Testing is an excellent way to fully understand the needs of children. As a result of this, I fully support all types of testing and measurement processes as long as they do not compromise the well-being of the child or hinder the growth and development process. In additional to cognitive testing or measurement, I also believe that children should measure and tested on an emotional, physical, and social level. Without knowing where children measure up on these levels, educators, professionals, and care givers would not be fully of where how to provide these children what they truly need in order to foster healthy growth and development. In turn, professionals and care givers will be able to provide children with all of the resources that they need. Without these tests and measurement processes, professionals and care givers would be blind to the needs of children and may not be providing them with the resources that are needed.
This belief is also held in the country of England. Within its school systems, children are subjected to national tests and SAT tests for English and Math as early as six to seven years of age (Woodlands Junior School, 2011). National tests and SAT tests are utilized throughout a child’s education in order to assess his or her cognitive abilities, social abilities, and physical abilities (Woodlands Junior School, 2011). Once children reach the age of 14 or 15 years of age, he or she is tested in order to receive his or her General Certificate of Secondary Education (Woodlands Junior School, 2011).
One concern that I have about the testing and measuring processes that are utilized on children is their accuracy levels. If tests are inaccurate, it can compromise the healthy growth and development of these children. A second concern is the invasiveness of these tests and whether or not they do have the potential to compromise the well-being of a child. If testing or measurement processes are highly invasive, it is believed that it can disrupt his or her holistic environment and have a negative impact on his or her self-esteem or self-image.
References
Woodlands Junior School. (2011). School Tests in England. Retrieved February 12, 2011 from http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/education/tests.html
Hi Mary. Looks like we took different approaches on this post. While I agree that testing for intelligence is a good way to measure where children's needs are, I feel that in our country it has been taken too far. We use intelligence tests to determine if a child is gifted or has special needs, which is appropriate in some cases. However the government is having us use standardized testing as the only means to measure intelligence and growth of all children and school districts as a whole, which seems very inappropriate. There are many other ways to find what children know than testing. Many intelligent children perform poorly on standardized tests due to test anxiety, lack of motivation, culturally irresponsive language used in the test, and many other factors. Our district, for example, is in danger of losing our accreditation, as are most Missouri schools because the standardized tests are not providing the results that the government would like to see. However the people who set the standards that they would like our children to meet have never actually worked in a school or with children, and are very out of touch with the needs of today’s children. While I agree that testing can be useful, they are currently being used very inappropriately in our public schools.
ReplyDeleteHi Rebecca, after reading your post and Chelsia's my mindset changed a bit. I now agree that standardized tests are not the answer. Not only are they unable to correctly determine the needs of many children, they are being used for the wrong purpose (aka school funding). It is funny, since I do not work directly in the eductional system I do not have very much experience with standardized tests as you guys do. You and Chelsia have opened my eyes on the topic and educated me on the reality of the situation. Thanks, Mary
ReplyDeleteI never thought about a test compromising a child's well being. I do relate when you say some children are not good test takers. I had terrible anxiety about test and did not feel I tested well. I also think funding should not be attached to school test scores. Then you just have schools teaching the test. I think it is noble of you to see a different perspective on the topic now.
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