This cartoon I found online really reflects my attitude toward standardized tests. I think it is so true of how reliant our society has become on standardized tests. Not all kids are the same; they don’t learn in the same ways, at the same pace. Certain children may not test well. I don’t think it is fair to assume that just because a certain student doesn’t perform as well on standardized tests they are not as smart or as educated as their peers. They may be poor test takers, may not have cared about the test because they realize their grades aren’t affected by it, or perhaps just were having an off day. On top of this, we put too much emphasis on testing in schools. Students have a lot of anxiety about these tests, and it is because teachers are pressured to make sure their students perform well. As I’ve said before, I think it is more important for the child to learn about subjects and broad concepts, not to just memorize random trivia to do well on a test. We take hour upon hour from our school year teach kids to make educated guesses, to eliminate answers that make no sense, to practice tricky multiple choice questions and to review fandom trivia, all for the sake of doing well on a test. I am not saying there are not good reasons to have these types of tests, I am sure they do a lot of good, I just don’t feel we should focus as much time making sure these children perform well on these tests. The children in the cartoon look very worried about the test results, and an unfair assumption is made that just because a student (or several students for that matter) doesn’t fit the mold they have formed, that the ENTIRE public education system is flawed in some way. Some students don’t perform well on tests. Is this the fault of the child? The teacher? The school? The public education system in general? What do you think?Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Standardized tests and the "failing" public education system
This cartoon I found online really reflects my attitude toward standardized tests. I think it is so true of how reliant our society has become on standardized tests. Not all kids are the same; they don’t learn in the same ways, at the same pace. Certain children may not test well. I don’t think it is fair to assume that just because a certain student doesn’t perform as well on standardized tests they are not as smart or as educated as their peers. They may be poor test takers, may not have cared about the test because they realize their grades aren’t affected by it, or perhaps just were having an off day. On top of this, we put too much emphasis on testing in schools. Students have a lot of anxiety about these tests, and it is because teachers are pressured to make sure their students perform well. As I’ve said before, I think it is more important for the child to learn about subjects and broad concepts, not to just memorize random trivia to do well on a test. We take hour upon hour from our school year teach kids to make educated guesses, to eliminate answers that make no sense, to practice tricky multiple choice questions and to review fandom trivia, all for the sake of doing well on a test. I am not saying there are not good reasons to have these types of tests, I am sure they do a lot of good, I just don’t feel we should focus as much time making sure these children perform well on these tests. The children in the cartoon look very worried about the test results, and an unfair assumption is made that just because a student (or several students for that matter) doesn’t fit the mold they have formed, that the ENTIRE public education system is flawed in some way. Some students don’t perform well on tests. Is this the fault of the child? The teacher? The school? The public education system in general? What do you think?
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You touch on the issue of memorization in school in your latest blog posting, Jessica. I generally agree that rote memorization can result in student boredom and disengagement. However, an article I recently read made an interesting point – that young children often enjoy memorizing. For example, preschoolers often “read” books they have memorized, sometimes embellishing the “reading” using creative intonations and pointing to interesting aspects of an illustration. And, of course, being competent in a topic/subject does involve a certain amount of baseline information – information that had to be memorized and integrated into a knowledge base at some point in time. And who among us presumes to mourn the brain power we devote to memorizing all those intricate plotlines of TV shows?
ReplyDeleteI think it definitely is easier to memorize facts and details when they are explained in context. Ideally, as teachers, we should have the time and the latitude to do so. Of course, as you point out, we have to spend so much time teaching test taking skills that the actual information often is lost somewhere between “slash the trash” and “choose the answer that fits best.”
The key, as always, is engagement. We can memorize those TV show plotlines because we want to; we remember lots of silly songs because they entertain us. We practice something endlessly because we want to master the material or the skill – 10,000 hours, as described in the book Outliers, by Malcohm Gladwell. The fact remains, learning requires effort and focus, and, while it can be argued that standardized tests provide the much-needed raw data for learning broad concepts and trends, most of the information memorized for such tests is quickly forgotten.
For a complete discussion of the pros and cons of memorization, check out the article at http://hechingered.org/content/rote-memorization-overrated-or-underrated_3351/
You touch on the issue of memorization in school in your latest blog posting, Jessica. I generally agree that rote memorization can result in student boredom and disengagement. However, an article I recently read made an interesting point – that young children often enjoy memorizing. For example, preschoolers often “read” books they have memorized, sometimes embellishing the “reading” using creative intonations and pointing to interesting aspects of an illustration. And, of course, being competent in a topic/subject does involve a certain amount of baseline information – information that had to be memorized and integrated into a knowledge base at some point in time. And who among us presumes to mourn the brain power we devote to memorizing all those intricate plotlines of TV shows?
ReplyDeleteI think it definitely is easier to memorize facts and details when they are explained in context. Ideally, as teachers, we should have the time and the latitude to do so. Of course, as you point out, we have to spend so much time teaching test taking skills that the actual information often is lost somewhere between “slash the trash” and “choose the answer that fits best.”
The key, as always, is engagement. We can memorize those TV show plotlines because we want to; we remember lots of silly songs because they entertain us. We practice something endlessly because we want to master the material or the skill – 10,000 hours, as described in the book Outliers, by Malcohm Gladwell. The fact remains, learning requires effort and focus, and, while it can be argued that standardized tests provide the much-needed raw data for learning broad concepts and trends, most of the information memorized for such tests is quickly forgotten.
For a complete discussion of the pros and cons of memorization, check out the article at http://hechingered.org/content/rote-memorization-overrated-or-underrated_3351/
Jessica, I am also very passionate about the issue of standardized testing and feel the same way. I found an organization called FairTest (http://www.fairtest.org/facts/howharm.htm) that tries to educate the public about our perspective. The website points out that thorough observational checklists and assessments on students' performance on real learning tasks is more efficient and I have to agree. There are much better ways to measure student knowledge and achievement.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting point that the organization makes on their website is that there are 830 four-year colleges that do not even look at ACT/SAT scores as a means for evaluating prospective students. This is great news in my opinion!
Jessica, you're preaching to the chior. Most teachers disagree with standardized testing. I found your blog really interesting especially from a "wannabe teacher's" perspective. One of my friends just put out an eBook called "A Wannabe Teacher's Guide" and it comments on standarized testing as well. Thought you might be interested: http://www.amazon.com/Wannabe-Teachers-Guide-Getting-ebook/dp/B00BC6THKA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1360934249&sr=1-1&keywords=wannabe+teacher%27s+guide
ReplyDelete