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I know people who use their weight as the lone indicator of their health. They want to be “healthy”, and in order to reach “healthy”, all they look at is their weight. They focus on just a number, their goal weight, and they do everything they can to attain that weight. These people are “health nuts”, but instead of becoming healthy, they become some of the most unhealthy people that I know. The problem is that they have an inherently flawed vision of health and their goals are distorted from the beginning. They equate “health” with some arbitrary value of “weight”, and they only consider themselves “healthy” when they are at this arbitrary weight. Focusing solely on some arbitrary number, they completely neglect their cholesterol, blood pressure, mental stress, and their relationships. They become obsessed with the number but subsequently fail to attain their ultimate goal in the process.

What does this have to do with standardized tests? Read on…

When I talk to people (teachers and students) who want to improve their standardized test scores, I often hear people who are only concerned about the number. Schools want to increase the number of students passing, teachers want to increase the number passing, and students want to get a higher number on the test itself. However, if you are only focusing on the number, you are aiming at the wrong thing. Your vision is inherently erred because it is improperly focused.

Yes, I want to improve the percentage of students in my class and in my school who pass the Algebra I Core 40 Exam. However, that is not my ultimate goal and that is not my vision for success in my class. My aim is much higher than some number on a standardized test. I set the bar in my classroom, not relative to some standardized test, but to something much bigger. My vision of excellence and true success for a student lies in who they are as a person when they leave my class or leave our school. It is about making sure they are well-prepared to face the realities that exist beyond the boundaries of our school’s walls. It is about making sure that the description of someone in our school as a “good student” is synonymous with saying they are a “good person”.

Excellence in the classroom can never be measured by just one standardized test because it is simply a measure of intelligence. It does not show how the student improved over the year, it does not reflect their character, it does not reflect their ability to work with others, and it does not reflect their honesty. It is like a scale. You step on, read your “weight” (or in this case intelligence and comprehension with Algebra I), and then you step off. But it simply reflects one component of many components that are necessary to be “excellent” in school and in life after school. Just as your health is not determined simply by your weight, a student’s attainment of excellence is not determined simply by their proficiency with the standards in Algebra I as indicated by a standardized test.

We are neglecting the whole student when all we focus on is their standardized test score. Yes, improving their scores is important, but schools and teachers must have a proper perspective. If you lose perspective of what “excellence” really looks like and reduce it to simply a number, you have failed in your duty to nurture the student into the best person they could possibly become. You end up teaching students like they are robots and not people. You end up obsessing on a number that is not as important as the person behind that number.

Improving student performance is not a short-term project. If you have a short-term vision, you will never have the patience to let the seeds you plant grow into something beautiful. An overweight person may reach their “number” quicker by cutting off an arm, but that won’t lead to long-term health. You must be willing to sacrifice short-term benefits for long-term improvements, and it takes great courage and patience not to take the “easy” way out and to stay the course even when it is difficult. But that is why you get paid the big bucks!

If you have the wrong perspective about what you are aiming for, you may end up in a place you don't want to be. In the musical "Wicked", the witch Glenda sings:

Happy is what happens
When all your dreams come true.
Isn't it?

It's strange, but it seems
that getting your dreams
Is a little, well, complicated.

Because it is, I admit
The tiniest bit
Unlike I anticipated.

Because that joy, that thrill
Doesn't thrill like you think it will.

It is a great shame to think that you could one day reach your dream that you have been working on for so long, only to find out that it isn't what you want. Being clear about where you want to go and why you want to go there is the first step to transforming your classroom and your school.

Don't be afraid to tread along the path you know you must take, even when everyone else is doing something different. Reach for excellence, not some standardized test number, and then commit to that vision. Fighting for excellence, and not some standardized test number, is a dream worth fighting for.