Beware of the Standards, Not Just the Tests (**)

EDUCATION WEEK September 26, 2001 Beware of the Standards, Not Just the Tests By Alfie Kohn A number of prominent educators are finally raising their voices against standardized testing—particularly multiple-choice, norm-referenced tests; particularly tests with “high stakes” (read: bribes and threats) attached; and particularly in the context of a federal mandate to force every state to test every student in … Read More

Five Reasons to Stop Saying “Good Job!” (**)

YOUNG CHILDREN September 2001 Five Reasons to Stop Saying “Good Job!” By Alfie Kohn NOTE: An abridged version of this article was published in Parents magazine in May 2000 with the title “Hooked on Praise.” For a more detailed look at the issues discussed here — as well as a comprehensive list of citations to relevant research — please see the books Punished … Read More

Emphasis on Testing Leads to Sacrifices in Other Areas (**)

USA Today August 21, 2001 Emphasis on Testing Leads to Sacrifices in Other Areas By Alfie Kohn Even as teachers ready their lesson plans for the new school year, they are keeping a wary eye on Washington, D.C. A congressional conference committee next month is expected to hammer out a version of President Bush’s plan to require standardized testing for … Read More

One-Size-Fits-All Education Doesn’t Work

BOSTON GLOBE June 10, 2001 One-Size-Fits-All Education Doesn’t Work By Alfie Kohn People who call for national education standards may have either of two ideas in mind. Both are intuitively appealing, but neither survives closer scrutiny. The first meaning of standards has to do with outcomes: Here’s how well we expect students to do. Of course, all students deserve a … Read More

Two Cheers for an End to the SAT (**)

THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION March 9, 2001 Two Cheers for an End to the SAT By Alfie Kohn One imagines the folks at the College Board blushing deeply when, a few years back, they announced that the “A” in SAT no longer stood for “Aptitude.” Scarlet, after all, would be an appropriate color to turn while, in effect, conceding … Read More

Teacher Won’t Administer CSAP Tests

DENVER POST Jan. 27, 2001 Teacher Won’t Administer CSAP Tests By Percy Ednalino Jan. 27, 2001 – A middle-school teacher in Greeley said Friday that herefuses to administer the Colorado Student Assessment Program tests to his students because they clash with his beliefs as an educator. This is the first time a teacher has refused to administer the tests, officials … Read More

Education’s Different Drummer

WASHINGTON POST January 9, 2001 Education’s Different Drummer Alfie Kohn Is Marching Against Standardized Learning, and He Has Gained a Nationwide Following By Jay Mathews Washington Post Staff Writer One day in 1967, a sweet-faced, bespectacled fifth-grader at Leroy D. Fienberg Elementary School in Miami Beach was given a class assignment. No one remembers what it was about, which is … Read More

Fighting the Tests: A Practical Guide to Rescuing Our Schools

PHI DELTA KAPPAN January 2001 Fighting the Tests A Practical Guide to Rescuing Our Schools By Alfie Kohn Don’t let anyone tell you that standardized tests are not accurate measures.  The truth of the matter is they offer a remarkably precise method for gauging the size of the houses near the school where the test was administered.   Every empirical investigation … Read More

Sample Letter

The following sample letter appears in W. James Popham, Testing! Testing!: What Every Parent Should Know About School Tests (Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 2000). Copyright 2000 by Allyn & Bacon. [Date] [Administrator] [School or District] [Address] I want to register my concern that there seems to be an excessive emphasis in our school on getting students ready for the standardized … Read More