Listening to the radio this morning I heard a program
talking about a school that does not teach content but context in regards to
standardized testing. Now maybe I didn’t quite understand what they were saying
but to my understanding they do not teach information on the test but rather
how testing in general is structured…does that make sense? And is that even
helpful? I am not a huge fan of standardized testing but I do see some of the
benefits of it, (perhaps a later post?) but from what I have gathered from the
program I don’t imagine the test results would be very good. How can one succeed by simply knowing the
context but not the content of a test.
This particular school was a secondary school and I am pretty sure at
that age one should know how to successfully complete any form of test. Even if
it’s a test style they have never come across, with proper instructions they
should manage. I don’t know, so weird to me.
I have always felt that the best way to pass a test is to know the information you are being tested on. "the truth is obscured in this age of instantly cured"... this approach has always seemed like some kind of shortcut but one wherein what gets cut short is ones knowledge, but somehow that seems acceptable to many as THEIR goal is to reach a destination and they are not concerned with any depth of understanding just an ability to pass a test. I forsee more daft people. I know there are many techniques to answer questions you are unsure of but those are (in my mind)intended to augment not replace any actual knowledge. Yet another case of the "form over substance" mentality our society seems hell-bent on.
ReplyDeleteFrom a teacher.....who loves....or once upon a time loved students: I'm done with the system as a whole. The whole thing is muffed up and they pressure US to make kids pass a test for funding, load us down with the requirement of paper trails, andd then pay us less than the avg person with an associates degree ...... I'm out and I know a number of good teachers who are rolling with me! #fedup!!
ReplyDeleteWell I am certainly glad that I am not the only one dumbfounded by the deterioration of the education system. It is in fact a sad day and age when teachers care more about a pay check than the genuine success of their students. One has to wonder, if the demand for high test scores wasn’t so high, perhaps the demand for knowledge would be instead? It’s simply appalling. Does no one care any more?
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