Category: Instructional Leadership

How do you create a positive test taking culture in your school?

Truly, how do you do it?

That was a question posed during a live meeting I attended in the past week.  How do you create a positive test taking culture in the school you are in?  Then part of the group discussed this topic.

I should say I had my mic and video off.  My family was in the house.  I did not say what first came to my mind.  Frankly, it was not positive nor uplifting.

That was a legitimate question discussed though.  Creating a positive test taking culture in a school in 2021.  How should we do it?  What should be in place?  How do we encourage students to have a positive attitude about test taking and high stakes test taking?  I shared this with another educator shortly afterwards and his response, get rid of high stakes test taking and students would be better off.  I fully agreed.

What is the purpose of high stakes test taking?  IB, AP, IGCSE, SAT, ACT, and all the other acronyms of tests that we require of students.  What is the point?  No truly.  What is the point of any of these high stakes tests in 2021 and why do we still allow this type of conversation to exist?

Many universities in North America and the world are not considering SAT and ACT as part of the formal application process anymore.  AP testing simply allows students to waive university level courses, so they get academic credit once they are allowed into the university if they score high enough on their assessment.  IB and IGCSE are most relevant to Europe and the British system, but not as much outside of those systems.  So, do they matter anymore?

If you are going to a specific system, then yes, some of the education programs do matter.  If one is going to Europe or the UK, then yes, a student is best served in the IB and IGCSE system based on what I know about them.  The high stakes testing do have an end goal and are perhaps a necessary evil inherent in the system.  But they have a point and a purpose as I understand.  If you apply to certain universities in the system, you know the score you are required to get for entry for example.

What about other assessments we so highly value?  What is their purpose?  Do they meet the needs of education today?  Truly, businesses repeatedly state that high school and university graduates are not completing their programs with the skills they need for their organizations to be successful.  If none of our programs are truly meeting the requirements for business, are we doing a good job with the high stakes assessments and classes we offer then test?

The question we have to ask, and honestly ask this not just the teacher meeting question of what do we think, is do we value high stakes testing and why?

Let us be brutally honest for a moment about education.  High stakes testing, if our students do well, makes the institution look very good.  We can waive our high-test scores in front of anyone looking and show them our academic success.  That success brings students to the school and puts backsides in seats.  In a private school, this is almost required.  In a public school, this is a flower in the cap of the school.

We will never get rid of high stakes academic testing in education.  No matter what we believe as educators, we will never get rid of it.  We need it as much as our students need it to demonstrate academic success for application to university.  It is our necessary evil.  It is here and it will remain in our programs.

How then do we have a discussion about a positive test taking culture in our school? 

It starts with an evaluation of your test-taking culture.  Let’s be brutally honest here, there are schools that are test-taking mills.  Their sole purpose is to get students to take as many high stakes tests as possible and pass with high marks.  Fortunately, those schools are a bit more of the outliers, but, that doesn’t mean it is not a prevailing attitude in schools.

I once heard a college counselor, who was wicked smart, tell a group of students that the correct answer to how many advanced courses and tests a student to take was simple.  Take as many as you can AND score top marks on everyone of them.  That was the only correct answer to that question he said. 

We may not be test mills, but we may very well believe that students should take a lot of tests and excel in order to make us, or our school, look good.  Where does your school fall in that continuum from no tests to as many as possible?  It is good to have that conversation and to identify why you believe that.  Then, discuss what impacts that attitude will have on the social and emotional wellness of students long-term.  Is that what you believe as a school?  Does that meet your vision and mission?

Be honest with your organization.  You must show success academically by your students.  Where they go to university matters.  Their academic success matters.  But that can look very different from one school to the next and frankly, the university admissions counselors know this.  Your clientele needs to see success from your students and the program.  Test results and scores matter, so does college admission.  At least be honest in the conversations around test-taking.

I worry when I hear comments about positive test-taking cultures though that we focus to much on academic success and taking tests.  It simply is not part of our work environment and we place too much emphasis on it for all students.  Yes, test scores on certain academic tests show an increased probability of success and earnings later in life.  But not every student needs to attend a 4 year university to be successful.

We miss the bigger picture if we focus on academic success only.  We miss the student sitting in the seat.  We miss the uniqueness of that individual.  We miss the creativity.  We miss the joy of learning if we push students towards academic success.  That is where we fail as institutions. 

Yes, we must have high stakes testing in some form at our institutions.  Those are not going away.  But be honest about why we do it in our school.  Also, do not forget that we are still teaching humans.  Let us not be so focused on creating a positive culture of testing that we forget that we have amazing musicians, poets, artists, writers and dreamers, tech wizards, creatives and those who will change the world in our midst.  They have skills that no test will evaluate and we may kill their creativity if we forget to acknowledge them.

I challenge you this year to consider, what is your test taking culture and why do you believe it?  Clearly define the purpose of your testing so you are able to articulate why it matters in your school.

As a leader, we have style.  A way we lead our group.  Our leadership style impacts how our groups perform underneath us.  Our style dictates how those outside our organization perceive us in our actions.  Looking ahead to the year 2020 we should ask our self, what is our style?

Have you ever asked yourself that question?  Especially as a new leader?  What is my style?  How do I organize and take leadership of a group?  And most importantly, is what I am doing effective in the organization I am leading?  As a new leader in an organization, this question will drive your style and how you are perceived by those you are in charge of.

In the book, Great Teams: 16 This High Performing Organizations Do Differently by Don Yeager, four leadership styles are presented.  Consider the four styles that Don Yeager presents and ask yourself the question, is this the style I want to use and present to my organization?  Then ask the follow up question, is this the best style for my organization and the people I lead?  That leads to the final question, what can I do to become the leader I want to be seen as?

• Command and Control.  This is a leadership style that many people are familiar with but may not be comfortable with.    Many great leaders are of this style.  They are in control.  The leader makes the decisions.  The leader does not draw on information from those below their position.  They may even micromanage their teams.  We must be in this role as leaders at times, especially when critical decisions must be made quickly.  A former principal of mine once said, “There are times I will make the decision.  That is what I get paid to do and sometimes I have to do it.”
• Relational.  This is could be considered the opposite of command and control.  This type of leader takes care of people first.  They want happy teams and groups.  They are approachable and might even say “my door is always open” and it is.  This leadership styles build powerful relationships with their teams and can bring out the best in them.  These are leaders you would trust.  However, these leaders may also get caught in between people or groups by trying to care for everyone and, in the end, making more people unhappy.
• Expert.  The expert knows his or her content or field.  They are extremely knowledgeable, have a highly specialized sets of skills and use this to guide their teams.  Their name carries high value simply because of what they know.  These are smart people, but with that, may come some of the challenges of simply knowing more than everyone else.
• Charismatic.  These are people are visionaries.  They are engaging, fascinating people that can read an environment, scan and process the group, hone their words and actions to fit the group, and create vision and ignite the passion in the group.  These people are powerful leaders.  At its best, these people are great leaders, at worst, they are powerful social manipulators.  History is full of examples of both sides.

At our best, and worst, we fit every category.  We make decisions absent others, we build relationships, we are the expert, and we are the visionary for our group.  The trick is not to settle into any one category, rather to be in all categories, when we need to be.

Don Yeager calls it the “Synergistic” leader.  I have heard the word “Charismatic” to mean the same thing.  As a leader, we must learn to recognize when it is time to make decisions absent anyone else.  We need to know when to set aside our leadership hat and build relationships with others.  We should recognize when we are the expert in the room and step into that role.  And finally, we must be charismatic leaders and develop the vision to ignite the excitement in our profession.

I once observed a great example of a leader who was being synergistic in her role.  She was a professional volcanologist and one of the smartest people I have ever met.  In a talk about glaciers on Mount Rainier, she was fully in command of the group and answering questions.  She was leading the group.  Then, she was asked a question about plant life, which was not in her field.  Rather than answering the question, she asked for another park ranger who was in the group to step forward and answer the question because the park ranger knew more than she did.

We should all strive to become leaders who are willing to both lead, and step away and allows others to share the leadership roles in their areas of expertise.  In 2020, I encourage you to look at your leadership style and consider if it is what you want it to be.  Push yourself to build out the other areas of leadership that you find are not your strengths.  Become the synergistic leader you hope to become.

If you wish to read more about this topic, I encourage you to check out the book, Great Teams: 16 This High Performing Organizations Do Differently by Don Yeager.