If the scores are bad, should we dump the test?

"Just say nope to NAEP," write economists Alison Baulos and James Heckman in the Hechinger Report.

Photo: Mikhail Nilov/Pexels

Don't "panic" over low test scores, they write. Instead, we should focus on "unlocking students' full potential" by "building students’ socioemotional skills, fostering strong relationships with teachers and peers and supporting enriched home environments that drive long-term success."

America spends $2 billion a year on standardized achievement tests that "fail to measure key traits like perseverance, motivation and conscientiousness — qualities that strongly predict long-term success," they write.

Some test-obsessed schools limit time for recess, music, art and dance, write Baulos and Heckman. There's no time to foster "curiosity, engagement and socioemotional development."

Tests can track trends and show which schools and districts need more help, they concede. But they call for "pausing some of these tests and redirecting resources to shape assessments that incorporate student and educator perspectives and align with the latest science on learning."

It's true that some schools are so focused on tested subjects -- reading and math --- that they ignore everything else. It's counter-productive: Students who spend little time on science, history and civics don't build the knowledge they need to understand what they read.

But I think Baulos and Heckman are too eager to kill the messenger bringing bad news. They want to stop measuring what's measurable -- reading and math competence -- and assess school's success based on unmeasurable (though desirable) traits. Nor do I believe there are many students who can't read, write or calculate well who'd score well on "perseverance, motivation and conscientiousness," if we knew how to measure those things.

Forty percent of students are "below basic" in fourth-grade reading, writes Mark Schneider, former director of the U.S. Education Department's Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

Some argue that NAEP's "proficient" standard is too high: Students with "basic" scores have a shot at success, they say. But nobody thinks there's a bright future for "below basic" students.

Fifty-six percent of black students and 50 percent of Hispanics are "below basic" in fourth-grade reading, notes Schneider. We know from experience they're likely to struggle with all subjects as they move through elementary, middle and high school. Fifty-two percent of students from lower-income families and 70 percent of those with disabilities are "below basic."

Should we write off these kids? Wait till schools can figure out how to "enrich their home environments" and get them to like their teachers?

"There is no evidence of a turnaround" since the end of the pandemic, despite the nearly $190 million in federal Covid aid, Schneider writes. No rebound. It's getting worse.

In 2024, IES spent more than $100 million on “one-off” research projects spread over more than a dozen topic areas," many reflecting academics' interests rather than critical needs, Schneider writes. It's time to "launch a coordinated, large-scale research program" to make sure effective literacy programs are designed and implemented.

DOGE's slash-and-burn attack on IES is a mistake, writes Fordham's Checker Finn. "It’s just going to weaken the foremost truth squad in American education, the chief sponsor and funder of rigorous analysis, reliable data, and clear-eyed evaluations in a realm that needs more of those things, not less."

There's no need to drop state tests just because more students are failing, writes Frannie Block on The Free Press. It's easier to lower the cut scores that measure who's at "basic" or "proficient."

Oklahoma schools almost doubled the number of fourth-graders reading at grade level by quietly lowering standards. "Many Oklahoman parents assumed their kids had vastly improved at math and reading when, more likely, nothing had changed," she writes.

It's happened in New York, Wisconsin and elsewhere, Block notes. Illinois is considering lowering its cut scores. "It's the easy way out," says Bruce Rauner, who was governor from 2015 to 2019.

Massachusetts voters dropped the state's graduation exam, she writes. New York will phase out the state’s standardized Regents exams "in the name of 'equity'.” Colorado will “temporarily” lower the passing score for the math exam, "in response to fears that around 3,400 kids wouldn’t be able to graduate."

Standards are lower for teachers in New Jersey, she writes. They "no longer need to pass state-issued reading and writing exams to become certified educators."