"I find it abhorrent that many teachers now only have permission to "teach the test" - it leaves no room for deeper learning, especially when it comes to the tapestry of cultural experiences that can be found outside the classroom."
If only public school teachers would "teach the test" once in a while. They spend all their time on political correctness and fail to teach writing, mathematics, history and reading.
My freshmen college students can't write a coherent paragraph or understand simple ratios. They all have high self esteem, however, and expect at least a grade of B for anything they produce. If they don't get one, the common reaction is to call mommy and get her to complain to the Dean. At least once a year, we experience the lawyer/parent/Dean scenario with a student who can't find the time to attend 50% of the classes and can't understand the F.
"Teaching the test" doesn't teach writing - it simply teaches how to pick the right multiple choice answer. "Teaching the test" means going over information related to a particular test and only teaching the answers to questions that you believe will be found on that particular test. In most cases, "teaching the test" means no real writing skills are taught.
Most of the students you are teaching in have probably "passed" all the "tests" they were given in school - and yet their writing skills are dismal. So are their reasoning and mathematical skills - these are skills that are learned through intensive exposure to information, not through "this answer equals this question". A true understanding of base ten cannot be replaced by answers simply memorized and regurgitated back to a teacher, and true writing cannot be learned by picking the letter "d" on a multiple choice test.
You and I are on the same page; "teaching the test" = no writing, no reading, no 'rithmatic, no reasoning. The sum of "teaching the test" = ZERO education.