So, believe it or not, March is fading and we’re rounding third base of the school year, 2021-22. Masks are mostly off, and kids are getting re-settled into the routine of going to school.

Schools have begun the process of rebuilding their school’s “culture,” from training students how to get to class on-time to teaching how to walk on the right side of the hallway. So much was lost in the last two years, and not just the routines and procedures. So much learning! “We have to make up for lost time!” Students are behind in reading, behind in math, and generally just — behind.

But finally, schools have begun the process of catching up, of getting back to normal, back on track, back to how it was before all this pandem-onium (pun intended) began.

Stop. Wait a second. Hold everything! Life moves in only one direction: forward. Everybody knows that, or do they? There is no “going back”! Back to what?

For one thing, it’s back to standardized testing. As far as many local high schools are concerned, March means time to resume testing. The SAT is back!

That three-hour test that purportedly measures students’ college readiness, it’s just a week or so till “test day.” But what does the SAT really measure? What does the test actually teach? If a student were to ask, “Why should I care about the SAT?,” what is the answer?

Are we STILL talking about standardized testing? NOW? Aren’t there more important things to think about — and teach — than how to take a reading and math test? Besides, most students won’t do very well, we know that already. Most will be demoralized, others overly stressed. And some will simply not give a brick for the whole debacle. What in fact are we doing?

Teaching to the test; in other words, training kids so they perform well on a standardized test, is not new. In fact, it feels like ancient history. Round and round we go.

Even now, there are people working full-time jobs finding new ways to measure schools, measure teachers, measure kids. (And this is just one of the reasons more and more students — and their families — are opting out of public schools altogether.)

And so what do you get? District stress, teacher stress, student stress, and lots and lots of money to the College Board, which creates the test. What a colossal waste of time — and money. I mean, really…why?

I recently observed a lesson taught by a novice teacher. They executed all the moves: passed out all the materials, put the students into small groups, set up the assignment, and released the students to “have at it” (Well, that’s not exactly what they said, but you get the idea).

Students proceeded through the task without a ripple of resistance, as the class worked on filling in the blanks in a multi-page packet. The teacher walked around the room as the class period ticked away, moving students periodically from one station to the next.

About halfway through the period, as groups were moving from station to station, one student’s voice rose above the light chatter: “Why exactly are we doing this?” Her tone of voice was neutral, if slightly curious, with no trace of disrespect or cynicism: it was a real question.

The teacher stuttered out an answer, saying somehow this activity was going to help students in the future to become better at studying. The answer was unfortunate, as this particular student stated that the skill of being better at studying wasn’t actually something she cared about. And why should she? She’s a teenager, after all!

But how I loved her question! How exciting it was to hear a student ask the simple question that somehow escapes so many of us when we just accept the status quo without exception.

Why do we still use standardized tests to measure students’....what? What are we actually measuring? Even that is subject to debate.

One of the great reliefs of “teaching during covid” (TDC!) was the freedom from standardized testing, the freedom to replace all that time, energy, and psychological stress with more time to teach. But now, as we do our best to pick up from where we left off, look what’s coming: the SATs.

The question “Why?” is a favorite of my 3-year-old granddaughter Frances, and she too asks it in a most sincere voice. “Why, Gigi?” Not even “but why?,” just “why?,” followed by “why?,” followed by “why?” You might think this annoying, but let me assure you, when it’s your granddaughter, it’s not annoying at all — it’s spectacular! Her curiosity about the world around her truly knows no bounds, at least not yet.

All of us are born with this inquisitive nature. But for so many of us, that “why?” turns into a shrug, and we stop questioning. But how are we to imagine — and build — a better world if we fail to question the present?

And of course it’s not just the SATs. So many carryovers from TBC need to be reconsidered, and the first question will always begin with “why?” Old initiatives, new requirements, increased expectations. Teachers, parents, and all educators: don’t take anything as given without first asking that simple question: why?

Gay Collins of Preston is a retired teacher in the Waterford school system who has a master’s degree from Connecticut College. She can be reached at yagspill@gmail.com.