Quote:
Originally posted by hoosier
I would ask you why you - an accomplished student - got bad marks on the SAT and GRE? I've never understood why some people, who do well in class and on regular tests, cannot do well on the big standardized tests. Any thoughts?
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Hoosier,
Those tests NEVER made sense to me. I did not understand the questions being asked of me, especially the verbal analogies...
When I took a SAT prep course and the tutor reviewed a verbal analogy of moot and toot and how they were similar, I'm sorry, that just is plain idiotic to me.
Standardize tests do not measure one's ability to complete the task at hand. Yes, it is used as a tool to demonstrate one's knowledge and a key to open that door into broader avenues, but it does not, in the long run actually get a person to where they need to go and how they need to get there...
I currently work with another veterinarian who is a caucasian woman that also did poorly on the GRE and the MCAT for vets. She was accepted into vet school based on her interview and had to make some classes up in the process. After her graduation she worked in a vet clinic that gave her "real world" experience. Then she decided to pursue a certified pathology diplomate from the ACVMP... BIG TIME in our field... There are 4 sections to the test and everyone MUST pass it--it's like the California State Bar... Anyhoo, she studies her AZZZZZ off to get this stuff... And I hope she passes it with flying colors. There are others around her that are rooting her on, hoping she succeeds. But this test is not a standardized test, this test is an ASS kickin' test--sink or swim test... There are no tricks to learn, no bubbles with a number 2 pencil, one must learn the stuff, WELL!!!
I say all of this to say that yes, standardized testing is only as good as the knowledge we want folks to know--i.e. what the government says that everyone should know... The above and beyond that individuals who want to know more has to be cultivated--mainly through supportive environments... However when supportive environments are lacking, how can we expect that the standardize testing could be used as a back up?
Another item is if we only teach children to pass tests based on the government's concept of learning, then what will we be capable of dreaming for the future? I doubt our current governent wants us to even grasp our future as our own... But that's my opinion.
That like the 4 blind doctors trying to describe an elephant by its different parts...
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