Assessment:
The government has forced schools and teachers, against our better judgment, to use standardized testing as the primary assessment in determining not only individual student success, but also school and school district success. Any teacher will tell you that this is not the most effective way to measure intelligence and success. However, our school’s funding and accreditation is determined by the results of these tests, so there is no way around spending a considerable amount of time teaching test taking skills, dissecting the tests as much as possible, and ‘practicing’ test taking. Even at the kindergarten level, children are learning how to fill in bubbles for multiple choice tests, and eliminate the answers that do not make sense in order to find the correct one. We, as teachers, are eagerly waiting for this form of assessment to come to an end, but until it does, it is necessary to teach these skills in order for our graduation classes to be able to attend college (a non-accredited school’s degrees is not accepted by 4 year universities.) Teachers know and understand that this is NOT the most holistic way to assess what our students truly know, however the decisions to use this type was not made by teachers. This is why we are all working so hard to develop our own, separate ways for assessment. My kindergarteners each have a portfolio. While this is not what the district or state uses to measure our children’s progress, it gives me a better, more holistic view of what my children know, where their weaknesses are, and what needs to be addressed. It also provides great visual support when explaining strengths and weaknesses to parents. We also do several formal assessments, taking data several times a year. We use this data to determine what areas or students require extra support and attention.
Assessment in China:
There has been much attention on comparing our education and success to China’s. With their culture being so drastically different than ours (more government control, more parent accountability, etc), it seems silly and impossible to compare educational systems. However, it is happening, so I was interested to discover more not just about their assessments, but more importantly about how they are learning and why they are becoming more successful than Americans. All the information which I found on the successful assessment results in China pointed to the cultural differences: hard work by students and parents, rather than focusing on teaching, curriculum, or educational programs. This is supported by active engagement by parents, and early activities which build up the attention span. It seems in America, we are seeing the exact opposite. Parents are less engaged than ever with their children’s educations. And allowing children to spend hours on video games and in front of television sets are making attention a problem that is rapidly growing. Because there are so many freedoms in America, it is a question of rather we will ever truly be able to catch up with the rest of the world. It seems we are a culture who is unable to be free, and responsible for our children.
Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/1209/Shanghai-test-scores-have-everyone-asking-How-did-students-do-it
Hi Rebecca. I now see everyone's point and agree with your point about standardized testing. Although it may be able to accurately asses some students, it cannot access all students effectively. This is one of the biggest concerns that I have about testing and monitoring in general. After reading your blog post, another concern I have is the manner in which these tests are ultilized. I honestly believe that accurate tests and monitoring should only be used to assess the needs and development of children. When these tests are used to determine funding, the emphasis gifts shifted off of the child and onto playing the system. What I mean by this is that teachers will deliberately only teach students things that they know will be covered on the tests in order to obtain the most amount of funding. In doing this, testing and monitoring looses its entire purpose. I was also excited to see that you found some information on China. This was a country that I attempted to research for this assignment, but I came up empty on research. It is very intersting to learn how they approach testing and monitoring over there. Mary
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to me that students as young as kindergarten are learning to bubble for multiple choice testing. I have noticed in my community that youngsters are not being taught handwriting/cursive as much. I have been told that teachers do not focus on skills that are not tested.
ReplyDeleteNow I understand that we live in the age of technology, but students should still learn how to write in cursive.
Hi Rebecca, thank you for the information you provided. I agree with you, there are so many state mandates for testing. Children in public schools are tested so many times throughout the year and ultimately I feel it hindered growth. I believe children develop anxiety about testing and it stunts learning. I also believe that testing causes pressure to the teacher--they can feel that if they don't teach the information on the test and children pass their jobs are at stake. There are so many factors that go into testing. I wish our society would realize everyone is not the same and a one size fits all model is not the best approach to learning/ gathering information on people.
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