The Reflective Teacher is one of the new blogs out there that is really interesting to read. Last week, s/he posted this post about his end of semester test:

Here’s what I really want to say:

I do not want to teach toward a test.
o Teachers should not be required to this–it detracts from the authenticity of individual classes.
Multiple-choice tests are ridiculous
o They do not test our students on what they are capable of doing.
o They limit students to rely on testing strategies and elimination, not thinking.
o They dumb-down real learning.
o They dumb-down real teaching.
o Even our administrators say this.
* Real teaching and real learning requires discussion.
o How can we learn or teach without asking or answering questions?
o Rote memorization means absolutely nothing.

Now, he wasn’t even talking about a state-standard, high-stakes test, but you get the idea. And so does s/he. After one semester of teaching, s/he knows that what gets routinely tested is not necessarily what is valuable — even if it is what our system values:

But is that our job? To hand out tests that ask nothing of our students?

I revised her test and added several different categories. I asked students to give me rote meorization answers, I asked them to read and summarize, I asked them to re-read a passage and clarify it, I asked them to plot out a novel (and to give examples from each of the regular plot-markers–exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution–from a specific book we read as a class. I asked them to define using their on words, I asked them to explain why certain types of reading strategies are important.

Ultimately, I feel as though I asked them important questions instead of the types of questions they’ll see on a computer-aided test.

But it leaves me wondering: Which is more important? Asking students what it is that makes English interesting, or what it is that makes English required?

Are there even better questions — what makes English vital? Vibrant? Relevant? And can any of that be measured by tests?