|
I do have a couple of issues with our education system and one of those issues is the standardized test. I understand their purpose and the reason behind them but I don't think they are accurate or advantageous.
Standardized tests are the way in which we compare students to other of a like age and grade. Schools, Administrations, teachers and parents can take this information and ultimate decided funding, effectiveness and ability. Colleges use Standardized tests to test both current knowledge and the potential to obtain new knowledge. For students who are on a college bound track, maybe they are useful but think of all the students that never get schooling past high school, these exams mean nothing.
Standardized tests force teachers to teach to the tests and not to the curriculum and needs of their students. In California this year they are testing the 5th graders on their knowledge of Science. Since the teachers have not been accountable in the past students are lacking basic Science skills and this year teachers are scrambling to teach 5th grade science and more so they don't loose funding. It has also been found that multiple choice tests don't reinforce the concepts being taught but only test if the student can pick an answer out of a bunch. For students that are not continuing on to college, they need a better understanding of the basic skills being taught. Having a student regurgitate their understanding of a concept is one way to ensure understanding of a subject.
Finally, Standardized tests are only effective on those students that excel at multiple-choice tests. Some students can tell you the answer but can’t pick the right one in the teacher’s terms. In these instances the test is only finding out what students are good at tests and not which ones know the knowledge.
|