The Assessment of Thoughtful Literacy in NAEP: Why the States Aren't Measuring Up Summary & Reflection

The Assessment of Thoughtful Literacy in NAEP:

Why the States Aren't Measuring Up

Summary & Reflection

This article addresses the troubles with standardized testing in this country. The authors performed this research by obtaining 20 of the most populated states' standardized comprehension tests and analyzed the nature of their questions. The types of questions were compared to the literacy framework provided by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The results were not as, we as teachers, would have hoped. Most states' standardized comprehension tests focus heavily on vocabulary, but far less on open-ended questions which give students greater opportunities to think and respond thoughtfully about a piece of text. Many tests also have a deep focus on text details which could give students the wrong impression about the purpose of reading: we read for understanding, but we build that understanding by relating it to our thoughts and experiences. Students may then pay unnecessary attention to inane facts in the reading rather than empathizing and relating to the text.

I think it is a shame that many teachers focus highly on having their students memorize facts about text instead of having students build knowledge by questioning, empathizing, and relating the text to their previous experience. Even though it is a shame, according to the results of this article, they are not completely wrong. These teachers are responding to the fact that our testing system doesn't focus on the building of true comprehension of textual ideas but the comprehension of the facts or vocabulary. Testing should have more open-ended questions that cause students to think deeply about the characters and their situation; in exposition text, students should be made to care about the presented issues as they read. If our students both comprehend and care about the text, they are less likely to look at reading as a dull task but as an opportunity to learn something new or step into the shoes of another person. As a result, they are more likely to become life-long readers. If we continue testing for inane details they way we have been, more and more students will fail to read for pleasure.