It's Time to Go Back to Paper-and-Pencil Standardized Testing
In this video, Dr. Justin Baeder argues for returning to paper-based standardized tests so that technology requirements don't drive instructional decisions.
Key Takeaways
- The cart is driving the horse - Schools buy devices and tech infrastructure primarily to administer online tests, not to improve learning
- Paper tests work fine - Paper-and-pencil standardized tests have decades of proven reliability
- Remove the tech dependency - Going back to paper frees schools from costly technology mandates that don't improve outcomes
Transcript
I think it's time for standardized testing to go back to paper and pencil.
So much of the reason we have Chromebooks in elementary school, in the younger grades, and really all throughout, comes down to testing.
And I personally, as a principal, bought Chromebooks expressly for the purpose of testing.
It made sense, it was cost-effective, it's efficient, you get the scores instantly.
But we know now that kids show what they know better on paper.
Kids learn better on paper.
There is nothing that is better on the learning side or on the kid's side when we go to Chromebooks.
It is only for cost savings and efficiency.
And I think this is one of those places where because it has such a big effect on the educational process, because so much is driven by that shift to digital, there is so much downside that it's not worth the efficiency gains.
It is not worth making what should be a pencil and paper experience into a digitized experience for kids, it's not worth the savings.
And I think if we want to roll back ed tech, if we want to bring back paper and pencil and human interaction in school, and especially in elementary school, I think that starts with standardized testing.
It starts with saying, okay, we are going to prepare our students for the kind of assessment they're going to take, which is paper and pencil.
If it's not paper and pencil, then we're going to have the constant excuse of we have to do classwork.
We have to do regular stuff on the Chromebooks because the testing is on the Chromebooks.
So I think we've got to get ahead of that and demand that the testing go back to paper and pencil.
Let me know what you think.