ABSTRACT
The tone of the above quote captures some of the frustration educators, particularly early childhood educators, have felt over many years. Taking a humorous stab at the grim realities that have resulted over decades of increased testing and evaluation, Alfie Kohn addresses many issues relating to education, among other topics, in his writing. As a result of following scientific and statistical evidence comparing high scores on standardized tests and levels of learning, Kohn argues that “as a rule, better standardized exam results are more likely to go hand-in-hand with a shallow approach to learning than with deep understanding” (Kohn, 2001, p. 348). As an advocate for children and teachers, Kohn posits that those “who work most closely with kids are the most likely to understand how harmful standardized testing is. Many teachers-particularly those who are very talented-have what might be described as a dislike/hate relationship with these exams” (p. 349).
