Current Educational Issues
Standardized Testing....
I believe the biggest challenge to the education profession today is standardized testing. I see this as the most important issue because some teachers will get in the mindset of “teach to the test” and that is as far as their effort will go. The lack of concern for the children's education, and more concern for their ability to take the End of Grade test is detrimental to the students. This can be hard on the students ability to perform well on a test that ultimately doesn’t accurately test their knowledge in the first place. Then, on top of that there are some students that have a hard time taking tests, and that is why I believe this shouldn’t be the only way we measure our student’s capabilities.
(Pink Tulip Teaching Creations, 2020)
Standardized Testing is not Teaching
This video describes how students spend more time taking tests than actually learning important skills. They also don't provide diagnostic information about student learning. "These tests are used to monitor, not educate." The results don't even come back in time for the teachers to go over with the students. This video is very informative and worth the watch to get us thinking.
(Barrington, 2018)
(Daniel Kids, 2020)
Standardized Testing....
Tests don't actually measure a child's thought process and application of what they have learned. It simply is just checking off answers without any deeper meaning. Children do many assignments, complete projects, and verbally express the things they are learning, but that doesn't show up on these tests that they are required to take each year. A teacher once told me that a lot of classrooms use ARF. ARF stands for Absorb, Regurgitate, and Flush. This is what teachers expect and allow their students to do when all they are focused on is making sure their students do well on the test at the end of the year. Sure, they may be a way to see if our schools are teaching what needs to be taught, but it doesn't show all that is being taught. I believe that is the issue, because children have so many more skills and knowledge than a single test can ever truly represent.
(The Los Angeles Times, 1992)
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