Testing 1, 2, 3, 4-year-olds

Our education system is broken.

This statement seems to be more or less accepted as fact by most educators, policy makers, and community leaders throughout the country, but when it comes to how to fix it, or even how to diagnose the problem, we have some differences of opinion (to put it politely).

For the last several years, the accepted wisdom of educational policy seems to have been that we can test, test, test our way to educational success, to the point that the Department of Education is gearing up to start testing four-year-olds in high-stakes testing. Really?

Yes, four-year-olds!

Can we please take a step back and ask, what is the purpose of the unprecedented and frankly insane extent of standardized testing we have gotten ourselves into?
Most proponents of the testing trend cite accountability as its great advantage. But is simply putting students and teachers through hours of standardized tests really going to help schools take responsibility for the failures of the system? And who exactly does hold that responsibility? Who are we trying to hold accountable? Sometimes it seems like we are punishing struggling schools and students simply because they exist in a larger dysfunctional system over which they may have no control.

The second main thrust of testing, of course, is to create standards. And the question of standards is a very complex one, especially in a country with such a richly varied student body as ours. However, we can certainly agree that we would like to hold all students to high, but achievable standards, and not allow some students to slip through the cracks. Our goal is not to subject some students to that American-dream-crushing injustice of a sub-standard education.
But does the current system of testing really help us move toward that goal?

Maybe there are multiple paths to a good education. Maybe not everyone is a square peg that will fit properly in the holes provided. Maybe we have different life situations, skills, and needs, but we all have the capacity to reach our own higher standards. Maybe what we need is a more personalized approach... Class of One, anyone?