Why what the author thinks doesn't matter ... in education

By: Stefanie Garcia

In the world of Texas English assessment at large, and here at the smaller world of Real Talk Intervention, there has been a debate on whether or not a test can actually assess an author’s intent. As an English teacher would like to weigh in on this – no, it cannot. Yes, it is impossible to know exactly what an author was thinking. As an author myself of many terrible high school emo poems, I understand that sometimes, an author uses a word, or a structure, or a simile, instinctively and without guile or intent. Sometimes, the author’s intent is just to get the feelings out.

However, we are educators and we are not here to have esoteric conversations about individual authors and what they wanted me to think about their poem. They already got to write it, and now it is my turn to have a go at this text, whose rights were knowingly sold to the STAAR test creators.

I am first and foremost a teacher and the educational reality is that discussing and, yes, assessing the thinking that happens when students consider what the author was “most likely” thinking is a terrific way to understand how students are growing as critical readers and as writers. This type of critical analysis also has transfer to other types of thinking processes. Although the author’s intent is not known, this test is not about what the author thinks…it is about how deeply the students can read and analyze texts.

Let me show you – as an EDUCATOR – how author’s purpose questions reveal to me a student’s critical reading and thinking skills using the same questions dissected by Sara Holbrook, on her poem “A Real Case,” which was used on a STAAR 7^th reading test a few years ago. This is how I think through these questions, not as an attempt to psychically link with the author, but from a viewpoint of critical reading:

32 Which lines from the poem best suggest that the speaker’s situation is temporary?

F Doubtful,/I have a fever

G Tomorrow,/I’ll come around

H TODAY!/It hit like a thwop of mashed potatoes

J I could attract mosquitoes—/maybe—not friends.

This is about finding evidence to support an interpretation. Is it authentic that students don’t get to make their own interpretation? No. But sitting with students, I can tell what happened to their thinking by question response analysis. If they picked F or J, they are struggling with getting the main idea of a text and finding evidence. Basic stuff. No one would justifiably argue that on an evidence based selection, F or J are valid when given the idea that this is a temporary situation. That is the key word. The interpretation (yes, maybe this is the test makers interpretation, so fine…we can’t tweet Shakespeare to find out what he was thinking either) is about the condition being temporary and they have to find evidence to defend it. Temporary is time, so obviously the answers that have time are the best choices. To discriminate, I then look at the two options. Only one shows CHANGE with TIME, which is the definition of temporary. So, it doesn’t MATTER what the author wanted me to think. The author’s time is done; the reader’s time is here.

33 What is the most likely reason that the poet uses capitalization in line 6?

A To highlight a problem the speaker experiences

B To stress the speaker’s expectations for tomorrow

C To indicate that the speaker’s condition happens unexpectedly

D To show the speaker’s excitement about an upcoming event

This is about author’s craft. “Most likely” is used to remind us that this is not actually guessing the actual author’s intent, but as a possible interpretation. Let’s look at the line in question: “TODAY! – It hit like a thwop of mashed potatoes snapped against a plate, An unrequested extra serving of just for now self hate.”

We know from our experiences with other texts, and with our own writing, since we read like writers,  authors use caps to DRAW ATTENTION, so I now understand that I am looking for the author to be making a main point here...  that prompts me to look up and down for the context of this line. Then I have to analyze the entire line that goes with 6, which is that “TODAY!” is an actual HIT in the head.

We take the time as readers to visualize this idea, and we think...huh…feels quick and violent and unexpected and right now. So it can’t be B, because that is about tomorrow and not about today…. And excitement has a positive connotation, so it can’t be that since “snapped” on the plate with a “thwop” and is distinctly negative. When I look at the differences between the words “expectations” and “unexpectedly”, I see these are opposite terms. I notice this because I am not just analyzing the text, but the QUESTIONS. It is ALL a part of my critical reading skill. And then, I see the answer that is quite clear to all of my kids who use Stephanie Harvey’s reading strategies that C is the best because of that specific word…unexpectedly, which goes with the poem’s word “unrequested”.

34 Read the following lines from the poem.

The poet includes these lines most likely suggest the speaker –

F does not wish to be pushed on a swing

G wants to deal with the situation alone

H does not often receive help from others

J is not physically strong

We are trying to infer intent from specific text evidence, which is an ELA standard in 7^th grade. It looks harder in her article because she leaves out the text box with the lines to which she refers.  It is dealing with the line “And if you try to push my mood swing, I’ll only drag my feet.”

As funny as Sara Holbrook is here, some kids actually do read this as being an actual literal swing that someone is pushing. Because sadly, many kids are still developmentally struggling with abstractions. And it is not funny that they don’t get this type of metaphorical thinking. I need to know this!

If they picked A, I know they are dealing with a critical understanding break down. Thank you STAAR test! The same with J…has nothing to do with the line, so it is a gimme. If a kid answers these, we have to work on their comprehension. G and H are ok, and are both probably true to the entire poem, but which one is specific to those lines? Only G…she says if I try to help her, it will make it worse! But see, I know that because I can read this concrete image and understand the abstract idea behind it…and I want to know kids can do that, too.

These are aligned questions to seventh grade ELA standards. And they are assessing their critical thinking! I want this in my kid’s tests. I want to know he can’t do this so I can help!

According to “The Truth About Testing” by WJ Popham, test makers are creating valid assessment items when those items are specific to the standard, and when they require students to use a body or knowledge or skills, and/or use their own evaluation in order to judge response quality. That is what these items do: I have to use close reading/vocabulary knowledge/author’s craft understanding in order to infer author’s “most likely” intent for using a specific technique, and then using evidence, evaluate each answer choice provided to me to determine the most appropriate.

I am never going to tell my students that test taking is not an important skill to have. They will have to take a lot of certification and qualification tests in their lives, and they will take tests in high school, and college, and grad school, and even on Buzzfeed. I can’t have these kids melting down when they do Trivia Night at Sherlock’s ten years from now! I want them to win that $25 gift certificate to Jamba Juice!

The current thinking of “everyone is entitled to their opinion” is indicative of the relativistic thinking typical when adolescents realize the uncertainty of knowledge. Looking for evidence to back up inferences teaches students how to have substantiated opinions on texts, and that not every statement in writing can be taken at face value. And in the era of post truth and fake news, the skills of discrimination between multiple options and reading for intent and purpose could literally save the world.