From the Archives–1988

by Mark Nechanicky, Region 1 MCTM director

I feel like Ross Taylor’s 1988 “Perspective on Testing” could be in a current Mathbits as Minnesota changes over to the 2022 Math Standards and MCA-IVs. Ross’s call to shift toward problem solving, technology use, statistics, probability, and communication matches our new anchor standards and strands, especially Data Sciences, Chance and Uncertainty, Spatial Reasoning, and Patterns and Relationships. Just as he argued that new goals require new assessments, we again find ourselves aligning instruction and testing to reflect the skills students need. Nearly 40 years later, Ross’s message is a good reminder: Prepare students for the world they are entering, not the world we grew up in.

PERSPECTIVE ON TESTING by Ross Taylor (1988 Mathbits)

 

Students who finished kindergarten in 1988 

Plan in the year 2000 to graduate. 

This fact makes it clear to you and me 

That we are preparing students for the next century.

 

The world they will face will demand 

That they think critically and understand. 

They won’t need rote leaming of computation, 

They will need problem solving and estimation.

 

Today adults compute by electronic means 

And so should children as well as teens. 

The computation that they will need later 

Will be done by computer and calculator.

 

They will also need to gain facility 

With topics like statistics and probability. 

They will need skill in reasoning and communications 

And knowledge of patterns, functions and relations.

 

We see that changes are needed right away. 

The changes can’t wait. 

We must begin today. 

If we clearly define the what and the how, 

Teachers can start to make changes now.

 

We recognize that the changes that need to be 

Are influenced by three factors that begin with T; 

Teachers, textbooks and tests are the keys 

To make the changes that we please.

 

Textbooks need not prevent the change; 

Teachers can skip, supplement and rearrange. 

However, when tests are standardized, 

They cannot be altered or revised.

 

The curriculum and the tests should be aligned 

With new goals and objectives that are defined. 

To ensure sound curriculum practices are heeded, 

It is clear that new standardized tests are needed.

 

Tests to assess the next generation 

Must not focus on computation. 

Doing mathematics with a calculator is the best, 

So we should allow calculator use on a test.

 

We cannot make our progress complete 

Using tests that are obsolete. 

Tests take years to develop and to norm, 

So they could be a barrier to reform.

 

The use of today’s standardized tests should halt, 

Or we should take the results with a big grain of salt. 

By placing testing in proper perspective, 

We can make instruction relevant and effective.