TO CAUSE TO LEARN: How standardized tests are keeping students from learning

Recently, our family took a vacation to South Carolina. We visited Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired upon, and Fort Moultrie, where the first shots of the civil war were first fired. We also visited downtown Charleston. We spent 3 days in downtown visiting the many historical districts and marveling over the history represented there. We walked through cemeteries that had tombstones that dated back to the 1700’s. We stood at the place where South Carolina officially became the first State to succeed the Union. We witnessed historical sites from both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. On our way home, we took a detour and stopped by Murfreesboro, Tennessee, home of the Stones River National Battlefield. This place has such great significance for both me and my wife Becky because we both have ancestors who fought in that battle. As we walked through the Visitors Center and listened to one of the park rangers discuss the battle, we were able to learn more about what our ancestors experienced. This was a battle that was nearly dominated by the Confederates, to the point where General Bragg sent word to Confederate President Jefferson Davis that they had won the battle. However, General Rosecrans sent a message to Colonel William Sheridan to hold the Confederates just for one more day, then he would have the Canons lined up to fire. To make a long story short, as Sheridan’s men retreated, the Confederates, thinking they were conquering the Union soldiers, ran right into canon fire, which helped lead the Union to victory. President Abraham Lincoln told General Rosecrans it would have been difficulty to win the war without winning the Battle of Stones River. Why do I share this story? In such a short time, we learned so much. In only one week, we inhaled so much history, some new to us, some relearned and some re-living what we already knew but never had experienced. With the many adolescent clients I have had over the years, one of the most common problems I have encountered is the struggle to academically perform to a level acceptable, not for honors cords, rather for a diploma. With new laws passed by Government over the years, there has been a push to cram more information into the minds of our teenagers. The problem is, as Government continues to raise the standards, our students are not increasing their intelligence. One time I was meeting with a client, who had struggled in school and stated that he hated going to history class. I thought he had a problem with history. Yet, when I shared with him some information I had learned about history while on a trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, he began to ask more questions. As we discussed, he took notes, without any prompting and asked if I could print off some pictures of the sites we talked about for a report he was going to do in class. It was then that I realized, this young man loves history. What he hates is the way it is taught. I would argue his teacher is likely to agree with us too. Why? With all the government regulations regarding standardized testing, teachers are required to teach to pass tests and exams rather than to learn. I was once at a seminar listening to a well-known professor talk about learning. He had done a word study to find out the original meaning for the word “teach” using the ancient Hebrew language. He found the word used for “teach” was the same word used for “learn”. The only difference in the use of their words was the context. For the word “teach”, it meant “to cause to learn” rather than just “learn”. Back in the ancient days of the Hebrews, there was no printing press. Therefore, they were required to memorize. They would memorize the 5 books of the Torah. However, they spent the rest of their time living out what they learned. They talked about it often. They kept memorials to help them remember. They rehearsed it everywhere they went. It was not just memorization, it was a lifestyle. They enjoyed it because they experienced it firsthand. The problem today is we have so many laws passed by government officials who went to Ivy League schools, or their equivalent, like Stanford, Northwestern, etc… Both President Bush’s went to Yale. Bill Clinton went to Georgetown for undergraduate and Yale for law school. JFK went to Princeton and Harvard. Barak Obama went to Harvard Law. These are the most primary influences on the direction our education in the United States. None of our Presidents should ever apologize for their higher education. Yet, we must take an honest look at the people who are creating our education laws and determining the level of difficulty of our standardized tests. The controversial “No Child Left Behind” bill was a bi-partisan creation by George W. Bush, a republican, and Senator Ted Kennedy, a democrat. Ted Kennedy is an alumnus of Harvard. Even here in the State of Michigan, there have been talks about dropping Algebra 2 and foreign language from graduate requirements for our high school students. The reason is the large number of students who do not understand Algebra 2 and only a few future engineers will need it in their careers. Foreign language has also become a road block for those who struggle to learn and memorize new words and sentence structures. This prohibits some from graduating and causing much anxiety for others. The chairman of the board of education, John Austin, a democrat, is against it. Where did he get his education? Harvard’s Kennedy Graduate School of Business. Personally, our schools should require our students to learn a foreign language. However, it should be provided in elementary school. That is what they have done in Europe and we are hard pressed to find a person in Europe who is not bi-lingual. Childhood development has taught us our minds are more susceptible to learn new languages during the early years of development, not adolescents. The problem is we have people with Ivy League educations making decisions based on their experience. As I said, they do not need to apologize for their higher education at prestigious schools. However, they have failed in believing that every young student is cut from the same mold as them and learns exactly the same as they do. It reminds me of the cartoon with a number of animals being tested by an owl, including an elephant, bird, giraffe, grizzly bear, turtle and a fish swimming in a pond. The owl says to them, “You only need to complete one exercise to pass the test. However, if you do not accomplish this, you will fail and not live a productive life. To pass the test, you all need to climb to the top of the tree.” Point being, we all learn different. God did not create us the same, for which I am glad. Today, there is too much anxiety for students. I have seen this in my office from those who struggle to pass difficult courses such as Algebra 2, to those who are overwhelmed by the outrageous amount of homework required to complete, and even to those who are intelligent, but struggle in their perfectionism to live up to higher standards that sucks the life out of them causing them to miss out on their childhood. I have heard all the arguments. My favorite one is how we do not want to “dumb down” the curriculum. Yet, as mentioned earlier, the increase of homework is not resulting in increased intelligence. “Our government is trying to help us keep up with foreign countries who are way ahead of us.” Again, the higher standards and increased homework is not the answer. Yet, on the flip side, there are many young students who are not able to graduate today who would have had the chance 25 years ago. And, there are many people who graduated from high school 20 years ago who would not today. Why? Because government officials from Ivy League schools have determined we all need to be like them. The only people I have met who like “No Child Left Behind” and the higher standards, and the only people who are adamant that Algebra 2 should remain on the diploma tract are people who were high achievers themselves and graduated with honors, or they have children who are high achievers and will graduate with honors. The reason I made this statement is not to put down the “high achievers”. Rather, it is that they may consider sitting in the desk of the person who is struggling to make the grade and is fearful of wondering if they will ever graduate, go to college and have a “real job”. Not everyone is cut out to be President of the United States. Oh, speaking of U.S. Presidents. There were two who did not go to college. Their names were George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Oh, and…I forgot to mention something. Abraham Lincoln was uneducated. Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kennedy#Early_life.2C_education.2C_and_military_service http://www.mlive.com/education/index.ssf/2013/04/michigan_high_school_graduatio_1.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_by_education http://alfiekohn.com/stdtest.htm http://www.alfiekohn.org/standards/strategies.htm Seven Laws of the Learner, by Bruce Wilkerson (Hebrew meaning of the word “teach”)