Testing? Yes!
There has been a lot of pushback about testing in schools over the past few years. Much of this is well-founded, as the curriculum has narrowed, test preparation has come to replace dynamic lessons, and “accountability” has taken the place of responsibility.
While significant adjustments are needed to our testing systems, there is a growing body of evidence that study with testing does improve memory more than study without testing - and this matches research about the importance of frequent short assessment in the classroom. Something happens with assessment (when done right) that kicks the brain into a higher gear and builds the necessary neural connections that can lead to the mastery of basic material, as well as prompt rapid, higher level thinking in ways that other study methods do not seem to engender. At the same time, the key here is that assessment is part of the regimen - not that the entire regimen is testing. Constant testing does not work, but this research shows that studying without testing does not work that well either. The solution? Balance.
A few examples from the field may be helpful here. One of my sons was studying for a geography test that involved filling in the countries of a continent on a map - a memorization task that involves a number of components, so he would ideally test himself at home as well as study to ensure better learning. Our boys have always done well in math, but that does not mean they had reached automaticity with their math facts in school. With frequent assessment feedback and study at home, they memorized in about a two week span math facts that they had failed to master over two years of study.
As a principal I saw many examples, both positive and negative, of this research in action. For example, I watched a teacher who was generally opposed to testing attempt to use an innovative spelling program as an alternative. He invested considerable class time and planning time into this program and it yielded minimal results. The teacher next door trained the students on how to take practice quizzes at home and gave weekly spelling tests - and she got far better results. When we first implemented Accelerated Reader at my elementary school, we found out something surprising - our “highest” readers were failing some of the AR quizzes because they were not reading closely enough. They rapidly improved their attention to detail and performed better not just on the AR quizzes but on the higher level reading comprehension work in the classroom. This exact same phenomena played out at the middle school level when we implemented Accelerated Reader there.
As a teacher, parent, principal, and now student I have seen this pattern again and again. Studying with testing works better, for most students, most of the time, than studying without testing. If you are a teacher, keep testing in your toolkit and teach your students how to self-assess at home. If you are a parent, quizzes can help your child learn to study better at home - try it even if it is not required by the school. And even if you are an advocate like me who is opposed to the current testing and accountability system, keep in mind that not all testing is bad - some system of assessment can be crucial to improving learning.
While significant adjustments are needed to our testing systems, there is a growing body of evidence that study with testing does improve memory more than study without testing - and this matches research about the importance of frequent short assessment in the classroom. Something happens with assessment (when done right) that kicks the brain into a higher gear and builds the necessary neural connections that can lead to the mastery of basic material, as well as prompt rapid, higher level thinking in ways that other study methods do not seem to engender. At the same time, the key here is that assessment is part of the regimen - not that the entire regimen is testing. Constant testing does not work, but this research shows that studying without testing does not work that well either. The solution? Balance.
A few examples from the field may be helpful here. One of my sons was studying for a geography test that involved filling in the countries of a continent on a map - a memorization task that involves a number of components, so he would ideally test himself at home as well as study to ensure better learning. Our boys have always done well in math, but that does not mean they had reached automaticity with their math facts in school. With frequent assessment feedback and study at home, they memorized in about a two week span math facts that they had failed to master over two years of study.
As a principal I saw many examples, both positive and negative, of this research in action. For example, I watched a teacher who was generally opposed to testing attempt to use an innovative spelling program as an alternative. He invested considerable class time and planning time into this program and it yielded minimal results. The teacher next door trained the students on how to take practice quizzes at home and gave weekly spelling tests - and she got far better results. When we first implemented Accelerated Reader at my elementary school, we found out something surprising - our “highest” readers were failing some of the AR quizzes because they were not reading closely enough. They rapidly improved their attention to detail and performed better not just on the AR quizzes but on the higher level reading comprehension work in the classroom. This exact same phenomena played out at the middle school level when we implemented Accelerated Reader there.
As a teacher, parent, principal, and now student I have seen this pattern again and again. Studying with testing works better, for most students, most of the time, than studying without testing. If you are a teacher, keep testing in your toolkit and teach your students how to self-assess at home. If you are a parent, quizzes can help your child learn to study better at home - try it even if it is not required by the school. And even if you are an advocate like me who is opposed to the current testing and accountability system, keep in mind that not all testing is bad - some system of assessment can be crucial to improving learning.