As a former elementary teacher in North Carolina, I believe in assessing children. It is necessary for me, as a teacher, to know where my children stand. What level are they on? Are they understanding the new concept that I'm teaching? Assessing them allows me to group the children so that I can make the most of my time and help each and every child. I feel that children should be tested on whatever I am teaching. Math, science, vocabulary, reading; it is all important. Not only does it give me feedback to further develop my lesson plans to meet the needs of my students, but it also gives the parents feedback so that they can work with their children. And it gives the children feedback so that they know how they are doing as well, building self-esteem.
Now, with that being said, my version of assessment is definitely not the same as the testing brought to us by No Child Left Behind. One big test at the end of the year I do not feel is beneficial. It is stressful and honestly not a great measurement of children's knowledge as it is not what they are used to. The wording in those tests may not be what the children understand. Bubble sheet testing may be new to them and that alone can stress them out and cause them not to perform as well. Not to mention, the last month of school being only test prep, how is that fun for kids? The whole idea of it is just awful to me.
Obama has started a new initiative called Race to the Top. This calls for more, less intense testing. Instead of one giant test at the end of the year, there are smaller, less formal tests throughout the year. This, in my opinion, is more beneficial and is what teachers are doing anyways. Of course we test throughout the year, we have to know when to move on to new topics. This, to me, is what children in our public schools are already used to and will not stress them out as much. And unlike a test at the end of the year, it gives the children a chance to improve and build upon their skills. According to Gregory J. Cizek, a professor of educational measurement and evaluation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, "Research has long shown that more frequent testing is beneficial to kids..."
Testing in the United States is very, very different from testing in China. Chinese children always score higher than American children in both science and math. Why is that? Do their strict testing rituals actually pay off?
Chinese children attend school from elementary age through age 15. After age 15, parents have to pay for their children to attend school. Children attend school from 7am to 4pm Monday through Saturday. They have very few national holidays in which school is closed and their summer vacation is only a month long. Many children also attend buxiban, also called cram school, in the evenings and on weekends. This is similar to small group or one-on-one tutoring in math and science, that also costs money.
The children that do get to attend high school no longer get to study all of the subjects that they once did, such as history, literature, art, and music. They are now attending school for 4 years with only one goal in mind, the gaokao. The gaokao is a 2 day National University Entrance Examination that determines what university the student will attend. This exam assesses math, science, English, and Chinese. Chinese children are tested over and over again, in preparation for this test.
At first it seems that all of this testing and schooling pays off for Chinese children. I mean, look at the statistics! But does it really? Do these children get to enjoy their childhood at all? Do they have low self-esteem if their grades are not perfect? Do ALL children benefit? I would say no. It seems that if you are not wealthy, you will not succeed. If your parents can not afford to pay for buxiban and high school, what do you do then? Are you automatically left behind just because you do not have money? How does that benefit these children?
References
Levy, Michael. (2011). What I Learned From China's Schools. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-levy/what-i-learned-from-china_b_872126.html
Mack, Lauren (n.d.). School in China: Introduction to School and Education in China. Retrieved from http://chineseculture.about.com/od/thechineselanguage/a/Introduction-To-Education-In-China.htm
Rosenthal, Elizabeth (2010). Testing, the Chinese Way. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/weekinreview/12rosenthal.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
I enjoyed reading your post. I agree with you about the big test at the end of the year. It's just too much pressure on everyone involved. That is very interesting that Chinese parents have to pay for further schooling. Wow! I can't imagine how this would be if it happened in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteCassie this is very informative. I agree with you that teachers, children and parents are being benefited from child assessment for evaluation. In my opinion, I think the best way to test a child will be the weekly assessment.
ReplyDeleteCassie, I am against the great big test at the end of the year, as I grow up taking one from 2nd grade until 10th, long before No Child Left Behind. Even my father had take the great big tests, I remember him giving me words of advice from when he was taking his. I will look in Race to the Top more so because less formal testing sounds a lot better that the great big one! Thanks for all the information!
ReplyDeleteHeather