The debate over the value of standardized testing has been going on for decades, and it always seems to come to a head this time of year. In the past, I had been vocal in criticizing the process. While my position has softened over the years, it is worth re-stating my concerns here as background for the real purpose of this essay.

First, the testing seemed to be too much about government mandated investment into book and tech companies. It was more transactional than educational, and the money could have been better spent on the front lines by hiring more teachers and reducing class sizes.

Second, I was concerned about how schools were being held liable for their students’ poor test performance. State agencies, school boards, and politically motivated officials could ignore a host of social and hereditary factors affecting a child’s aptitude and pin it on staff, thus having manufactured an excuse to fire or intimidate teachers.

Third, I have always been bothered by “curriculum in a can” wherein teachers are forced to follow preset or published curriculum. This prevents teachers from investing in personal, creative planning as a means of motivating themselves as well as their students.

However, lately I have witnessed issues within the school communities that are of equal concern. The public, parents especially, have picked up on a lot of misconceptions and misinformation regarding the testing. As a result, many have chosen to have their children “opt out” of the exams for a variety of unfounded reasons.

There is worry that a child’s test scores can somehow be used against him or her in the future. Parents and students should know that the scores don’t travel beyond the district. The main purpose is to monitor the progress of the school district and to determine intervention strategies for individual students as well as the school itself.

Another concern is that the tests are not a fair assessment of a child’s intelligence. Of course there are multiple kinds of intelligence, but the emphasis has always been on memory and logic, which serve as the best predictors of success and are measured through math and reading/writing courses. Despite changes in curricula and teaching strategies, the assessment process remains as objective as possible.

The excuse of “extreme test anxiety” is a common one for opting a child out of testing. I’m sorry, but I think it is too common, too easy an out. It is usually the result of the tail wagging the dog.

I teach English Language Arts, and I review the old state tests regularly so that I have a good idea of what my kids are up against. I don’t teach them to read – they have been learning and practicing since they were in preschool. And I can’t always get in their minds to make clear concepts that are muddled there, whether from genetic factors or poor upbringing or teaching. Beyond the basics in grammar and usage (correctness), all I can teach them are various strategies to break down rhetoric and express their ideas.

Certainly there are some questions and prompts in the ELA exams that are not clearly presented and debatable in terms of right or wrong answers, whether in the fiction or nonfiction readings. But not many. The worst problem, as I see it, is that they are incredibly boring! In the test makers’ efforts to be politically correct and inclusive, they offer up essays and excerpts that are about as interesting as faded wallpaper.

Regardless of their lack of sensational appeal, the tests are fair, comprehensive, and not nearly as painful as some make them out to be. This year’s tests in math and ELA took students at my school, on average, less than an hour.

I think the most lame reasoning behind students opting out of the tests is simply because they can. It’s a free country, they say. I have a right to not do it!

But you also have an obligation to your school. My favorite priest, Father Dan Walsh, often talks about how important it is for people to have a sense of “team” – that we are better souls when we are part of something more than just ourselves.

Life is no bowl of cherries. There are plenty of dull and tiresome days, and we must work through them. Adults know this. Young people, like it or not, must learn the importance of making sacrifices. A school functions best when it has a sense of team, and team players don’t take days off whenever they feel like it. It leaves the rest of us in a weaker position.

Pete Howard, a musician, writer, teacher, and painter, lives in Dunkirk.