The three school entities (and homeschool would be a fourth) all have their place. If you are seeking high test scores, it really doesnt matter which you choose. THE BELIEF THAT TEST SCORES SOMEHOW VALIDATE ONE SYSTEM (or teacher, or student, or any other comparison) OVER ANOTHER IS A FAULTY PREMISE. That, and that alone, is why I abhor testing. Standardized testing is not about the intelligence of children. It was never intended to do so. It was intended to make companies profits. If testing was meant to help children, then why do the teachers never see the actual results (in order to make teaching adjustments)? Why do teachers never see the questions (to have a clue as to what is expected - and, no, standards do not give an accurate picture to what the questions will be, or the wording used to ask the questions)? Why do we give these tests at the end of a school year, when the results will have little correlation to the curriculum to next years curriculum (and, yes I know the difference between summative and formative assessments, and I understand that math teachers will tend to disagree with the correlation comment). Until an academic discipline is truly mastered, all tests should be considered formative, and therefore results should be shared with the people responsible for teaching the material that is to be mastered, otherwise teachers continue to be shooting in the dark for the children they have. To enforce summative assessments at the end of each school year is a fallacy in understanding what it means to educate a child.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 14:58:42 +0000
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