The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools (Paperback)

by Alfie Kohn (Author), Lois Bridges (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review
“The more we learn about standardized testing.the more likely we are to be appalled. And the more appalled we are, the more inclined we will be to do what is necessary to protect our children.”–Alfie Kohn

Product Description
Kohn's central message is that standardized tests are "not a force of nature but a force of politicsand political decisions can be questioned, challenged, and ultimately reversed."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann (2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0325003254
• ISBN-13: 978-0325003252
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #175,969 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazon should stock this surefire potential bestseller!, October 12, 2000

By	Gary S. Stager (Torrance, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an extremely important book written by a courageous thoughtful and articulate spokesman for children. Kohn explains to citizens, school administrators and parents punch-drunk with an insatiable quest for tests and test scores just how much their simplistic efforts at school 'improvement' damage our schools and the learning potential of kids.

The costs are just too high for this national obsession and escalation of educational violence to go unchecked. The testing war is financed by textbook publishers, corporations and dubious politicians, like George W. Bush, who equate learning with measurement, the casualties are children and creative teachers.

Those advocating nutty ideas like annual (or even more frequent) mandatory standardized testing are transforming our public schools from social institutions where intellect and creativity are socially constructed into corporatized sterile test-preparation centers.

Alfie Kohn's new book should be purchased in quantity and distributed at school parent nights, school board meetings, cocktail parties and teacher lounges. Alfie Kohn is a 21st Century Patriot whose timely book should be a clarion call to all concerned with children and the future of our schools.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Standardized Testing--A Call to Action, December 20, 2000

By	Gregory D. Trombly (Baldwinsville, NY United States) - See all my reviews

Death and taxes are often quoted as givens in our society. In the world of education, one might add standardized testing to this grouping. If we examine the current call for educational standards in this country and the accompanying emphasis on high stakes standardized testing, one may immediately recall the discomfort of sitting in a room of silent test takers, usually a gymnasium with only the sounds of the proctors and their wing-tipped shoes creaking up and down the rows as answers are feverishly bubbled in with number two pencils. Alfie Kohn, reseracher and an outspoken critic of our public school system and its emphasis on competition, brings to light in this book, a need for a modern day "call to arms." For Kohn, establishes a strong framework from the start, as he characterizes standardized tests as having "swelled and mutated, like a creature in one of those old horror movies to the point that it now threatens to swallow our school whole." Over the course of just 94 pages, Kohn writes a deftly crafted text, with chapter titles that in and of themselves provoke, such as, "Measuring What Matters Least," "The Worst Tests," and "Burnt at the High Stakes," just to name three of the six section titles. This book is a must read for every parent and educator. Kohn aptly sets the stage for his final section, entitled, "Fighting the Tests," a call to action by teachers, adminstrators, parents and students to resist in any way possible the onslaught of standardized testing and standards. Kohn, puts forth very concrete ways to resist current efforts that are being imposed by various government agencies throughout our country. Sixteen very specific strategies are delineated from just talking with friends and neighbors about inherent dangers of focusing on standardized test scores, to actually forming an organized boycott against having one's child or student take the exams. Kohn's provocative, yet extremely well researched and documented style should make the most zealous promoter of high standards and high stakes testing, sit up and take notice.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We've got it in Canada, too. . ., June 23, 2001

By	Sigrid Olsen (Salem, OR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

High stakes testing is the foot and mouth disease of both the United States and Canada. This fall I'm heading back to teach in Oregon after 15 years in Canada. I was hoping that I would be able to have a respite for my kids (not for me!) and my brother tells me that they are doing the same thing in Oregon.

High Stakes testing closes the door on our middle of the road kids, the late bloomers, and of course the others discussed in Kohn's book.

But the sad thing is is that the parents who should spearhead the effort to end this modern day gristmill--the dismal paper chase of childhood--are the very ones who say "only for my child," or openly brag about their children's test scores.

He's right--those test scores only measure the square footage of the homes that surround the schools. And worse, teachers participate by earning their blood money by marking the tests! I've had kids give up hope when faced with the test at the end of the tunnel, things are so bad that in Calgary, in my daughter's middle class high school, only 52% of the students graduated. They flood the adult education centre in efforts to "upgrade." Finally they renamed the centre to Chinook College.

I love Kohn's book, and heard him speak, the only depressing thing is that in two combined nations of over 300 million, I am the fourth review!

Forget about making teachers accountable. I'd trade my tenure anyday in an effort to get rid of these tests. . .