As educators, I think it is important we measure and assess
young children in different ways in order to really find out their intelligence.
I do believe standardized testing does help measure what a child knows and
doesn’t know, but that shouldn’t be the sole factor. I do believe that we have
to make sure our students know how to read, write properly, and know basic
math. That’s what we use in the real world. I still don’t understand (and I’m already
a teacher) why we to do standardized tests on sciences and social studies
because in reality, how much of that do we use in our everyday lives? Unless
you do it every day for your job, those are the things kids tend to forget. I
think the focus should be on reading, writing, and math, because those are
skills you use every day!
I chose to look at how students in China are assessed because it’s a country
that the U.S. is competing with when it comes to scores in math and science. In
a classroom setting, students are assessed based off of performance based
assessments, self-assessments, peer assessment, teacher observations, portfolios,
quizzes, and tests. Some standardized
tests Chinese students take are Early
Language Learning Oral Performance Assessment which
is a face-to-face listening and speaking assessment
for primary grades children. From the Center for Applied Linguistics, and the
Chinese Proficiency Test, which is China’s national standardized test to
evaluate students (Asia Society, 2014).
I think it is important we assess our students, but I feel
there needs to be a better way besides standardized testing, because there are
people out there that know the content and material but are just not good test
takers, or you be like me, I’m a slow test taker. So, I often rush through
tests that are times, and then end up scoring badly because I didn’t have the
time to really read it. We need to be able to assess our children in many
different ways, and not solely relying on standardize tests.
References
No Author. (2014). Assessment.
Asia Society. Retrieved from
http://asiasociety.org/education/chinese-language-initiatives/assessment
