Multiple choice questions are not a good way to measure student learning. You also do not have to use them. Stop putting kids through this horrible testing system.

Educators, please stop blaming this on the “system.” We are the system. We are perpetuating this garbage. <br><br>We can do better. <br><br>I’ve been a teacher for 15 years. I have administered tons of multiple choice tests. I can’t tell you a single thing about student learning from those tests. I have always tried to balance that with assignments that were authentic and provided real life skills, but if you have to spend 4 out of 5 school days training for and administering a multiple choice test, you are wasting your time and the time of the children you care about. Maybe it was different in the past, but kids have Google on their phones and Alexa at home. There is no reason for them to memorize information for tests. We can get rid of multiple choice and still find out what students know. We can have our standards. We can set out objectives for a unit. We can still test without these awful tests. We can put students through different ways of showing they know the material. And man, it seems like it would be easier than the way we are doing it now. I also do not care that AP tests have multiple choice sections. You don’t have to make your midterm an AP test. I also don’t care about the data that I am supposed to get out of tests. I have zero use for that data. I can’t change instruction because my entire career I’m been overwhelmed with data and the only thing I really know about it is that it has ruined my job. I’ve been collecting data my whole career and it has not made me a better teacher. I also do not care if you think your colleagues will think you’re a bad teacher for not giving tests. Give them a list of all the other ways to assess! I’m not arguing over whether or not students should be assessed. I’m arguing that we are assessing using the wrong tools and in doing so we are constantly ruining the lives of kids. We are spoiling school. Stop doing it. <br><br><br>As for the leaders of the educational system causing this problem, stop. Please stop testing our kids into anxiety and misophonia. There is another way and we can figure it out together.