“Test” is a four-letter word in my book, made
obscene by 14 years of insanity in American schooling. Testing mania has sapped
passion from teachers, disheartened our children and crippled any sense of
school as a place to explore, discover, enjoy the fruits of knowledge. “Out
with the tests!” is the rallying cry to restore education and I’m often at the
front of the charge.
Of course, the problem is not tests, but the
inflated weight, the dubious reasons behind them, the random choices about
what’s important to know. Any teacher knows that tests are a tried-and-true
strategy to review information, to assess what each student knows, to develop
valuable study habits. There’s no reason to throw out that baby with the
bathwater.
Today I gave my first Jazz History/ Jazz Listening
test of the year and a joyful experience it was. The kids came in with just the
right amount of tension to make the game of testing interesting and mostly left
with the pleasure of showing themselves and me how much they’ve learned, how
much they know, how satisfying— and dare I say fun?— it was to study.
Well, when your study involves listening to Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Dave
Brubeck, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington and the like, hey, that’s my idea of
fun. And even more gratifying, it feels like the kids are either infected by my
enthusiasm or genuinely turned on to the music, humming along with it, yelping
in pleasure when they recognize a tune. And why shouldn’t they be? This is
great music and they’re open enough to stretch beyond the narrow bandwidth of
contemporary pop and smart enough to catch the infectious rhythms, great
melodies and a lifetime of nuances.
When the stakes are low (no one’s high school
acceptance depends on their jazz history score, but a better choice than other
scores they need!), when the ratio of test to discovery is in balance, when the
material is fabulous, testing can be fun! We all love to know what we know, to
show what we know, to know things worth knowing.
Please read this blog carefully. There will be a
test.
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