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Learning Without Tests

June 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Some teachers are now choosing to provide a different educational experience for their students – a test free environment. Since there are many children and teenagers who suffer from anxiety related to tests, it makes sense to provide another way to learn for these special circumstances. Teachers can choose from a variety of ways to present the information.

By choosing to ask the students to give a presentation of the information learned, instead of having to answer multiple choice questions or write several essays on the spot, many students feel that the pressure is alleviated so they are able to focus and better understand. If the class is longer, students might be able to complete a project during school hours, instead of going home to work. Some teachers might worry that the assignments will be completed with the assistance of parents, siblings, or even the internet. Having the assignment be completed during the school day will take away any chance for this problem. There was a lot of talk in the news about the “No Child Left Behind Act” and how ineffective standardized testing can be to determine progress and learning.

The curriculum can still be presented effectively, so school administration won’t need to worry about these students not being ready for the next year of school. There are now even some colleges that are offering test-free courses, so removing testing from the classroom won’t take away preparation from the students. Teachers who choose this method might have a bigger job ahead of them, when ensuring all information is presented and understood. For those who test poorly, this is a great option to succeed in school.

Filed Under: Education, General Tagged With: , ,

Grading Our Schools: America’s Standardized Tests Aren’t Performing

March 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Children growing up in America today are familiar with SATs, or standardized tests that measure student performance on basic educational standards. These standardized tests are not only used to measure student performance, but also measure school performance. Depending on student performance, the school will be evaluated for funding, additional tutoring, an enhanced curriculum, or the possibility of new or more teachers. Those multiple choice questions on SATs can really help or hurt a school. Are standardized tests really the best way to measure school performance?

In early America, standardize tests consisted of written essays and oral exams. It wasn’t until the early 1900s when multiple-choice standardized tests were introduced. Multiple-choice questions helped to streamline the process of test evaluation. It wasn’t until the 1980s and 1990s when standardized testing became widespread, encouraged by the government as a way to measure student and school performance across the board, and in 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act made this a federal requirement. Essay testing has only been a part of standardized testing in the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs. These programs cultivate and test students who perform at a higher level than federal standards.

Although the No Child Left Behind Act encouraged standardized testing as a measure of school performance, the Race to the Top act passed by Congress during President Obama’s term encourages state and school initiative in educational reform and performance. The Race to the Top act seems to be a positive step towards encouraging initiative and creative thinking on the part of teachers and educators, rather than an SAT board.

While standardized testing can help evaluate school and student performance, testing like this seems cursory and too generalized to be effective and to encourage the creativity, applied thinking, and initiative needed to teach students. It is vital that federal programs encourage schools to go above and beyond standardized testing.

Filed Under: Requirements, School Board Tagged With: , ,

Leaving Behind the No Child Left Behind Act

March 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The No Child Left Behind Act was enacted in 2001 to introduce and enforce educational standards in public education. The act was initiated by President George W. Bush early in his presidency. The act requires public schools to have their students meet certain educational standards in order to receive federal funding.  For teachers, this act means that they have to teach their students to perform well on these tests. If any school’s performance on standardized tests are sub-par, that school will have to enact remedial programs, tutoring options, and other ways to raise student test scores. Although there have been significant positive results within public education since the No Child Left Behind Act was passed by Congress, there are also significant criticisms of the act, which has prompted President Barak Obama to put public educational standards under review.

One problem with the No Child Left Behind Act is that it enforces federal standards across states with distinct teaching programs. Although all public schools receive federal funding, states require their teachers to be certified by state. Critics to the act argue that federal standards should be state standards, or at least state-specific. Another criticism is that the act requires schools to show AYP, or significant improvement in student test scores from year to year. These criticisms make it difficult for schools to meet educational standards, and can lead to other problems like a tendency to cheat the system or the shuffling of low-performing students to low-performing schools.

President Obama stated in his 2009 State of the Union Address that the new educational reform act, the Race to the Top, was performing much better than the No Child Left Behind Act. Instead of funding schools that meet basic, general performance standards, the act encourages schools to create educational reform and performance standards at the state level, and those that perform the best are rewarded with additional funding.

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Challenges of Standardized Testing For ESL Students

December 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Students who are learning English as a Second Language, or ESL are often at a disadvantage when taking standardized tests that are designed for students who consider English to be their native language. The No Child Left Behind Act, introduced in 2002 does allow for special accommodations to be given to ESL students. However, those accommodations are the same ones that are intended for students who have disabilities. Many teachers who are involved in helping ESL students to learn feel that the testing requirements for ESL students should be adjusted to be different than the standards already in place for the disabled.

It is important to remember that ESL students do not necessarily possess less knowledge than their native English speaking peers. Rather, their limited and developing grasp of the English language makes it very difficult for them to prove their comprehension of a subject.

A common agreement among teachers of ESL is that students should be allowed to practice test situations before the actual test is given. Many students have never been required to demonstrate knowledge through a standardized test previously, and find the format to be quite bewildering. Additionally, others have suggested that a method be implemented which allows for students to verify their understanding of what is being asked within a question. Students who have only very basic sentence construction skills may struggle for several minutes to determine what is being asked in a question, and then may get off in the wrong direction simply because of confusion over a single word.

Finally, some students may excel in a testing environment if they are given the option to have the test given to them in an oral format, or at least having access to an oral interpreter that can verify a word or the overall meaning of a sentence.

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