While I’m not a huge fan of standardized testing, I don’t see a clear alternative. SOMETHING has to keep educators “on the rails.”
If we let everyone do their own thing then the quality of education will vary drastically from one school to the next – creating yet another social problem that someone has to “do something” about.
The complaint I hear most often is that it “forces teachers to teach to the test.” So you’re saying it forces the schools to teach my kids math and reading comprehension and expects them to be at a certain level at a certain age? How deplorable. We must stop this right now!
I understand the argument – to a point – I just don’t think it holds up under the realities of a nation with thousands of schools in varying social and economic conditions. The point of primary education is to give kids the tools they need to learn. Math and Reading are those tools. Standardized tests are the way we measure whether the kids are being taught those tools.
Arts and music are important too but we HAVE to make sure our kids can read and add first. If there’s a way to make sure kids throughout the nation are being taught these critical skills without standardized testing I’d be interested to hear it.
While I’m not a huge fan of standardized testing, I don’t see a clear alternative. SOMETHING has to keep educators “on the rails.”
If we let everyone do their own thing then the quality of education will vary drastically from one school to the next – creating yet another social problem that someone has to “do something” about.
The complaint I hear most often is that it “forces teachers to teach to the test.” So you’re saying it forces the schools to teach my kids math and reading comprehension and expects them to be at a certain level at a certain age? How deplorable. We must stop this right now!
I understand the argument – to a point – I just don’t think it holds up under the realities of a nation with thousands of schools in varying social and economic conditions. The point of primary education is to give kids the tools they need to learn. Math and Reading are those tools. Standardized tests are the way we measure whether the kids are being taught those tools.
Arts and music are important too but we HAVE to make sure our kids can read and add first. If there’s a way to make sure kids throughout the nation are being taught these critical skills without standardized testing I’d be interested to hear it.