In a commitment to viewing children holistically, children should be measured and assessed within there own learning style and comfortable upon assessment. Some children are creative, some feel a test is the answer, some enjoying writing, and some performing. There are so many different ways, in which children learn. Anything taught can be assessed using different forms it does not always have to be in the form of a test. In education we are "teaching to a test" today more than ever before, but what are the children really learning. Is it something that will stick with them? Maybe but only if it was made meaningful to them otherwise it was only useful to get a high score. Students ability to write and have conversation should be an assessment. In the world of technology there are many children that can fill in a bubble on an exam and type a paper with a grammar spell check. What can they do with out it? All children should be assessed on an individual basis because each child is different. Their learning styles maybe different just as teaching styles vary among teachers. Children should be assessed on an individual basis because of the variance in learning styles. How well a child is able to retain information should be assessed? If a disability test is warranted then they should receive that testing. Every child is entitled to free appropriate public education. It is our job as educators to make sure that that child receives a beneficial education that meets their individual needs.
A look at Japan's Education
In Japan there education system is based on formal assessments and exams. Children know beginning in the early years that they have these exams, and they are their ticket to wealth and success. Students must prepare to take a high school entrance exam. Teachers in Japan collaborate on exactly what to teach and how much to teach daily. Students are given formal assessments, such as test papers and short quizes. Students have gotten bored with the assessments and they are given a break now. Students thought to have a learning disability are assessed and proved with the proper education they need. Children with special needs are provided an education in a special class or in a special school.
Soap Box on Standardized Testing
Well, welcome to my soap box. I am not a test taker. I get sick, and I worry through all tests. I have had many discussions in recent years on standardized testing. I'm not for it I think children can learn more with out it, teachers can teach more without it, and students will retain more. If they are engaged and having fun they are learning. "Learning Through Play" Today we live in a standardized test based society and are data driven. Schools are trying to improve and they are doing everything they can to get students "at grade level". In working with children and knowing they all learn differently. My personal feelings about standardized testing are not very good. An example of why tests are not the only assessment answer. I had a very hard time passing our state assessment test, then when I had a hard time passing college entrance tests, and the teacher's exams.
My dad and sister did not do as well in a couple of classes and therefore had to go to summer school that summer. They didn't have the highest GPA, but got high score on the ACT and SAT. They both went on to college but never finished. I did very well in school and graduated with a high GPA from high school and college, but when it comes to test taking I'm not good. I struggled getting into college and getting through one teacher exam. I believe I finally got through with a lot of prayer and self determination. To me this proves that students can perform in the classroom and learn without having to have a standardized test score to prove they can pass a test. At one point I thought maybe if I could get extra help on the reading portion by being allowed more time. Maybe I could take it without being timed at all.
I got so concerned and was convinced that something must have been wrong with me. I decided to go the psychologist at the college to find out if I had a disability. After $200 + I was told I was average and nothing was wrong. I was relieved but still had trouble with the test. I have learned to compensate for what I can explain and do what I have to to get through the world of tests.
There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million. ~Walt St
There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million. ~Walt Streightiff
Ginny,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your "soap box". I as well never did particulary great on my SAT's, GRE's, and all those other standardsize tests, but did great in school. I also feel there has to be some form of testing children, and it should be all children, not just ones that somebody thinks something is wrong. There does however need to be a better ways to do so. Giving a child several different tests on the same information, but in different forms would be ideal and I think this should be carried into later years when standardized testing for college and other things is necessary.
Ginny
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your personal experience. My son has a difficult time with test taking, and I'm afraid that it has negatively impacted his self-confidence because we had him tested so many times to see if something was wrong. However, he is very creative, musically talented, and very wise for his age. He is also very spiritual. I wish these academic exams weren't such an important part of school. I believe that there are many areas in which one can be intelligent. If there really are additional types of intelligence, "then using a test to find one IQ score is based on a false premise" (Berger, 2009, p. 325). Ginny, I hope you can use your experiences to especially help those students how have difficulty passing standardized tests. Providing social support for these students so they do not become discouraged is very important for their psychological development.
Reference:
Berger, K. S. (2009). Middle Childhood: Biosocial Development, The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). (pp. 325). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Ginny,
ReplyDeleteEvery child is an individual with their own God-given gear especially designed to be the wind beneath each child's wings for their individual success. These various learning styles and multiple intelligences (2011b) are the tools that each individual child MUST use to properly learn and grow. Educators who do not recognize these individual differences in their assessment tools, I dread, will find their testing components variably unsuccessful. Tests do have their place, but they should never be a "one size fits all" element with which to measure.
CCWhite
Learning styles and multiple intelligences [Web Article]. Retrieved April 6, 2011(b), from http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm