What is the purpose of schooling in American society? Empirical research studies that we have conducted show that American schools tend to have a broad mission. Yet, various sources of evidence, including state constitutions, legal court precedent, and school mission statements all converge on at least five major purposes of schooling:
- Cognitive development
- Social development
- Emotional development
- Civic development
- Vocational development
Curiously, despite the fact that various sources of evidence point to the importance of developing a broad range of student abilities, current accountability systems in the United States tend to have as their centerpiece standardized tests that capture only one of these five dimensions (cognitive). Indeed, many students across the nation will face graduation and promotion decisions that are tied to their performance on a single, cognitively based standardized test.
Although we do not fundamentally oppose the use of standardized cognitive achievement tests, we believe that these tests should be used as only one part of a more comprehensive accountability system that incorporates assessments of student development in other areas that are equally relevant to the mission of public schooling.
All material © Steve Stemler, Ph.D.