Talking about a Revolution: The Languages of Educational Reform

THREE. Exhibition as Test

35 THREE Exhibition asTest For many teachers, understanding the concept of exhibition begins with the interpretation of exhibition as test. The literature most prominently defines exhibition as an “exit event” (Sizer, 1984), and for many, this image aligns with the traditional final exam. Al, Brian, and Camille made this connection as well. They often compared exhibitions to tests or exams and, in the classes I observed, all three substituted exhibitions for final exams. When Al, Brian, and Camille talked about exhibitions as tests, they almost always did so by way of contrasting exhibitions with more traditional examinations. Brian focused on the “performance” aspect of the practice. Al emphasized the manner in which exhibitions prompt students to demonstrate wider ranges of knowledge, thereby providing more evidence of achievement than traditional paperand -pencil tests. And Camille was most concerned with the way in which exhibition “makes students more accountable.” For all three, exhibitions were “alternative” assessments , meaning they perform the same function as tests—only they are better. This chapter examines the various renditions of these teachers’ interpretations of exhibition as test, and more specifically, as a better test. In analyzing those interpretations as they were expressed by Al, Brian, and Camille, I delve primarily into the theme of accountability, highlighting the varieties of meaning each teacher ascribes to it, and the way it is enacted in the classroom. Finally, I consider links between these interpretations as expressed by the teachers and discourses emanating from the wider reform culture. A LANGUAGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY The vocabulary of educational reform, particularly as it relates to assessment, is surprisingly limited. Words like performance, assessment, portfolio, outcome, demonstrations and understanding do indeed suggest alternative meanings to words like evaluation, examination, or proficiency. And these connotations are almost all associative . That is, policymakers design initiatives and—just as important—attempt to promote those initiatives based on their reading of what is “current” in the social and political climate. As Reid (1987) notes, the social and political climate within which American education is situated is at once convinced that schooling needs to change and is deeply resistant to change. Acknowledging the tension between the need for and the suspicion of change, policymakers use rhetoric to ease this tension (Anderson, 1998; Edelman, 1977). Through both formal policy reports and published research , key words, such as those listed above, enter the vocabulary of professional education. Reid notes that thirty years ago a key word was innovation. Since the onslaught of standards-based reform initiatives, a key word has been accountability . Seeming to be acting on cue, Al, Brian, and Camille also expressed a deep concern with accountability, and they articulated this concern most fully when they interpreted exhibition as test. The following passages, taken from transcripts of our first conversations, are each teacher’s response to my request to “define exhibition.”1 Ok. Um, at the very minimum, an exhibition, to me, is allowing the students to share what they have learned about a given topic. As opposed to, for instance, teaching a unit, giving a test and allowing the students to respond to what I think was important in that particular unit. [In] the exhibition, you, as a teacher, say “Okay here is the topic, show me what’s important, show me what you have learned.” And I think that word show, show me, don’t tell me, is a phrase we use to write essays, and I think that really pertains to what an exhibition is. (Al, November 18, 1997) I see it as a demonstration of knowledge. Being able to physically demonstrate , verbally demonstrate to someone what knowledge you have acquired, what knowledge students have acquired or even just improved on. Maybe they didn’t acquire new knowledge but they have gone beyond what they already knew. (Brian, November 18, 1997) The showing or sharing of a work that has been produced by an individual or group of individuals. Exhibition plays a major role in my view of teaching and learning. Through exhibitions, students can “show off” their work to others besides me. (Camille, November 20, 1997) Though assessment and accountability are evident themes in all three passages, other concerns are also discernible. As opening statements, these excerpts establish speech patterns that remained distinctive for each teacher. I note, for instance, how Al frames exhibition as something a teacher “allows” a student to do, and how that framing, though at first glance overshadowed by his repetitive emphasis on “showing,” suggests to me a palpable interest in transforming...