Assessment Practices

This week we discussed the topic of assessment. The use of standardized tests is the most commonly used method for assessing the progress of the students. As England said, these tests are dangerous. Often the students feel a great deal of pressure while taking these exams, enough pressure to make them lose focus and perform poorly. I know from my own experience, I was never able to eat breakfast on the day of standardized testing because I would literally be sick to my stomach with nerves. The lack of food, and the stress of finishing on time made it hard for me to concentrate. I think that the idea of standardized testing is not bad, but the way they are implemented is. They do allow comparisons to be made between different students. If there was a way in which the stress could be taken away from standardized testing, I feel they could be beneficial. If changes were made in the ways they were administered, I think that would be helpful. Instead of taking these tests in gymnasiums filled with a hundred other students, we can administer these tests in smaller classrooms. We also discussed the possibility of finding an alternative to standardized testing. I think that finding a feasible alternative will be challenging. We discussed the use of portfolios which seem to have many advantages, but I feel that it could be very time consuming for the teachers. I like the idea of providing students with different options for projects. One student can write a paper, while another creates a work of art, or another writes a song. This is a good idea because students are able to show their understanding of the material in a manner that bests suits them. This article talks about the issue of standardized testing and possible alternatives. We also discussed the different learning styles and multiple intelligences that students have. Some learning better visually, while others learn better through first hand experience. It should be the teachers job to prepare lessons that effectively teach all of the students. I think that this would be challenging but not impossible. The teacher can prepare a slide show presentation which would help the visual learners, while explaining it in detail for those who learn better with words. Afterwards the teacher can prepare an activity in which the students are able to learn through their own experiences in order to better understand the material. I think if teachers take the time to create these lessons plans, it will greatly benefit their students and allow them to perform to the best of their ability. We also discussed the admissions process for certain schools described by Kozol. I never had the opportunity to choose where I went to school so this was interesting to me. I found it strange that parents would hire someone to prep their child for an interview. I also think it's wrong for parents to lie about their address on the application form. It is interesting to see how far parents will go to have their children attend a certain school. The children of these "savvy parents" as Kozol calls them, are very fortunate to have such resources. But I find it unfair to those less fortunate children who deserve the same opportunities.