Academic tests are useful, but ...

Educational master testing can be seen as a necessary (or unnecessary) evil, or as a helpful tool for student progress evaluation. Either way, it does seem that the numbers of those who have a strong interest in the results of such testing have increased over recent years and that there are strong opinions on both sides of the argument.

The money attached to state and federal funding coming into public school systems is more important than ever, at a time when cutbacks have been necessary to meet shrinking budgets. It’s not just students, parents, teachers and school administrators who are intensely engaged with the money spent to educate our children, but more and more taxpayers who have seen their salaries and investments dissipate. They want to know that the money they put into the community till is spent well and producing results.

This is why the release of the Connecticut Mastery Test scores July 17 should have been of some interest to all Connecticut residents, and for anyone paying property taxes in the Region One School District. These scores represent the levels of understanding of the state-defined requirements for elementary school children in grades three through eight in the basic subjects: reading, writing, math and, in fifth and eighth grade, science. For high-school students, the master tests are Connecticut Academic Performance Tests.  (See story, Page A1.)

It surely is of some real benefit for educators to compare individual class and student progress year after year, and for parents and teachers to have a detailed report of academic understanding for each student, both of which come out of the Connecticut Mastery Tests and the Academic Performance Tests. However, with curricula being built year by year to fill in proficiency gaps reflected in testing, there is the danger that the tests will become the only real drivers for academic measurement and development. This really can leave some children behind, those who for one reason or another have interests and talents that are not easily squeezed into a box on a general test.

The primary skills should, certainly, be mastered by the time elementary, then high school, graduations happen. The mastery of these subjects is, of course, critical to leading a productive life and making meaningful contributions to society as the years go by. There are, however, skills related to creativity and use of the imagination, as well as an understanding and enjoyment of music, the visual and performing arts, and more that can lead to full adult professional lives if these skills are allowed to develop during a student’s younger years. These same creative talents can be helpful in any career, from the law to medicine to mathematics and science, and they can greatly add to the enjoyment of life in adulthood. They should not go untapped and undernourished so school systems can pull in revenue streams that depend solely upon test scores in reading, writing, math and science. Let’s not let the originals fall through the cracks.