Expressions of Gratitude

I am quite appreciative and grateful to be taking my professional journey alongside each one of you.  Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge, which has enhanced my insights as an early childhood educator.  I wish you all great success in both your personal lives as well as your career!  Best wishes with your future endeavours!


Children are great imitators, so give them something great to imitate~Anonymous

Mismeasurement?

The reason educators assess students is to provide the necessary instruction that provides optimal learning.  Assessments are usually in the form of standardized testing.  Standardized testing is when a student from different states and countries take the same test (with the same questions in the same amount of time). 

Standardized test are flawed in regards to measuring what a child has learned.  The flaws appear when standardized testing makeup is biased-favor one type of student.  The tests are designed for English speaking, upper/middle class white students.  The tests do not take into account the larger audience of students: different learning styles/abilities, physical disabilities, mental disabilities, SES, cultural barriers, language barriers, and those who experience test anxiety. 

Once again, I cannot stress the importance of teaching different learning styles. Every child is different. Learning will be different, thus testing styles have to adapt to each child’s learning style.  Therefore, I have to agree with John Merrow when he implies, “A more rational approach is broad-based assessment, which involves multiple measures of what a student has learned. Assessment relies on teacher-made tests, teacher evaluations, student demonstrations, etc. all over an extended period of time, instead of one score on a single, largely machine-scored test (even if it includes a writing test). Unfortunately, the supporters of high-stakes testing have more faith in machines than they do in teachers.”

China’s Approach

In an online article by Good Education, Minxuan Zhang, the Director-General of the Center for International Education Studies, Ministry of Education, China, and National Project Manager of PISA, states that China’s view of education no longer includes rote learning or high stakes testing that some of their counterparts, such as the United States rely on.  Zhang places emphasis on the educational process as opposed to the testing result.  She expresses,

"If we want to build a good system, we cannot only rely on testing at the end of learning. Testing implies that the student has finished the educational system. The most important thing is not just to see the testing results, but to pay close attention to the educational process. The process of education is much more important than the testing."

China has taken a different approach to education and testing in comparison to the United States.  Maybe the U.S. needs to research and observe what is working for China and utilize the learned knowledge to the benefit the children of the United States in regards to standardized testing.

                       

John Merrow (2001) Excerpted from Choosing Excellence: "Good Enough" Schools Are Not Good Enough Scarecrow Press. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/schools/testing/merrow.html

http://www.good.is/post/do-we-need-to-ditch-high-stakes-testing-to-compete-with-china/