“They’ve eliminated storytelling in two grades at Brian Elementary School,” my friend tells me. “It took me five years to build the program. The children love our time together and cheer when I walk in the door. The principal says we need the time for testing, not storytelling. Therefore, storytelling must go.” My discouraged and angry friend is now shouting into the phone.
His frustration brings up concerns I have had for over thirty years. I have been known to be highly critical of CSAP (Colorado Student Assessment Program). The current intense emphasis on testing has high costs. For starters, critical thinking skills aren’t accurately measured by paper and pencil tests alone.
We need to reconsider the consequences of squeezing out valuable subjects and experiences to make room for more testing? In our current system, laboratory science, art and music often suffer. Fewer teachers are taking students to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science because there isn’t time. What about storytelling and other enhancement programs? Are they all in jeopardy?
I often wonder what would have happened to me if test taking had been the major focus of my school experience. As a preschool child, I was curious and loved all kinds of learning. I especially enjoyed being outdoors, taking hikes and painting pictures of flowers and trees.
When I entered first grade, my love for learning began to suffer. Because I was dyslexic (reversed letters and numbers), I had great difficulty reading. My difficulty reading and taking written tests haunted me all the way to fourth grade. Because I was a poor reader, I figured I was dumb and incompetent.
Then one day in class, a miracle happened. Our assignment was to paint a picture of the story we were reading. Many of my classmates struggled with the assignment, but I splashed bright colors on my 3 by 5 foot sheet of paper with great ease. To my amazement, my teacher said this painting was the best art in the class. My classmates and teacher congratulated me. Suddenly, my opinion of myself began to change.
Because I felt better about myself as a student, I became more motivated to read. I felt supported when I received positive strokes for my artistic skills. I was more successful in school because I was successful in art.
Although, I couldn’t read with the ease of my classmates, my reading skills kept improving with the help of caring teachers. I continued to freeze up on written tests but excelled on oral tests that weren’t timed. By sixth grade, my art had helped transform me from a non-reader to a reader, from failure to success. My attitude toward learning in school had switched from negative to positive.
If I had been a student in our current environment, I would not have made it through high school. If my teacher had been so focused on testing, the time to paint a picture of a story would not have occurred. I would have been robbed of the opportunity to become motivated to learn in school.
Today, there are many students who are motivated by experiences beyond reading, writing and rithmetic. Can we afford to let our major emphasis on testing eliminate the learning experiences that make school meaningful and build successful students?
I look forward to the time when there is less emphasis on testing and a greater focus on experiencing and critical thinking. Because of my experience, I firmly believe that educating beyond testing is important for all children. Let’s all work together to help make this happen!
B.J. Meadows, Ph.D. is a retired Jefferson County science teacher, staff/curriculum developer, and school principal of thirty years. After her first retirement she worked as an evaluator for the National Science Foundation. She is currently a teacher, author and personal coach. She may be reached at bjmeadows@msn.com. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
