Teaching FOR the test

We recently purchased got some “learn to type” software for our older daughter. We got two programs, actually, and both are about what you’d expect: drill and practice with a fancy front end. (One is a Disney title, the other a generic.) The good news is that our daughter is interested in playing, and in fact, if you are going to learn a basic skill like typing, drill and practice is the way to go.

We got the program because, like me, my daughter has poor penmanship, to the point where her difficultly in the physical act of writing is in danger of getting in the way of the the more important intellectual aspects of writing.

Her teacher was very receptive to the idea of handing in assignments done on the computer–and said that our daughter could use the computers in the classroom (there are two incredibly old PCs) to write if she wanted. But she also said that our daughter should still learn to write clearly.

Now I don’t object to that idea at all. Kids need to be able to write clearly so they can read their own ideas, organize their thoughts, and generally work with what Merlin Donald has so aptly described as “external working memory.”

But the teacher’s reason for learning to write clearly was a little different–and a little more troubling.

The teacher acknowledged that outside of school, communication using a computer was more important for writing, but kids still need to learn to write because’¦ get this:

They have to write on standardized tests in school, and if the graders can’t read their handwriting, then they won’t do well.

The absurdity of that hardly needs any comment–except to re-emphasize that here was an obviously dedicated, talented, intelligent, and incredibly experienced teacher who had little choice but to teach a skill that is valued first and foremost for the test. Not just teaching to the test, but actually teaching FOR the test.