Mark ups in school tests and ranking fail all

Mark ups in school tests and ranking fail all

Simon Marcus Gower, Jakarta

Test scores being marked up to give students better scores
than they actually got -- this kind of thing has been observed
previously and, to say the least, it is a practice that has to be
viewed with considerable concern. The ethics of such practices
are quite apparent but they also undermine the whole value of the
tests originally.

Recently there has been the additional specter of the national
exam (the UAN) scores being subjected to "conversion" and
"recalculation formulae". Among the reasons given for this latest
approach is to attempt to address the considerable disparities to
be found in the quality of educational provision across the
country. There may well be entirely genuine concerns at the heart
of such moves but their effects need to be considered.

Inevitably any score "conversions" or "recalculations" are
going to raise doubts and even fears in both the minds of
examines and examiners. Naturally, if you tell an examine that
his score was eighty-five percent and then tell him "oh, sorry,
wait a minute we have to make a recalculation and it looks like
your score will not be that" the examine is going to feel
uncomfortable -- irregardless of whether his score goes up or
down.

Ultimately everyone engaged in the scenario here -- examines,
examiners and others -- needs to be able to conclude that the
examination is both valid and a credible reflection and
assessment of what has been achieved. Unfortunately, though, it
does seem as though examinations are being left in the realms of
invalidity and incredibility.

The manner in which tests and examinations are applied and
utilized in schools is such that too often any real value to them
is left on the periphery. There is little doubt that tests and
examinations are not being used as positive indicators as to how
a student is doing and making an informed assessment of areas
that need improvement. They are, instead, much more consistently
viewed as a way of placing a student's name on a ranking list
that, under greater analysis, could be viewed as arbitrary and
ultimately unfair.

The notion of ranking students is something that really ought
to be more carefully considered too. Often it is apparent that
ranking is neither an accurate reflection of students' ability
nor is a positive input or influence into the life of the
student. Undoubtedly there are elements of "competition" to be
found in amongst the notion and usage of ranking. Indeed,
teachers have been heard explaining it in just these terms.

Some teachers will defend ranking, and even their use of
tests, as a way of encouraging the students to compete with each
other; improving their scores in a comparative way. That is
looking at their own scores and then comparing them with others
and seeing that they need to improve. The use of class averages
in report books is also seen as part of this process of
competition through comparison that leads students to improve
their scores.

It would perhaps be nice to be reassured by this kind of
theory but somehow in reality it just does not seem to work with
consistency and strength to be so reassuring. It is particularly
lacking if we are truly looking for evidence of true learning
being achieved in the classroom.

Too often the application and results of tests are not
reviewed in a manner that allows them to form useful feedback to
the students. Instead an obsession with the test score alone and
what it means in terms of ranking leaves students either
forgetful or negligent of their learning.

In a sense, the students can end up as little more than the
likes of greyhounds racing around a race-track after a false
rabbit. Any time for them to consider and reflect on what they
have achieved and learnt is left on the edge of people's
consideration -- including teachers. They have, effectively, just
been "going through the paces", just been "processed" rather than
been guided and learnt from the test-taking experience and the
results of the test other than the numbered score and/ or
ranking.

This debilitates the test-taking process and the test itself.
A test can prove a beneficial input into the learning process;
offering a sign-post, signaling directions needed to be taken and
potentially mapping out continuing learning. In this way a test
becomes a useful part (even partner) in the learning process.
Sometimes tests are even used as weapons with which to badger
students into submission or impose control and this is a near
total misappropriation of the whole process.

Tests and examinations can, and really should, form a positive
and useful guide and source of information along the road(s) to
learning but too often they end up being viewed as negative and
seminal moments in the learning process that effectively pigeon-
hole people. Certainly a test or examination can be a seminal
moment but as such it should be an indicator of what has been
achieved and what still may and/ or needs to be achieved.

There are occasions where tests and subsequent rankings are
viewed as such powerfully seminal moments that they end up being
counter-productive and even destructive. Cases have been
documented of students doing themselves harm because their test
scores or rankings were not what they expected or hoped for.
These can be overt and very apparent indicators of negative
outcomes but other less visible results may accrue too.

For example, students can be encountered who essentially have
very low self-esteem and, probably worst of all, their mental
state does not at all fairly reflect on who they are, what they
have accomplished and what they can actually achieve in the
future. Because schools -- with endless testing and prescriptive
ranking -- end up pigeon-holing a student, the student can be
literally forced to come to a negative, depressing and even
desperate conclusion.

Rather than positively reinforcing and enhancing a student's
strengths, there can be a tendency to negatively dwell upon
weaknesses and so construe the student as failing and a failure.
The more prescient reality may be that the manner in which the
system of education is set up -- with potentially unreliable
examinations and therefore dubious lists of rankings -- is
failing to accurately and fairly reflect what students are
actually capable of.

"Conversions" of exam scores suggests manipulative practices
may be at work. Statistics should not be so manipulated but as
the Scottish writer Andrew Lang once noted people may "use
statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts -- for support rather
than for illumination". Examination and test scores should be
used to illuminate the way ahead for education; if they do not
then they may well be failing us all.

The writer is Executive Principal of the High/Scope Indonesia
School. The opinions expressed above are personal.