Obsession with tests is only part of the problem: Your Say

President Obama recently recommended less focus on standardized tests. He said taking them should make up no more than 2% of a student’s instructional class time. Letter to the editor:

Neither position on standardized testing in Monday’s editorial debate on education gets to the meat of classroom instruction (“Streamline standardized tests Our view” and “Test results don't cure inequity: Opposing view”). Using such results as a beginning step in evaluating the curriculum and improving instruction in individual schools is rarely done in any meaningful way.

Beginning steps are rarely taken because the focus upon “inequality” becomes the priority, and the schools are turned into political footballs. Lily Garcia’s opposing view makes this point. She goes on to assure us that “equal opportunity” is the final cure. Education is not based upon, nor is it designed to provide, equality of outcomes. The Olympics are not designed to make all runners equally fast. If the schools must produce equal outcomes, the students would all need to be robots! If the schools used test results as a beginning point, a great deal of improvement in schools could follow.

Bob Settles; Palm Coast, Fla.

POLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, media

Comments from Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

The time dedicated to taking tests is only part of the problem. Teaching to the tests is a larger concern. It is nice to see that the administration at least admitted to being partially responsible for the test obsession.

There are no easy, one-size-fits-all solutions for improving education, but hopefully a reduced emphasis on testing can contribute to a different attitude toward education.

— Joel Dykstra

Tests measure whether you actually learned something and how much you learned.

The problem is not the tests. The problem is teachers who are not teaching. If students are taught correctly, the tests should be no problem.

— Bradford Talamon

How do you measure parent/family support and other cultural differences that have huge impacts? Many schools and teachers are assessed by testing criteria that all too often are affected by forces outside of the classroom.

— Charlie Ratt

Standardized tests aren’t the only issue. There are also more testing requirements for teacher evaluations and from school districts. We spend so much time before and after tests so we can prove students have improved. Tons of extra work added on top of teaching.

— Stephan Ainley

The plan is to put learning back in the classrooms, instead of educators teaching to a test that many students will fail. That has been tried. Preparing for tests is also part of the reason other subjects, such as physical education and languages, aren’t taught as much in schools.

— David J Sanchez

Testing is how you check knowledge. Math is pure. If you cannot answer math questions correctly, you should not pass the grade.

— Julie Felix

No one is saying get rid of tests. They’re saying we need fewer mandated, standardized tests.

— Branden Makana