tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/teaching-to-the-test-12698/articlesteaching to the test – The Conversation2022-03-29T17:01:29Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1799452022-03-29T17:01:29Z2022-03-29T17:01:29ZPause PISA international standardized student testing — it’s been two years of pandemic schooling stress<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454824/original/file-20220328-21-zo2w1q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C206%2C5991%2C3529&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dropping the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) this spring is an easy way to lessen the pandemic recovery burden on students and educators. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Students are facing significant <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2021-0078">psycho-social challenges</a> as they return to their classrooms after two years of uneven pandemic schooling. Should schools be adding unnecessary tests to an overburdened educational system?</p>
<p>Canada’s <a href="https://www.cmec.ca/en/">Council of Ministers of Education (CMEC)</a> seems to think so: <a href="https://www.cmec.ca/712/PISA_2022.html">Between April 18 and May 27</a>, CMEC will administer the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) to a sample of about 30,000 15-year-old students from 1,000 schools in all 10 provinces. </p>
<p>PISA is an <a href="https://www.oecd.org/pisa/#:%7E:text=What%20is%20PISA%3F,to%20meet%20real%2Dlife%20challenges.">international research program from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development</a> (OECD) that compares student performance in mathematics, science and reading. </p>
<p>For <a href="https://www.oecd.org/pisa/aboutpisa/pisa-based-test-for-schools-faq.htm#">the past two decades</a>, every three years, 15-year-old Canadian students have participated in PISA. This year, CMEC continues to champion the benefits of PISA using the familiar refrain “<a href="https://www.cmec.ca/251/Overview.html">Canadians are concerned about the quality of education provided by schools</a>.”</p>
<p>Timely questions need to be raised in light of the decision to proceed with the administration of PISA across Canada this spring just as students are gaining some sense of schooling normalcy. </p>
<p>For example, the <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/students-face-unique-mental-health-challenges-in-post-pandemic-mindset">Student Well-Being and Resiliency Study</a> conducted by <a href="https://www.covidstudentwellbeing.com/">University of Calgary researchers</a> documents considerable economic hardships and the psycho-social issues facing Calgary students and their families as schools clamour to support their learning. </p>
<h2>Who benefits from assessment?</h2>
<p>American education researcher Jack Buckley offers one helpful analytical framework for <a href="https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/a-reset-for-assessment-toward-a-less-burdensome-accountability-system">revisiting the purpose of assessment</a> after COVID-19. Buckley contends tests can be categorized into four quadrants: high burden, high value; low burden, high value; high burden, low value; low burden, low value.</p>
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<img alt="A graph shows a quadrant of four squares that represent whether something is low or high value and low or high burden." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454827/original/file-20220328-19-lqkjow.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454827/original/file-20220328-19-lqkjow.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454827/original/file-20220328-19-lqkjow.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454827/original/file-20220328-19-lqkjow.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454827/original/file-20220328-19-lqkjow.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454827/original/file-20220328-19-lqkjow.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454827/original/file-20220328-19-lqkjow.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=448&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">Buckley’s framework to weigh the value of different forms of assessment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(J-C Couture)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>In other words, the perceived benefit of any assessment depends on one’s role in the education system. </p>
<p>For example, classroom teachers in Alberta found there was considerable time and effort required for <a href="https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/28f311a5-5693-441f-a6cd-a82967699865/resource/aa460092-f396-4d59-be58-2026c1429c43/download/2012-04-spotlight-on-assessment-2012.pdf">a province-wide school improvement program</a>. Funded by the Alberta government from 2000 to 2013, it focused on helping teachers develop assessments with support from university researchers. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://aac.ab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/AAC-Assessment-Capacity-Research-Report-submission.pdf">comprehensive impact study</a> demonstrated teachers were better able to gauge and then respond to the individual learning needs of each student amid the growing diversity and complexity of Alberta’s classrooms. </p>
<p>Seen in Buckley’s framework, while this assessment was high burden, it was also of high value to both teachers and students.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/problems-with-pisa-why-canadians-should-be-skeptical-of-the-global-test-118096">Problems with PISA: Why Canadians should be skeptical of the global test</a>
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<p>It’s important to consider a range of unintended consequences when determining the value and burden of a system-wide assessment. When teachers feel pressured to tailor their teaching to standardized testing — instead of what’s needed in their classrooms — this can result in <a href="https://theconversation.com/reduce-childrens-test-anxiety-with-these-tips-and-a-re-think-of-what-testing-means-111730">narrow curriculum, increased teacher and student stress</a> and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/canajeducrevucan.34.2.112">adverse effects on marginalized students</a>.</p>
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<img alt="Students seen from the back walking into a school building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454826/original/file-20220328-19-1cqwal2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454826/original/file-20220328-19-1cqwal2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454826/original/file-20220328-19-1cqwal2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454826/original/file-20220328-19-1cqwal2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454826/original/file-20220328-19-1cqwal2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454826/original/file-20220328-19-1cqwal2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454826/original/file-20220328-19-1cqwal2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&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">A preoccupation with standardized testing can mean less energy and time in classrooms to meet particular student needs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span>
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<h2>Low value to students</h2>
<p>What worries us are tests that are of low value to students, families and educators in classrooms. PISA is a prime example. </p>
<p>In Canada, PISA does not provide results for the specific students who take the test, nor does it provide results for the specific schools that participate. PISA only provides valid data at the provincial level, but how provinces use the data differs. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/global-education-rankings-may-overlook-poor-graduation-rates-127170">Global education rankings may overlook poor graduation rates</a>
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<p>What benefit will parents see for their children who are spending important instructional time completing assessments and questionnaires that offer no information about their progress?</p>
<p>When school communities are addressing the impacts of the pandemic, PISA’s inability to directly inform classroom practices of the test taker speaks to the little value it possesses. </p>
<p>The Council of Ministers of Education champions the benefits of PISA as part of its “<a href="https://www.cmec.ca/148/International.html">pan-Canadian leadership</a>,” but in post-pandemic recovery, what’s needed are approaches tailored to meet the needs of Canadian students.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pandemic-education-crisis-canada-is-failing-to-tackle-lost-year-in-k-12-education-165348">Pandemic education crisis: Canada is failing to tackle 'lost year' in K-12 education</a>
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<p>We need a broader public discussion on the relative burden and value of standardized testing at this time to revisit how large-scale assessment contributes to educational development and policy-making across the country.</p>
<p>While the benefits and costs of PISA remain <a href="https://www.brusheducation.ca/catalog/arts-education-social-sciences/books/the-global-education-race">contested, one major problem has been how governments inappropriately interpret the data</a>. </p>
<h2>Divisive policies</h2>
<p>Consider Alberta, where successive governments led the charge in promoting the value of international assessments to evaluate <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/education-studies.aspx">curriculum and other educational policies and programs</a>. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, efforts to rewrite provincial curricula have been stalled since 2010 — perhaps the consequence of failing to remind Albertans that PISA does not assess how well students have learned a specific curriculum. </p>
<p>Alberta’s largely self-inflicted wounds afforded by PISA are not unique. Several other provinces — including <a href="https://nbmediacoop.org/2020/09/21/are-we-there-yet-neoliberal-education-and-new-brunswicks-green-paper/">New Brunswick</a> and <a href="https://nsadvocate.org/2018/02/19/op-ed-children-are-not-widgets-and-teachers-arent-assembly-line-workers/">Nova Scotia</a> — are examples of how provinces are looking towards OECD policies, driven by PISA, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1468018115571420">to justify highly contested</a> and divisive approaches to education.</p>
<p>We need to support our schools during this time of transition. Well into the first year of the pandemic, the impacts on students were <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/longforms/covid-19-pandemic-disrupted-schooling-impact/">well-documented</a>. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042871">Research</a> has illustrated the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the mental health and well-being of young people and their families. </p>
<h2>Put students first</h2>
<p>In schools, it’s critical to focus on assessments that are of high value for student learning. In the short-term, pausing PISA participation is an easy way to lessen the burden on our educators and students, and is simply the right thing to do. </p>
<p>Given that <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000368421/PDF/368421eng.pdf.multi">researchers have pointed to the uncertain futures</a> of international large-scale assessments, we also encourage education ministries across the country to engage in a broader discussion with the education sector and the public concerning PISA. </p>
<p>Now, more than ever, we need to ensure that all student testing has high value and directly helps educators promote student learning.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179945/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Let’s not burden 15-year-old students with a low-value test that does a poor job of evaluating learning.J-C Couture, Adjunct associate, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and Department of Secondary Education, University of AlbertaDavid Rutkowski, Associate Professor of Education Policy, Educational Policy and Educational Inquiry, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1151222019-06-16T17:23:40Z2019-06-16T17:23:40ZLarge classes make it hard to notice ‘off-task’ kids with bigger questions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274191/original/file-20190513-183096-k9i0qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The complexity of student experiences can be lost in larger groups. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The benefits of having smaller classes, particularly in the early elementary school years, are <a href="https://nepc.colorado.edu/sites/default/files/pb_-_class_size.pdf">well-documented</a>. My work as a <a href="https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/trtr.1701">researcher of language and literacy</a> has examined what takes place on the edges of the classroom — precisely the places that are more <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-larger-classes-teachers-cant-attend-to-childrens-needs-110556">difficult to notice when classes are large</a>. </p>
<p>Last year in my province of Alberta it was reported that more than 85 per cent of the kindergarten to Grade 3 classes in five of the province’s largest school districts are <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/day-1-classes-sizes-are-way-over-provincial-guidelines">larger than provincially recommended averages</a>. In the lead-up to the recent provincial election, there was no sign that <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/alberta-teachers-association-slams-ucp-education-platform">the United Conservative Party, now newly elected, would prioritize tackling this problem</a>. </p>
<p>I often inquire into what individual children are doing while their teachers are diligently working to effectively teach the curriculum and maintain order in increasingly larger, <a href="https://www.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/ATA/Publications/Human-Rights-Issues/MON-3%20Here%20comes%20everyone.pdf">culturally diverse classrooms</a>, <a href="https://www.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/ATA/Publications/Research/COOR-101-5%20The%20State%20of%20Inclusion%20in%20Alberta%20Schools.pdf">with wide ranges of learning needs</a>.</p>
<p>In particular, I am interested in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1086296X16658982">those children who seem to be chronically “off task” during language arts instructional time</a> — children who are clearly doing something, albeit not exactly what their teacher had in mind. </p>
<p>Here, I share the <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781351256766/chapters/10.4324/9781351256766-14">story of one such child</a>, whom I will call Charlene, with the aim of illustrating how educators can miss valuable opportunities to attend to particular students when class size <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Learning_to_Teach_in_the_Early_Years_Cla.html?id=Hn1GbwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">and complexity</a> expand. </p>
<h2>Charlene among 49 other students</h2>
<p>Charlene was in the fourth grade and part of a class of 50 students and two teachers. Charlene had an attention disorder and was one among a group of children in the class with individual education plans.</p>
<p>My involvement with the class centred around an interdisciplinary project looking at <a href="https://theconversation.com/testing-literacy-today-requires-more-than-a-pencil-and-paper-114154">how children develop literacy in multiple ways</a>. In <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19388071.2016.1162234?journalCode=ulri20">this project</a>, the students worked in small groups to examine various aspects of the history of Alberta becoming a province.</p>
<p>Charlene’s group investigated the growth of the oil industry. The students began their exploration by developing inquiry questions, and Charlene’s group collectively asked several questions related to oil and Alberta’s economy. Unsurprisingly, the questions they asked reflected the ongoing social, political and economic debate currently taking place in Canada. Their list culminated with the following: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Was the oil boom bad for our Earth, our plants and our wildlife?” </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Majority of children took economic angle</h2>
<p>After discussing a broad range of possible questions to pursue, three of the four members of Charlene’s group pursued the economic angle and diligently went about their work. </p>
<p>Charlene, however, always seemed to be at the periphery, not appearing to engage at all with the group’s discussion. Time after time when I would find her three group mates sitting side by side in the computer lab, discussing what they found online with regard to Alberta and oil, Charlene would be seated further away. She was watching puppy videos with the sound turned off. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278559/original/file-20190607-52739-1er2tdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278559/original/file-20190607-52739-1er2tdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278559/original/file-20190607-52739-1er2tdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278559/original/file-20190607-52739-1er2tdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278559/original/file-20190607-52739-1er2tdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278559/original/file-20190607-52739-1er2tdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278559/original/file-20190607-52739-1er2tdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&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">Charlene acknowledged, with a sheepish smile, her love for animals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Charlene’s ongoing puppy viewing, puppy talk and bouts of puppy writing were both a source of interest and annoyance in her group. On one occasion, a group mate exclaimed in frustration, “She’s obsessed with puppies.” Charlene seemed to agree with this statement as she acknowledged, with a sheepish smile, a declaration of her love for animals.</p>
<p>I too found myself concerned and wondering about this seeming breach of what some literacy researchers identify as the <a href="https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jaal.571">pleasure-purpose divide</a> — in other words, the frequent mismatch between students’ interests and teacher’s goals for students’ uses of literacy. </p>
<p>Tensions can exist between the students’ desires to pursue texts that their teachers might argue are of lesser quality (for example, comics, trading cards, online videos and fan fiction) and a teacher’s desire to use “high-quality” literature and teach essay-writing skills in the classroom.</p>
<p>I was somewhat comforted because Charlene could verbally explain the oil-extraction and refining process with remarkable precision. However, she had not completed the work she promised her group: a poster advertising oil production in Alberta. </p>
<h2>Puppies vs. price</h2>
<p>Instead, Charlene had written a story of farm animals that lost their lives during an oil spill. It was some time later that it hit me: despite her puppy watching, seeming inattention and separation from the group, Charlene was the only member of her group whose work ultimately took a critical position. </p>
<p>She was the only one to follow the group’s ethically oriented inquiry question:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Was the oil boom bad for our Earth, our plants and our wildlife?”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What can happen to teachers’ capacities to notice as class sizes creep upward? I am left with some pointed questions. </p>
<p>What might have happened in Charlene’s classroom had her teachers, and I, for that matter, been able to take note of the way she linked her love for animals and concerns regarding oil spills? How might the teachers have been able to assist her and others like her to participate more fully, both academically and socially, in her group’s work, had there been time for them to notice what was happening? </p>
<p>These questions are not to suggest that teachers will necessarily teach differently with fewer students — some research points out <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Visible-Learning-A-Synthesis-of-Over-800-Meta-Analyses-Relating-to-Achievement/Hattie/p/book/9780415476188">teachers might use the same teaching approach regardless of class size</a> — but they may illustrate how easily the complexity of student experiences may be lost in larger groups. </p>
<p>I close with the following musings: What might happen if class sizes gave educators more time to notice the personally meaningful questions and ideas their students are pursuing? What if they had more latitude to adapt their practices to the varied students before them?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115122/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Kimberly Lenters receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada and the Alberta Advisory Committee for Educational Studies (AACES) . </span></em></p>Grade 4 student Charlene seemed chronically off-task – until an educator noticed she was, in fact, the sole student pursuing the question, ‘Was the oil boom bad for our wildlife?’Kimberly Lenters, Associate Professor of Education, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1043882018-11-05T22:39:10Z2018-11-05T22:39:10ZMusic also matters in the real world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243879/original/file-20181105-12015-8v2xue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C44%2C3000%2C1315&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Montreal-born pianist Oscar Peterson waves after playing at the Montreal Forum in July 1984. The Coalition for Music Education is inviting schools and communities across Canada to sing “Hymn To Freedom,” written by Peterson and Harriette Hamilton, on Music Monday 2019, a day to celebrate music.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.cpimages.com/fotoweb/cpimages_details.pop.fwx?position=34&archiveType=ImageFolder&sorting=ModifiedTimeAsc&search=oscar%20and%20peterson&fileId=27F557D8E300A91F940FEBF84AD7995148F72A6AF0A0AFBFDD0EDF364DA6E051850C78CE6772FDE2EB3616831C8363188C593A035A08299B11F60BDD5072AC471187D11B3A3E7FB4D9CB57E5F05EED2017D720C8275F9C8AEFF70AEEBD0E24A95A5C3F53446C808F5E5A171DE58FF283D9F857E90E3EA5205AF3CB27B9DD15035423884EA24671DF263AE586A36191A3">(CP/Jean F. Leblanc)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Full self-disclosure — I’m a “bandie!”</p>
<p>In junior high school, band provided me with a safe haven during the challenging years of adolescence. Band was essential to my emerging identity and to building my self-confidence. </p>
<p>But wait, didn’t I become a physics teacher, and then a teacher educator in a teaching program focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)? Double yes. </p>
<p>Music helped me gain the confidence and grit to pursue my dreams and to reach my full potential. I came to realize that science and music are complementary, not contradictory. </p>
<h2>Verge of extinction</h2>
<p>But band is on the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-schools-music-education-1.4114622">verge of extinction in many schools</a>. Students, parents and administrators increasingly see band as a “frill.” Music education is being <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-schools-music-education-1.4114622">drastically cut</a> and is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/oct/10/music-disappearing-school-curriculum-england-survey-gcse-a-level">not valued</a> by many as it once was. </p>
<p>The trend can be traced to the “back to basics” movement fuelled by neoliberalism, and in particular the seminal 1983 U.S. report <a href="http://neatoday.org/2013/04/25/a-nation-at-risk-turns-30-where-did-it-take-us-2/">A Nation at Risk</a>. </p>
<p>In Canada, we don’t have to look far to see the impact of misguided government policies framed by the rhetoric of <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4330893/doug-ford-ontario-1998-sex-ed-curriculum-teachers/">“back to basics” movements in education</a>. In many regions, the education pendulum has swung decidedly back to “traditional” ways of learning <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17508487.2013.776990">that in effect has narrowed the curriculum</a>.</p>
<p>Amid a neoliberal/neoconservative climate of “practical” and “evidence-based” schooling, even <a href="http://files.rc.mu/Examinations/2018/Files/Mar21/Benefits-Music-Education/Benefits-of-Music-Education.html">The Royal Conservatory of Music</a> highlights neuroscientific research demonstrating the many benefits of music. </p>
<p>But efforts to encourage music lessons may largely stand to benefit students from wealthier families whose parents can pay for extra-curricular activities. Unfortunately, the recent changes to our British Columbia curriculum might not happen in time to save our music programs in schools. </p>
<h2>‘There is nobody judging me’</h2>
<p>That’s a shame. In Canada, we pride ourselves on providing excellent public education for all, regardless of socioeconomic status. A recent comprehensive meta-study clearly shows that <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0002831217701830">fine arts education positively influences child development</a>. If music is a “frill,” and not accessible to all income brackets, children from poorer families will not have the opportunity to <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01777/full">benefit from what may be music’s boost to literacy, fine motor skills and spatial reasoning in the early years</a>.</p>
<p>For youth, music contributes to development of an individual’s emerging self-identity, and can shape <a href="https://www.apa.org/research/action/speaking-of-psychology/music-health.aspx">mental health</a> and our future. This could be one reason the Coalition for Music Education says that as much as we learn to make music, <a href="https://www.musicmakesus.ca/">music makes us</a>. </p>
<p>Most importantly, as demonstrated in my research, music education <a href="https://www.kamloopsmusiccollective.info/forum/40-years-40-stories">has made a huge impact on the lives of many individuals</a>. In an age of scrutiny, music offers <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/canajeducrevucan.34.3.317.pdf">a host of other benefits</a> and a safe space for children. </p>
<p>A 10-year-old participant in our study said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“[Going to music camp] is better than school. At school I am quiet and reserved because I get bullied for being different. When I am here, I can express myself easily because there is nobody judging me. We are all the same and share a love for music which makes it easy to interact with others.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another participant (aged 13) said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“[Going to music camp] helped me to keep an open mind to trying new things and helped to build my confidence, especially as I navigated a new role for High School Musical where I was unsure my role…I think it will help me be a better student next year.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yet what I’ve seen in my own son’s school mirrors larger trends: A band program completely relegated to outside the regular timetable. Students are opting out of band because it is not offered during regular school hours and it is seen as a “frill.” </p>
<p>The rationale is that the fine arts are not as important as academic subjects such as English, math and the sciences. But without the <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0255761410370658">social, psychological, cultural and self-regulatory</a> benefits of music or other arts, what kind of students are we raising, and how to we expect them to thrive in the world?</p>
<h2>Teaching to the test</h2>
<p>British Columbia has only recently shown signs of <a href="https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca">holistic thinking</a> with the introduction of a new K-12 curriculum. The focus is on core competencies like thinking and communication rather than an exhaustive list of learning outcomes. </p>
<p>While some Canadian provinces are mandating “<a href="https://www.canadianliving.com/life-and-relationships/family/article/the-future-of-standardized-testing-in-canada">teaching to the test</a>,” B.C. is doing away with exams measuring a limited amount of knowledge and moving towards a more balanced approach to learning. These educational reforms are based on current educational research and best practices.</p>
<p>What can be done to support and encourage music education for all? I hope the discussion is not marginalized by STEM, but can develop alongside our concerns for STEM education. Because just like <a href="https://tru.arcabc.ca/islandora/object/tru%3A1984">gaining digital skills</a>, music matters. </p>
<p><em>I wish to thank my Research Assistant, Allysha Sorba, for her work on my music research project.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104388/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward R. Howe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What kind of students are we raising when music is seen as a “frill?” The decision to drastically cut music education is a misguided policy.Edward R. Howe, Associate Professor, Thompson Rivers UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/913212018-03-08T03:25:19Z2018-03-08T03:25:19ZEnjoyment of reading, not mechanics of reading, can improve literacy for boys<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209220/original/file-20180306-146697-tu8lsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Even when teachers are supporting specific learning difficulties (such as dyslexia), it's important to expand boys’ repertoire of positive reading experiences.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Year 3 reading outcomes of <a href="http://www.nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/naplan-national-report-2017_final_04dec2017.pdf?sfvrsn=0">2017 NAPLAN</a> testing once again demonstrate a gender gap, with boys underachieving compared to girls. A focus on teaching for the test has not closed the gender gap and only reduced student motivation and <a href="http://www.uws.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/276191/High_Stakes_Testing_Literature_Review.pdf">well-being</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209275/original/file-20180307-146645-b4jstu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209275/original/file-20180307-146645-b4jstu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209275/original/file-20180307-146645-b4jstu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209275/original/file-20180307-146645-b4jstu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209275/original/file-20180307-146645-b4jstu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209275/original/file-20180307-146645-b4jstu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209275/original/file-20180307-146645-b4jstu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Girls outperform boys in Year 3 reading across all states and territories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ACARA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-07/naplan-call-review-after-report-reveals-no-change-in-decade/9519840">Calls for a review of NAPLAN</a> ten years on are timely. But as well as looking at how high-stakes testing is narrowing the curriculum and causing student <a href="https://au.educationhq.com/news/45994/experts-slam-naplan-call-for-federal-review/#">stress</a>, we need to consider the testing regime’s influence on boys’ attitudes towards reading. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/naplan-2017-results-have-largely-flat-lined-and-patterns-of-inequality-continue-88132">NAPLAN 2017: results have largely flat-lined, and patterns of inequality continue</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Attitudes towards reading</h2>
<p><a href="https://literacytrust.org.uk/policy-and-campaigns/all-party-parliamentary-group-literacy/boys-reading-commission/">Reports</a> increasingly highlight how negative attitudes towards reading constrain experiences for some boys. In the United Kingdom, a National Literacy Trust survey of 21,000 children aged eight to 16 found boys were more likely than girls to believe someone who reads is boring and a geek. </p>
<p>This attitude is believed to be related to deep-seated cultural issues that lead many boys to believe reading is feminine and “uncool”. Reluctance to read then translates into less time reading and lower achievement. </p>
<p>There is now a call in the UK for schools to have a policy of promoting <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181204/110118.pdf">enjoyment of reading</a> rather than just a focus on effective teaching of phonics skills. </p>
<p>We have known for a long time that <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/rrq.021/abstract">positive attitudes towards reading influence boys’ engagement with reading</a>. Engagement influences practice, resulting in the <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u81/Stanovich__1986_.pdf">Matthew Effect</a> as cumulative exposure to print accelerates development of reading processes and <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5731ee0840261d67c7155483/t/576c4c4cb8a79bcb10fe8251/1466715218324/Cunningham+and+Stanovich_Early+reading+acquisition+and+its+relation+to+reading+experience+and+ability+10+years+later_1998.pdf">knowledge</a>.</p>
<p>Attitudes towards reading are not innate; they are learned predispositions in response to favourable or unfavourable experiences. In this way, a boys’ attitude towards reading develops over time as the result of beliefs about reading and, importantly, specific reading experiences. </p>
<p>In Australia, the focus on NAPLAN has changed the landscape of teaching and literacy experiences for students. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a1bhx3H5Qic?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>As part of this change, didactic teaching of reading for NAPLAN can compound negative attitudes about the nature of reading at school. Reading is seen as a passive (feminine) endeavour associated with boring schoolwork (preparing for the test). </p>
<p>While <a href="http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=2733">teaching phonics</a> is already embedded in good teaching practice, the introduction of the Year 1 phonics check will potentially further narrow the curriculum as teachers are pressured to teach for yet another test. This initiative could also impact on <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/literacy-wars-the-proposed-reading-test-dividing-schools-20170819-gxzu7d.html">teaching practices</a> for reading in the early years. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-phonics-and-why-is-it-important-70522">Explainer: what is phonics and why is it important?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If we are interested in enhancing reading outcomes for underachieving boys, we need to foster positive attitudes towards reading that translate into practice. The change needs to be from a focus on teaching reading to helping boys become successful and satisfied readers.</p>
<h2>Enjoyment correlates with NAPLAN outcomes</h2>
<p>My recent survey of 320 Year 3 children from 14 schools in Queensland identified their self-reported enjoyment of story books, non-fiction books, magazines and comics, and self-reported reading frequency. </p>
<p>Students coloured in a box to reflect an emotive face on a Likert scale to indicate their level of enjoyment and their frequency of reading. Students’ Year 3 NAPLAN reading outcomes were also collected.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209414/original/file-20180307-146675-8dor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209414/original/file-20180307-146675-8dor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209414/original/file-20180307-146675-8dor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209414/original/file-20180307-146675-8dor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209414/original/file-20180307-146675-8dor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209414/original/file-20180307-146675-8dor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209414/original/file-20180307-146675-8dor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Likert scale is a psychometric scale commonly used for research questionnaires to gain a rating.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Findings from the <a href="https://www.discoveringstatistics.com/">Pearson</a> test of correlation between survey variables indicated correlation between higher student NAPLAN reading scores and higher levels of enjoyment for reading story books/non-fiction books and higher reading frequency. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between reading scores and reading frequency, and reading scores and reading enjoyment.</p>
<p>Even when teachers are supporting specific learning difficulties (such as dyslexia), it’s important to expand boys’ repertoire of positive reading experiences. This requires a shift from the exclusive teaching of the mechanics of reading to teaching practices that contextualise experiences and encourage enjoyment of <a href="http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/5400/1/RR636.pdf">reading</a>. </p>
<h2>Some strategies for success for boys (and girls):</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209224/original/file-20180307-146691-7khqok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209224/original/file-20180307-146691-7khqok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209224/original/file-20180307-146691-7khqok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209224/original/file-20180307-146691-7khqok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209224/original/file-20180307-146691-7khqok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209224/original/file-20180307-146691-7khqok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209224/original/file-20180307-146691-7khqok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parent mentors can help engage boys in reading.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>Expand school reading cultures.</strong> Directly challenge beliefs about reading being a feminine pursuit. Teachers can select and use texts that challenge what it means to be male and the power structures that exist in school and <a href="https://globalconversationsinliteracy.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/piazza-criticallyrdgtexts.pdf">society</a>. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Focus on the <a href="https://core.ac.uk/display/15151072">arts</a>.</strong> <a href="http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/5400/1/RR636.pdf">Include</a> artists-in-residence schemes, poetry weeks, dance sessions run by professional dancers, and drama productions that allocate lead roles to disengaged boys. Boys often enjoy working with “readers’ theatre” scripts, which allow them to feel like active participants in a story. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Leave reading choices up to students 50% of the time</strong>. Provide a wide range of texts to stimulate interest and build confidence through paired reading schemes and teacher decisions to give students space to talk about and reflect on what was enjoyable. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Promote male mentoring.</strong> Include parent-mentors and vertical mentoring with older boys mentoring younger boys in the school. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Let them talk!</strong> Boys who are reluctant readers need to have successful reading experiences. Use literature circles with mixed-ability grouping, providing boys with the support they need to focus on the “big ideas” in the story, as well as on the words and structure of the texts.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Include variety</strong>. Use interactive classroom activities fit for purpose so that both short, specific focused activities and more sustained, ongoing activities are used, as and when appropriate. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Risk-taking in teacher practice</strong>. Bring more creativity and variety. Expose students to new and novel reading experiences. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Implement teaching practices that encourage discussion.</strong> Based on <a href="http://www.philosophy4children.co.uk/home/p4c/">Philosophy for Children</a>, enhance <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0270271820030306">reading comprehension</a> as students explore different answers, examine the strengths and weaknesses for each, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-improve-naplan-scores-teach-children-philosophy-64536">critically reflect</a> on assumptions along the way. </p></li>
</ol>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/research-shows-the-importance-of-parents-reading-with-children-even-after-children-can-read-82756">Research shows the importance of parents reading with children – even after children can read</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>When the focus is on teaching for the test, direct instruction and an exclusive focus on phonics, there is a narrowing of curriculum and teaching practice. Strategies can be easily implemented in the classroom. We need to move from teaching reading for NAPLAN testing, to teaching boys to enjoy reading to ensure their success.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91321/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Scholes receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is the current recipient of a Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA). </span></em></p>Moving away from direct instruction and teaching to the test and towards making sure boys enjoy reading will improve outcomes.Laura Scholes, Research Fellow, Australian Research Council (DECRA), School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/324942014-10-08T02:47:31Z2014-10-08T02:47:31ZWhy cash incentives aren’t a good idea in education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60829/original/x3tbt273-1412555997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C442%2C3744%2C2213&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Offering cash incentives for school performance seems like a good idea, but there are a lot of unwanted consequences. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=182800907&size=huge&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQxMjU4NDYxOSwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTgyODAwOTA3IiwicCI6InYxfDEwMTI3NTg4fDE4MjgwMDkwNyIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xODI4MDA5MDcvaHVnZS5qcGciLCJtIjoiMSIsImQiOiJzaHV0dGVyc3RvY2stbWVkaWEifSwiWXlyTzRzZ2dCNVIxL1doWGQzZWhrUm1TZ29ZIl0%2Fshutterstock_182800907.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=1YL0RRlnOPP54GeHDhkyPA-1-0">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If there is one iron law of economics it is this: people respond to incentives. Offer an “all you can eat” buffet and people eat a lot. Double the demerit points for speeding on a holiday weekend and fewer people speed. And if you make school funding contingent on achieving threshold numeracy and literacy test scores then those thresholds will likely be met.</p>
<p>The trouble is that it might not be because of genuine improvements in skills.</p>
<p>The Business Council of Australia’s <a href="http://www.bca.com.au/publications/building-australias-innovation-system">recent report on innovation</a> suggested tying federal funding of education to the achievement of threshold NAPLAN literacy and numeracy standards. It argued that a well-educated workforce is crucial for innovation and economic growth.</p>
<p>I couldn’t agree more about the need for an educated workforce. And I’m not one of these metricphobes who thinks that measuring performance is inherently evil, or that all league tables are bad. Far from it. But I do worry a lot about how incentives for teachers and students in schools work. There’s a swath of evidence that incentives in education lead to unintended outcomes — or even outright fraud.</p>
<h2>Teaching to the test</h2>
<p>Put yourself in the position of the person who is the boss of all school principals in a state and who is faced with the Business Council’s scheme. Some portion of those principals run schools whose kids are currently below the literacy and numeracy thresholds. What do you do? Faced with the possibility of large losses of funding you probably put pressure on those principals to get better results.</p>
<p>What levers do they have available? They can’t change the selection of kids in their schools — and if they did it would just shift the problem elsewhere. </p>
<p>They can’t change the kids’ parents or their classmates and the important influences they have. They can’t easily change the teachers in their schools.</p>
<p>What they can do is have teachers focus on testing outcomes rather than holistic ones. They can “teach to the test”. </p>
<p>Teaching to the test badly misallocates the most precious educational resource: teacher time. It focuses students on how to mechanically perform a small number of tasks.</p>
<p>As one illustration of how details matter, consider giving students cash incentives to do more homework. Setting aside the cost, this seems like a no brainer — but in fact it can lead to negative outcomes. </p>
<p><a href="http://research.economics.unsw.edu.au/richardholden/working-papers/fh-multitask-dec-14.pdf">Research I conducted</a> with Roland Fryer of the Harvard University economics department was designed to document this difficulty. We provided incentives to 5th-grade schoolchildren in Houston, Texas, to do mathematics homework problems. They got $2 for each mathematics objective they mastered, using take-home worksheets and in-class computer software to assess performance.</p>
<p>Because we randomised which schools got the software and incentives, and which schools just got the software, we could determine the causal effect of the incentives. Just like a randomised, controlled pharmaceutical trial with a treatment and a control group.</p>
<p>The answer? Kids with incentives did way more maths homework. And they did significantly better on end-of-year standardised tests in mathematics. </p>
<p>Great news? Not so fast. These gains in mathematics were, alas, almost exactly offset by a decline in performance on standardised reading tests.</p>
<p>Interestingly, measures of intrinsic motivation did not drop — financial incentives did not destroy the “joy of learning”. Instead, it was what economists called “effort substitution” — incentives in mathematics shifted effort away from reading and to mathematics.</p>
<h2>And then there’s fraud</h2>
<p>High-stakes testing for whole school districts or even whole states of Australia raises the disturbing possibility of outright test fraud.</p>
<p>Just last week the trial of 12 former educators accused of fraudulently inflating test scores began in Atlanta, Georgia. The group includes teachers, testing coordinators, principals and administrators. </p>
<p>At least one Atlanta school <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/most-suspects-in-atlanta-cheating-scandal-surrender/">held pizza parties</a> where they erased incorrect answers on tests and filled in the correct ones to boost kids’ scores. And not just a few. <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-atlanta-schools-cheating-trial-20140929-story.html">The prosecution claims</a> that across the Atlanta public school system, in 2009 alone, 256,769,000 incorrect answers were “corrected”. Yep: one quarter of a billion!</p>
<p>But surely that wouldn’t happen here in Australia? Perhaps not, although I’ll bet that’s what folks in the great state of Georgia thought until recently. </p>
<p>Steve Levitt (of Freakonomics fame) <a href="http://www.chicagobooth.edu/capideas/may05/cheating.html">has also documented widespread teacher cheating</a> in Chicago public schools: from changing answers, to getting tests ahead of time, to teaching answers to precise questions. Atlanta is not a one-off.</p>
<p>Incentives are incredibly powerful — and in many settings carefully crafted explicit incentives can do a lot of good.</p>
<p>But education is a very complex environment, one in which explicit incentives have the potential to do more harm than good. If you pay for better NAPLAN scores then better NAPLAN scores you will get. But they won’t necessarily mean genuinely better literacy and numeracy. And you probably won’t like the side effects.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32494/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Holden is an ARC Future Fellow.</span></em></p>If there is one iron law of economics it is this: people respond to incentives. Offer an “all you can eat” buffet and people eat a lot. Double the demerit points for speeding on a holiday weekend and fewer…Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.