.</p>
<p>He <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-can-the-us-learn-from-south-koreas-testing-pressures-40365">describes</a> the testing day in the following words:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The entire nation comes to a standstill on the morning of this eight-hour exam. Banks and government offices open an hour later than usual in order to ensure that students will be able to make it to their exam sites on time. Flights are prohibited from taking off or landing during the English listening portion of the exam. In the days leading up to the exam, temples are filled with parents, almost exclusively mothers, making prayers and offerings on behalf of their children.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-can-the-us-learn-from-south-koreas-testing-pressures-40365">Owenby adds</a>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>An over-emphasis on objective outcomes leads to excessive stress and strips away the humanity of young people.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49790/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
President Obama’s message has put issues around standardized testing back in the news. Here’s what scholars have been saying.Kalpana Jain, Senior Religion + Ethics Editor/ Director of the Global Religion Journalism InitiativeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/460032015-08-27T07:50:00Z2015-08-27T07:50:00ZBack to school? A crucial time for kids’ social and emotional development<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92931/original/image-20150825-15923-xfrs2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Back-to-school time comes with rich, teachable moments.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/4114157284/in/photolist-7gy8Ch-bAZeg1-8rRSFY-8rNM66-9sKchx-8CKUy5-5AGwzb-afez5b-afbMx4-6neX7k-4p4xqX-cQCyBU-8w6AzK-dPkbC8-9k7KdF-8w6zFg-8w9yuf-8w6vHk-dPkbA4-det3NF-desUMB-desSCf-desSnm-det1Rn-det3Ur-det1tH-desVGL-desZv7-det2su-desUFn-desS6d-desZk9-desVHk-desSwA-desYXS-det41X-96Lzht-a61cx-7djt5E-74uSHk-bBEw7Z-bBEw1c-dGG8aN-5DjpQQ-8boTzZ-8xb15n-8xe2j3-oDMgsy-7b17gZ-5dph7g">PROwoodleywonderworks</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s that time of the year. Summer vacations are almost over. </p>
<p>For most kids, this time of summer has been about finishing the readings and completing the packets that were handed out to them as summer work. As a result, school often conjures up ideas about reading, writing and arithmetic (the “three R’s”). </p>
<p>But this approach is both <a href="http://downloads.ncss.org/legislative/AcademicAtrophy.pdf">problematic</a> and myopic. As pressures to meet standards in the three R’s increase, other areas fall off the radar. Having an answer to a question becomes more important than knowing how to think about it.</p>
<p>As a psychoanalyst in private practice and a classroom teacher, I know that the time of transitioning back to school is crucial for both parents and children. This can also be a time to support the emotional development of children. </p>
<p>Sometimes just one hour of “emotional tutoring” – attending to social and emotional development – can be more efficient than spending hours tutoring. It can remove blocks to learning and open up energy for higher-order thinking. </p>
<p>So what can we do as parents and educators to get there? </p>
<h2>The pressure of the reading, writing, arithmetic</h2>
<p>There are <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass0708_035_s1s.asp">180 days of school, on average, in US public schools</a>. Ask a teacher how many days are spent administering tests and preparing for said tests, and you might wonder how anything else gets covered. I was supervising a school-based clinician who worked on Thursdays and couldn’t see his clients for six straight weeks because of test prep and actual testing. </p>
<p>Peter Taubman, a professor of education at Brooklyn College, in his book <a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9780415890519">Disavowed Knowledge</a>, describes how today’s students get treated as though they were just animals that need to be trained and told what to repeat, as opposed to building their “curiosity, attunement, analysis, and a focus on creating conditions such that the …student can generate material for further elaboration… .” </p>
<p>Even the <a href="http://downloads.ncss.org/legislative/AcademicAtrophy.pdf">Council on Basic Education (CBE) report</a> notes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Of particular concern… are signs that the growing attention to mathematics, reading, writing, and science may well be coming at the expense of other academic subjects, including the arts and foreign language.“</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The fact is, we are feeling creatures first. Pressures and obsessions to perform in one area of learning, growth and development can lead to neglect in others. </p>
<p>The start of school is a time when mixed emotions need to be processed. A commercial from the 1990s for an office supply store captures this. With background music from a popular singer – <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/andy-williams-162966">Andy Williams’</a> It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year – the scene showed two sad children next to a jubilant dad pushing a shopping cart around a store collecting school supplies.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4DComGO8JYo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The commercial serves as a reminder that the start of a school year has as much to do with emotions as it does with other subjects. </p>
<h2>The importance of social and emotional learning</h2>
<p>Trying to only accentuate the positive or force learning before a child is emotionally ready ignores what neuroscience and psychology tell us about the brain: we are ruled by emotions and not reason. Briefly, all information to our rational brains must pass through our limbic system, which is our feeling brain. </p>
<p>If we become <a href="http://www.choice4change.co.uk/emotional-hijacking">emotionally hijacked</a> – that is, if our feelings become unregulated – even the best-made rational plan can be inaccessible. The stress of daily coursework can lead to such emotional hijacking. </p>
<p>That is where Social and Emotional Learning (<a href="http://www.edutopia.org/social-emotional-learning">SEL</a>) can come into play. SEL is learning how to understand ones own feelings and making good decisions to get what you want out of life. Both children and adults can benefit from the <a href="http://www.casel.org/">various</a> SEL <a href="http://ei.yale.edu/ruler/">programs</a>. </p>
<p>They differ in some ways, but when distilled down, SEL programs share three common elements: self-awareness, talking or putting your thoughts and feelings into words, and providing some structure or a "holding” environment. These elements help reduce “emotional hijacking.” </p>
<p>Any student who is identified as lacking some element of an SEL competency, for instance, <a href="http://www.casel.org/social-and-emotional-learning/core-competencies">self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making</a> can benefit. These SEL competencies make reading, writing and arithmetic easier as a student’s emotional world is validated. </p>
<p>If a child’s social and emotional world is left unattended to, he or she can be driven to distraction, acting out, and various unregulated emotional states. </p>
<h2>How you can support the transition</h2>
<p>Back-to-school time comes with rich, teachable moments to support the social and emotional development of children. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92932/original/image-20150825-15920-1l6kscb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92932/original/image-20150825-15920-1l6kscb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92932/original/image-20150825-15920-1l6kscb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92932/original/image-20150825-15920-1l6kscb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92932/original/image-20150825-15920-1l6kscb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92932/original/image-20150825-15920-1l6kscb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92932/original/image-20150825-15920-1l6kscb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What can you do as a parent?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rocksinmyhead/8028638014/in/photolist-desSnm-det1Rn-det3Ur-det1tH-desVGL-desZv7-det2su-desUFn-desS6d-desZk9-desVHk-desSwA-desYXS-det41X-96Lzht-a61cx-7djt5E-74uSHk-bBEw7Z-bBEw1c-dGG8aN-5DjpQQ-8boTzZ-8xb15n-8xe2j3-oDMgsy-7b17gZ-5dph7g-7MU3mT-7b16NK-bqHayp-8FgcPX-atpGAU-8QH9Ev-aYw9ct-4G1wxF-desUCG-aBhict-aewZRz-desRWE-81WD5J-det2Ah-det2Wb-desZ9p-desUvF-desZJK-det22W-desRCu-det1VC-det1NY">RocksInMyHead</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, if you are a parent, here is what you need to do:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Be self-aware! Focusing entirely on your child’s transition overlooks your own feelings about transitions. They are tough for everyone. Knowing what you are bringing to the mix is important. Once you know it, you can work on helping your child develop his or her self-awareness.</p></li>
<li><p>Talking helps. A simple question like, “Any thoughts or feelings about school starting?” is an opening. Let the question hang there. You don’t need to clarify or say more. Give them space to think and feel. If you have concerns about transitioning your child from summer to school mode, talk to your friends, a pediatrician or your child’s therapist. </p></li>
<li><p>Structure time. Depending on your child’s age, you can start implementing bedtimes and times for breakfast in the morning that slowly move back to school timetables. This is easy enough with children, but tough to do with adolescents who just have notoriously poor sleep hygiene. </p></li>
<li><p>And don’t forget, if there is summer homework that needs to be completed (summer reading, projects, etc), then you may want to help schedule that for your child. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>“Education is life itself”</h2>
<p>As an academic, I love and hate the back-to-school time. I love teaching. I am a sucker for back-to-school sales and love the smell of stationery and the feel of opening a new notebook. </p>
<p>But I also love the summertime, without my students and schedules. I enjoy reading through the stack of both pleasure and subject-area books I have accumulated over the academic year. My summer is “me” time. Fall, winter and spring are “we” time. These are the elements of my own “self-awareness.” </p>
<p>Back-to-school time brings mixed feelings, as do most important events in life. Our jobs as parents and educators should be to help with the social and emotional development of those in our care so that they can more easily do the reading, writing and arithmetic that they need as well, not the other way around. </p>
<p>In an age where answers are only a smartphone away, knowing how to think and critically evaluate information should be the focus of education. </p>
<p>In many ways, this is what <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/john-dewey-9273497">John Dewey</a>, the noted academic, philosopher and educator meant when he wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46003/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Sharp does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The time of transitioning back to school is crucial for both parents and children. Here’s what you can do.William Sharp, Instructor, Psychology and Human Development, Wheelock CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/403652015-05-04T08:20:32Z2015-05-04T08:20:32ZWhat can the US learn from South Korea’s testing pressures?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/80158/original/image-20150503-23842-1ykndjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students in South Korea are under extreme testing pressure.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&search_tracking_id=2xw4pw4ZUu99hNRaaw5LCg&searchterm=Korean%20%20exam&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=141647254">Students' image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Korea is often upheld as a model of educational success by policymakers and <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/education/2014/07/25/3464167/south-korea-education/">commentators</a> in the United States. </p>
<p>This is not without reason. </p>
<p>Korean students have consistently performed well on global standardized <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results.htm">tests</a>, while US students fall <a href="http://neatoday.org/2013/12/03/what-do-the-2012-pisa-scores-tell-us-about-u-s-schools-2/">somewhere in the middle</a>. </p>
<p>The question is whether South Korea is a good model to emulate? </p>
<p>With American education policy moving towards more standardized testing, we need to understand the steep costs that countries such as South Korea are paying due to high-stakes testing.</p>
<p>During my five years in Seoul, two of which were spent working with students as an AP US and World History teacher at Hanyoung Foreign Language High School and my seven-plus years working with US schools, I have observed intriguing parallels between these two dynamic educational systems. </p>
<h2>Families under immense pressure</h2>
<p>South Korea is a <a href="http://www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/south-korea-overview/">Confucian-inspired</a> society that places an immense value on education, which is both admirable and exemplary. </p>
<p>The passion and energy that students and families put into schooling is extraordinary. From kindergarten onward, Korean students are shuttled off to private academies for <a href="http://qz.com/311360/students-in-these-countries-spend-the-most-time-doing-homework/">additional instruction and studies</a>. This continues even after the end of each school day and frequently extends to weekends and holidays as well. </p>
<p>Families frequently <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-s-korea-the-best-education-means-a-sacrifice-for-parents/2012/11/05/6adb0564-256f-11e2-9313-3c7f59038d93_story.html">divide</a> themselves geographically, with the mother accompanying the child for the purpose of taking advantage of far-flung educational opportunities, even as the father stays behind.</p>
<p>Failure is never due to a lack of effort or resource allocation. </p>
<p>In fact, the emphasis on educational achievement is such that it drives a massive amount of <a href="http://monitor.icef.com/2014/01/high-performance-high-pressure-in-south-koreas-education-system/">spending on private tutoring</a>. </p>
<h2>What have been the outcomes of testing?</h2>
<p>An unfortunate fallout of this overwhelming emphasis on educational attainment is the <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2015/04/15/393939759/the-all-work-no-play-culture-of-south-korean-education">high suicide rate</a> among high school students. Suicide is the <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2014/03/20/poll-shows-half-of-korean-teenagers-have-suicidal-thoughts/">leading cause of death</a> for youth in Korea in the age group, 15 to 24. </p>
<p>The Korean government has been trying to address the situation in innovative ways. For example, a new <a href="http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-03-korea-smartphone-app-curb-student.html">smartphone app</a> has been developed to warn parents if their children are at risk based on key words they use in text conversations or on social networks.</p>
<p>Elementary and secondary education in South Korea is focused on preparing students for the all-important College Scholastic Aptitude Test, commonly known as <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2013/11/test-taking-south-korea"><em>suneung</em></a>. Although the test itself only takes one day, students prepare for it over the entirety of their pre-college schooling. </p>
<p>Performance on the <em>seneung</em> is the primary factor that determines <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21588373-there-are-perils-country-having-all-your-children-working-too-hard-one-big-exam">university admission</a>, which in turn strongly impacts whether graduates will secure a position in a desirable area of the economy. </p>
<p>The entire nation comes to a standstill on the morning of this eight-hour exam. Banks and government offices open an hour later than usual in order to ensure that students will be able to make it to their exam sites on time.</p>
<p>Flights are prohibited from taking off or landing during the English listening portion of the exam. In the days leading up to the exam, temples are filled with parents, almost exclusively mothers, making prayers and offerings on behalf of their children. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/80159/original/image-20150503-23871-1a16k8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/80159/original/image-20150503-23871-1a16k8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80159/original/image-20150503-23871-1a16k8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80159/original/image-20150503-23871-1a16k8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80159/original/image-20150503-23871-1a16k8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80159/original/image-20150503-23871-1a16k8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80159/original/image-20150503-23871-1a16k8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Curriculum in South Korea is overwhelmingly focused on standardized test preparation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&search_tracking_id=-s7C6AxGVX95cO1juD7MhQ&searchterm=%20Korea%20schools&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=193078202">Student image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The test <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/south-koreas-dreaded-college-entrance-exam-is-the-stuff-of-high-school-nightmares-but-is-it-producing-robots/">emphasizes memorization</a> over analytical thought. Consequently, pedagogy throughout primary and secondary schooling is dominated by direct instruction and objective forms of assessment. </p>
<p>Korean students have thus come to excel at learning and assessment tasks that prize memorization and recall. They thrive in answering the “what,” but are rarely asked to engage with the “why.” </p>
<p>It is imperative that we address a fundamental question: What is purpose of education? </p>
<p>The goal of education cannot simply be to perform well on a standardized test and get into a prestigious college. In trying to “catch up” to the test performance of nations such as Korea, the U.S. could be making a grave mistake.</p>
<h2>Kids in the U.S. are under testing pressure</h2>
<p>Statutory requirements of <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml">No Child Left Behind (NCLB)</a>, in addition to the institution of <a href="http://www.corestandards.org/">Common Core State Standards</a>, have led to a <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/11/17/362339421/testing-how-much-is-too-much">similar trajectory</a> for standardized testing. </p>
<p>Narratives of work-readiness and global competitiveness are being used to legitimize the instituting of a ludicrous number of standardized tests in the United States.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.ccsso.org/Who_We_Are/Our_Promise.html">Council of Chief State School Officers</a> and the <a href="http://www.cgcs.org/site/default.aspx?PageID=1">Council of the Great City Schools </a> recently released a <a href="http://www.ccsso.org/News_and_Events/Press_Releases/Chief_State_School_Officers_and_Urban_School_Leaders_Announce_Joint_Effort_to_Improve_Student_Testing.html">survey</a> that showed the average large district student in the U.S. is taking 113 standardized tests from K-12th grade. </p>
<p>The loss of instructional time due to standardized testing is staggering. An <a href="http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/news/testingmore2013.pdf">American Federation of Teachers (AFT) study</a> estimates a loss of instructional time of three days per year for elementary school students and two weeks per year for middle and high school students. </p>
<p>This has led to the narrowing of the curriculum, with <a href="http://www.cep-dc.org/displayDocument.cfm?DocumentID=309">literacy and math education</a>) occupying a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0305764X.2011.607151">rapidly increasing</a> proportion of the average elementary school day. Severe <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/mar11/vol68/num06/High-Stakes_Testing_Narrows_the_Curriculum.aspx">cuts</a> in art, music, and physical education programs are the norm. </p>
<p>Teachers are being forced to <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/mar11/vol68/num06/High-Stakes_Testing_Narrows_the_Curriculum.aspx">teach to the tests</a>. Additionally, teachers are also being assessed through the <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/05/13/32value-add.h33.html">misguided</a> use of standardized test-based <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/12/23/the-fundamental-flaws-of-value-added-teacher-evaluation/">value added evaluation</a>. </p>
<h2>Testing systems strip away humanity</h2>
<p>Even as the US moves toward a narrow, standardized test-focused curriculum, Korean education policymakers are working to increase <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/01/12/16ahn.h31.html">space for creativity and an appreciation for diversity</a>. </p>
<p>It is not without reason that a rapidly increasing number of American parents and students are choosing to [opt-out](http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/03/10/as-students-opt-out-of-common-core-exams-some-say-movement-is-not-about-testing of standardized the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/07/new-york-common-core-stress_n_4747863.html">stress and anxiety</a> of standardized tests. </p>
<p>Students must be engaged in extracurricular activities and the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/01/22/top-10-skills-children-learn-from-the-arts/">arts</a>, in addition to acquiring a solid grounding in reading, writing, math, science and social studies. </p>
<p>An over-emphasis on objective outcomes leads to excessive stress and strips away the humanity of young people.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40365/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Owenby does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>South Korean students have consistently been at the top of global standardized tests. But the high grades have come at a tremendous cost.Thomas Owenby, Visiting Instructor, Education and Youth Studies, Beloit CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.