To Test or Not to Test

Norman R. Augustine

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The chief problem with U.S. schools apparently isn’t high dropout rates or underquali fied teachers but standardized testing.1. dropout: 辍学学生；underquali fied:资历不足的，不合格的；standardized: 标准化的。This is the only conclusion that can be drawn from the push by parents and teachers in Buffalo, Philadelphia, Seattle and elsewhere to help students opt out of taking standardized tests.2. 这是我们从家长和教师们的举动中能得到的唯一结论。在水牛城、费城、西雅图以及其他城市，他们正在推动并鼓励学生选择不参加标准化考试。push: 推动，促进；opt out: 拒绝参加，自愿退出。

Members of this burgeoning anti-test movement fail to grasp testing’s valuable role in motivating and guiding students and teachers.3. burgeoning: 迅速成长的，迅速发展的；grasp: 理解，领悟；motivate: 激发……的积极性（或学习兴趣）。Preparing young Americans for success in the global economy will require our schools to improve, not abolish4. abolish: 废除，取消。, academic standards.

Opponents of standardized tests typically rely on three basic arguments.

First, they contend that these exams detract from the larger goals of education by encouraging teachers to “teach the test.”5. contend: 声称，主张；detract: 转移，使分心。

In a certain sense, however, teaching the test is the whole point.Exams are instruments for measuring student pro ficiency.6. instrument: 工具，手段；pro ficiency:精通，熟练。And,as I’ve learned during my career in the business world, measuring something is often the best way to maximize or improve it.Economist Dan Ariely of Duke University has said: “CEOs care about stock value7. stock value: 股票价值。because that’s how we measure them. If we want to change what they care about, we should change what we measure.”

不可否认，考试有许多不尽如人意之处：过分重视终结性考试，不可忽视的高分低能现象与素质教育主流趋势似乎南辕北辙，等等。那么，我们究竟需不需要考试？考试的意义究竟何在？在日新月异的21世纪，考试与评价又将如何变革与发展呢？

If an exam effectively gauges a student’s mastery of U.S. history or English grammar, then teaching the test is simply a matter of helping students develop that knowledge.8. 如果一门考试有效地评估了学生对美国历史或英语语法的掌握程度，那么应试教学则仅仅是帮助学生掌握相关方面的知识。gauge: 测量……的大小，评价。Teachers who feel that a test ignores something essential should commit to fixing the test,not condemning the entire practice of testing.9. commit to: 致力于……，投入……；condemn: 谴责，非难；practice: 实践，实行。

Another oft-heard argument is that standardized tests drive educators to cheat. Teachers and administrators in the Atlanta public school system, for instance, were indicted this year in an alleged scheme of in flating their students’ test scores to avoid sanctions and attract better future students.10. indict: 控告，指控；alleged: （尤指在证据不足的情况下）被指控的，有嫌疑的；scheme: 阴谋，诡计；in flate: 抬高，使……膨胀；sanction: 制裁，处罚。Not surprisingly,some education advocates were quick to blame the scandal on the tests themselves.

It should be noted that most teachers are honest, dedicated11. dedicated: 专注的，为……而献身的。professionals. But even if this sort of fraud were rampant, it would be absurd to fault standardized tests.12. fraud: 欺骗，诈骗；rampant: 蔓延的，猖獗的；fault: v. 找……的缺点，责难。As Thomas J. Kane,director of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, noted last spring, such a reaction would “be equivalent to saying ‘OK, because there are some players that cheated in Major League Baseball, we should stop keeping score, because that only encourages people to take steroids.’ ”13. 哈佛大学教育政策研究中心的主任托马斯·J.凯恩去年春天指出，这样的反应“相当于说‘好吧，因为有一些球员在美国职棒大联盟比赛中作弊了，我们就应该停止计分，因为这样只会鼓励人们服用兴奋剂。’”be equivalent to: 相当于，与……等效；Major League Baseball: 美国职棒大联盟，美国最著名的职业棒球联赛；steroid: 类固醇，是激素、兴奋剂等的主要成分。

The third argument is that high-stakes testing14. high-stakes testing: 高利害性考试，如中国的高考等重要考试。places too much pressure on students. This objection is not without some merit15. not without some merit: 不是一无是处的，不是毫无道理的。.

Having visited schools in other countries where a single five-day examination can determine a student’s future, I understand how tests can sometimes constitute16. constitute: 实际上等于，相当于。cruel and unusual punishment.But surely there is a sensible middle ground between such brutal practices and full-scale abandonment of standardized testing.17. 但可以肯定的是，让考试成为如此残酷的考验和全面放弃标准化考试之间，我们应该能找到合理的中间地带。full-scale: 全面的，完全的。

Finding that middle ground has never been more important,as U.S. students continue to fall far behind their international peers. In its most recent report, the World Economic Forum18. World Economic Forum: 世界经济论坛，一个以基金会形式存在的非营利组织，总部设在瑞士日内瓦，以其每年冬季在瑞士达沃斯举办的年会（俗称达沃斯论坛）闻名于世，聚集了全球工商、政治、学术、媒体等领域的领袖人物，讨论世界面临的最紧迫问题。ranked U.S. math and science education 52nd in the world. A 2009 evaluation of students in 34 developed nations found that U.S. 15-year-olds were outperformed19. outperform: 胜过，比……做得好。in science by students from 12 countries. The results were worse in math: Students in 17 countries outperformed U.S. students.

To address U.S. students’ international achievement gap,the National Governors Association helped create a set of nationwide achievement goals known as the Common Core State Standards.20. address: 处理，对付；Common Core State Standards: 各州共同核心标准，美国的一套课程标准的架构，用以规范学生于21世纪所应该学到的核心知识、技能与能力。These voluntary benchmarks in English language arts and math re flect what young Americans will need to know if they are to compete with students from China, Singapore,Finland, Republic of Korea and elsewhere.21. voluntary: 非官办的，私立的； benchmark: 基准尺度，基准。

Instead of speaking out against the Common Core, critics of standardized testing should see this reform effort as an opportunity to make testing better.Educators have an indispensable role in creating tests that do justice to student achievement while rewarding skilled teachers.22. indispensable: 不可缺少的，重要的；do justice to: 公平对待，使……的价值充分发挥。

Raising standards should be the primary goal of education reform. Those who argue against standardized testing are not only misguided but are also leading U.S. schools and students in precisely the wrong direction.