In more than 40 years as an educator, I’ve met very few individuals who enjoy taking a test.

I spent 13 years in the classroom, 21 years as a principal, and I’m starting my eighth year as Brandywine’s superintendent.

In all that time, I never saw one student who got a kick out of sitting down to take a test, whether it was over a book chapter or a college entrance exam. In fact, it’s quite the opposite — many students are nervous about tests, and some unprepared students look at material they don’t understand and simply guess their way through. Yet, tests are a way of life in schools and it’s the main way we can tell whether or not kids are learning what we are teaching them.

One teacher cannot possibly sit down with each and every one of her students and interview them to find out what they know; so, tests are an efficient way we can determine that knowledge. It’s gratifying to see many students do well when lessons have prepared them for the material tested. The questions are not painful or foreign, because the students have been taught by good teachers. We can never forget that their very best teachers also cared deeply about them as students.

What would students say about those good teachers? In my 29 years as a school administrator, I’ve interviewed many teaching candidates. I ask lots of questions, but the most important one is this: “Think about the very best teachers you ever had. Share with me what made that teacher so great.” Not one teacher has ever told me, “My best teacher really got me ready for the MEAP (or whatever) test!”

The answer most often shared is that their best teachers cared about them as students, got to know them as people, and wanted the very best for them when it came to learning. To me, that’s the right answer and the most important one as we get ready for a new school year.

 

John Jarpe is the superintendent of Brandywine Community Schools. He can be reached at (269) 684- 7150.