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Professors voice strong disapproval of testing
Nathan Cohen
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: News
Professors in the University Senate blasted a plan to bring national standardized tests to campus, saying yesterday that the proposal would undermine their lesson plans and restrict students' creativity.
Last week, an association representing 430 public colleges and universities, including those in Maryland, voted to implement a standardized test that would make universities easier to compare. But professors in the senate, the university's most powerful policy making body, said they feared the test - at this point, only a pilot program - would steer the university's curriculum rather than faculty.
"Instead of teaching what we think are important things to study, we'll be working to show how well students perform on these tests," said Elise Miller-Hooks, an associate engineering professor and a member of the Senate Executive Committee, which discussed the plan at a meeting yesterday.
The test would be given to randomly selected groups of freshmen and seniors and measure students' writing, math skills and critical thinking. While the pilot has the support of of University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan, making it permanent would need approval from university President Dan Mote, who rarely contradicts the senate's recommendations.
As the Bush administration considers creating its own criteria for comparing higher education institutions similar to the No Child Left Behind Act, Kirwan said the tests he supports - developed by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges - would keep educational standards in the hands of educators.
"Anything that the government imposes on higher education would be a bad thing," he said.
Still, several members on the committee called for the senate's full body to take an official position against the proposal.
Researchers from across the country will assess the standardized tests and provide a recommendation after a four-year trial run. But the university would be able to opt out of the trial at any point.
Last week, an association representing 430 public colleges and universities, including those in Maryland, voted to implement a standardized test that would make universities easier to compare. But professors in the senate, the university's most powerful policy making body, said they feared the test - at this point, only a pilot program - would steer the university's curriculum rather than faculty.
"Instead of teaching what we think are important things to study, we'll be working to show how well students perform on these tests," said Elise Miller-Hooks, an associate engineering professor and a member of the Senate Executive Committee, which discussed the plan at a meeting yesterday.
The test would be given to randomly selected groups of freshmen and seniors and measure students' writing, math skills and critical thinking. While the pilot has the support of of University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan, making it permanent would need approval from university President Dan Mote, who rarely contradicts the senate's recommendations.
As the Bush administration considers creating its own criteria for comparing higher education institutions similar to the No Child Left Behind Act, Kirwan said the tests he supports - developed by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges - would keep educational standards in the hands of educators.
"Anything that the government imposes on higher education would be a bad thing," he said.
Still, several members on the committee called for the senate's full body to take an official position against the proposal.
Researchers from across the country will assess the standardized tests and provide a recommendation after a four-year trial run. But the university would be able to opt out of the trial at any point.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Eric
posted 11/30/07 @ 5:00 AM EST
If I had to take standardized tests in college, I would do the same thing I did in middle school and high school. That is, I would do a horrible job on the tests on purpose in order to protest the tests. (Continued…)
Tits
posted 11/30/07 @ 8:49 PM EST
yeah, i'm with eric. standardized tests dont mean anything. seriously, what would this accomplish?
these are my own views, not reflecting those of any organization. (Continued…)
P. Duklewski
posted 12/02/07 @ 5:40 PM EST
I have always found that standardized tests don't really determine the success or failures of young people or even the schools themselves. In fact too much emphasis is placed on these test that causes more harm for the person taking the test and for the schools themselves. (Continued…)
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