An Erroneous Equation Regarding Multiple Choice Testing for HS Graduation

The MA ballot come November 2024 has a proposition to eliminate multiple choice testing as a prerequisite for high school graduation. The MA Secretary of Education is strongly opposed to test elimination.

There are many voters in favor of eliminating the reliance on multiple choice tests. Count me among them. Many educators want more time to actually teach in a variety of ways and on a variety of topics rather than teaching to a test.

And, for me and many other educators, we do far far too much multiple choice testing of our students from PreK — 12th grade. The average students takes more than 100 multiple choice tests over the course of their education preK — high school graduation. For real.

The Errors

In reviewing some of the comments of those opposed to the ballot proposition (a proposition actually launched by teachers and parents to benefit students), I was struck by this argument and it goes as follows:

If we eliminate multiple choice testing, too many students will simply graduate from high school and progress without standards. Basically, the argument is that MCAS (the MA test) is the only available standard. In other words, absent a multiple choice test, we are standard-less. Stated another way, the test is our standard.

Now, the embedded assumptions are important (and actually, the failure rate is low):

First, there is a presumption that the multiple choice test is a good measure of learning needed for high school graduation. I beg to differ. The test most assuredly does not measure writing skills, teamwork capacity and what we call “softer” but key skills. The fact that “only” a small percentage of students fail the test annually is not proof that the test is good. I’ll come back to the failures momentarily.

Second, doesn’t reality tell us that many students graduate from high school, having passed the tests somehow, but are skill-deficient? I’m not just talking about college ready. I am talking about workplace ready too. How many colleges and training programs and employers complain about HS grads not being sufficiently skilled? Surely our graduation test misses the mark.

Third, there are many ways to assess learning as to which multiple choice tests are but one (and not the best one for many students). We learned during the Pandemic, when testing was suspended, that there are a myriad of alternative ways to assess student capacities. Consider oral presentations; consider portfolios of work product; consider visual presentations (with video even); consider narratives; consider problem solving case studies. There are many ways to assess that do not involve multiple choice. True, they are more time consuming but they just might be better!

Fourth, not all students do well on multiple choice tests. And if one looks at the data, the minority and ethnically diverse students struggle more with these tests than other students.

One explanation is that these tests contain hidden and not so hidden biases. And for those for whom English is a second or third language, these multiple choice tests are even harder. And some students think through and beyond the questions because the alphabet choices don’t allow for subtlety. Some students get test anxiety and other students blank out or freeze.

The idea that only a fraction of students fail at the end of the day doesn’t account for the stresses of the tests, the retakes, the ongoing teacher test focus and overall struggles. Yipes. It is easy to say a small fraction fail if we don’t actually measure impact over the life of a student and their educators.

Bottom line, we need not be wed to multiple choice tests as the measure of high school graduation success. We can develop better ways to measure success. We actually know many of those ways already.

Consider This

And if you want to get a further sense of this, ponder if one’s job progression was measured by a multiple choice test. Surely we want to measure ourselves by how we work with others, how we solve problems, how we demonstrate creativity, how we can meet deadlines and timetables, how we can improve systems, how we can redress errors, how we produce quality outcomes… and that’s just a starter list.

I wanted to close by referring to the elementary school display I saw in Cevicos in the Dominican Republic (I was on a mission there that was remarkable). It identifies the qualities (values) that students should be garnering and fostering. While I may question one or two of them (obedience), on balance these are valuable traits/goals. Which of these, if any, are reflected in a multiple choice test for high school graduation? Hint: None.

For me, as an educator and parent, I appreciate the chance to express my views on testing by voting. And I will vote to allow way broader assessment. The goal isn’t passage rates on a multiple choice test; it’s students being well prepared for success. We aren’t doing that well now.