The end(s) of testing

Baker, E. L. (2007). The end(s) of testing. Educational Researcher, 36(6), 309-317.


This article has two sections. In the first, Eva Baker, the current president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), describes a problem: the lack of balance in the current accountability movement, epitomized by No Child Left Behind and its reliance on certain standardized tests as the only indicators of student learning. Baker does a good job of outlining the evils of such an unbalanced approach, as well as the types of solutions that have been proposed. I felt myself completely "with" Baker in decrying a system that puts too much credence in tests that may not even be valid, and that includes sanctions which serve to narrow and lower curricula to the level of the tests.

The second part was less clear and a bit harder to grab onto. In it, Baker proposes a solution, at least a partial one: Institute a system of "Qualifications" that secondary school students would pursue and achieve and that would represent authentic performance. On the surface, it sounds better than what we now have, though Baker insists it be implemented full-scale NOW, and I see many possible problems that might need to be worked out before this could work.