GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING
57
John Welss. Executtve Dlr€ctor of thc National Centcr forFairand OP('l Testlng' crlttclzcs stmdardizrd tc:rts ln an lntcMcw, pagc l9
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: OFFICE ANNOUNCEMENTS P. 2-3 Welcome, Norna Rlchoux Ross SubscripUon Drive 1988 Directory
ApprenUceships Available
NCACSDirectory
p.3-6
NEWS & REPOK|S MAKING CONTACT
Helptul Official in Ontario Ttouble in CermanY Newl-awturWV Victory in Texas Court CF{ALLENGES StressfulYear Unschooling
& CONCERNS P'7-8
Feeling Isolated
"Where'sYour School?"
WATCHING CHILDREN LEARN
P.
Rethinking NormalitY John Holt on Correcting Mistakes Math History, Reading
OLDER HOMESCHOOLERS P. 12-13 CHILDREN IN HOSPITAIS P. 13-14 BOOK REVIEWS P. 15-18 FOCUS ON TESTING P' re-22 The Uses ofTests Testing Experiences
p.23-25 ''winners" RESOURCES p.25-2a Abacus Beads Tapes Books
ADDITIONS TO DIRECTORY P. 2
Foryears, we have been telllng people who asked us about college admisslon requirements licr homeschoolers that although a htgh school dtploma was not necessary, scholastic Aptitude Test scores (or scores from other college Board exams) usually were. "lnsututlons say they want somethlng normatlve, standardized, some way toludge everyone equalty," we:d explaln, almost as lf colleges could be excused for thinldng that the SATwas the way to do thts. Of course it isn't. and we all ought to become fluent ln the dlscussion of why it isn't. The SATbears directly on all of us, iven those of us who have already taken it' never thought about taklngit, orwon't have to think about taklng tt foryears. As I talked to p.opi. about the SAi tn preparatlon for the sectlon on testlng In thls lssue of GWS' I ieattzea that it has become s)monymous ln this country wtth the idea that testlng is sensible and, even more basic, possible. When we hear people talk about how much they can learn about someone's lntelligence from a sin$le SAT score, we are hearing the same thinking that makes people decide that requirtn$ homeschooled children to take a yearly stan-dardlzed test wtll reassure ev€ryone that those chtldren are learning. In ottreiwords, believing that standard?ed tests measure somethtng important-or can be used to inform irnportant decisions is just as erToneous, andJust as potentially harmful, whether the decision is about a college applicant, an 8-year-old hoping to be
allowed another year of homeschooling, or any one of the many-people who lind themselves in situailons in which thesi tests matter. The belief ls essenllally the same. Part of what this means is that we should see the testing issue as awhole' Readers with young children should not dismiss the discussion of the SATin this issue of GWS as irrelevant to them. Readers with older (or no) chtldren should not thtnk the testing ofyoung children ls somethlr:rg that no longer concerns them. Agaln, lt's all part of a p.ltt"rri-". *ay of looking at tnleligence and its measurement which. if we want to challenge, we have to challenge in its entirety. We"should applaud and Jncourage whatever supportive research and news on the subject we find. Specifically, homeschmling parents who ar€ negotiating testing .rrJng.-..tts wit'h their sihool districts can use the news that some colleges havestoppEa requiring the sATas important information about current use of standardtzed tests. (see story, page 2l) Parents can also use other research that the National Center for Fair and Opeir fesUng (lnteMew, page l9) ls collectlng to back up their ar€Uments. We're not alone in our criticlsm and questioning of standardized tests. FailTest is working to make the testing industry more accountable, and parents, too' can demand accountability of the verylesters who are askln$ homeschoolers to be accountable to them. We shouldn't let so many important declsions about our children be made on the basis of tests which are as flawed as so many standardized tests are
turning out to be.
Rt this point, many parents may be thinliing, "But what about meanwhile' when our children do have to take these tests?" To thii I say, while your children have to take these tests, learn everything you can about them' Find out how they're made, discover the tricks and ways ofttri.rt ing *hlch make lt easy to score high onthem' and help your children unierstand theJe trlcks. At tle same time, quesdon thelr value and l""rr-"y. The saddest consequence of our belief in standardized testing i:s that our children come to share it, and makeJudgments about themselves which they might never otherwise have made. At the viry least, children who have to take standardized tests should see them as necessary but basicalty tnstgniflcant hurdles or games'-lt's unfortunate that so often these hurdles stand between us and somethingwe really want to do (continue homeschooling, enter some instltution, take part in some work)' we should know enough about them so that we are able toJump them easily, but we should also knowenough about them to distrust them. David Owen, in hislmportant book None oJThe Above: Belindthe MythoJ scholasticAptth-rde (avail. here, 7.95 + post.), wrltes: 'Uust as war ls too lmportant to be left to the generals, testing is too important to be left to the test-makers' We all owe it to oursehel and especially-our childien to swallow our anxieties and take a look at what actually goes on behdd the facade of scientlfic lnfallibtlity that the Educational Testing Servi"e [wtrictr sells the SATI has erected between itself and the society it helps to shape... The scientific mystique on which their powerdepends is an illusion." thi more we know about standaidlzed tests, the less subject to this illusion we will be. --- Susannah Sheffer