Monday, May 4, 2009

WHAT? Standardized Testing!

Standardized testing is the new theme in schools, especially state-wide
testing that tests all the students in the state on similar subjects learned.
At times testing can benefit students, especailly when they are venturing
off to high school. The GEPA test is definetly around to help students. In
my school districted you needed to achieve a certain grade or you would
be considered unsatisfactory. Which meant that in high school you would
have smaller size classroom, (resource room) intervels in order to help
in the areas where you struggled on the test. In some cases this helped
students achieve the help that they needed with smaller class sizes, which
meant more inidividualized attention and more time to take tests. And on
the other hand it had students like me, struggle to get out of those
classrooms because you just deemed yourself unneccesary to be there.
Fortunatley with good grades in those classrooms, I got out the beginning
of my sophmore year which meant I was mainstream throughout High
School.

But also standardized testing is a way that the government can
see that the schools that are recieving money for education are
putting it to good use. Or if schools are stuggling finanically, which
is making them cut teachers and making class sizes rise to thirty
this will also show in Standardized tests. It will show that the bad
impact that the district causes in spite of cut of money for education.
So in all ways Standardized testing does help give students the
attention they need, and in some districts standardize tests give schools
the money that they need to stay open and pay the teachers
in order to help the students and the jobforce of the future.

Report Cards - -

Hmmm.. Report cards. Do they help or hurt? Well really instead of
looking at it in the students point of view. Maybe we should look through
the parents eyes for a change. Parents do not send their children to school
to become the "average", they send them to school to become the "great".
Which brings in the importance of report cards. Report cards are grades
that have me culminated through a marking period, and allow for an
assessment. Parents deserve to recieve an assessment, i.e report cards
concerning their childrens grades. Otherwise if their children were failing,
and the parents didn't get an assessment until school was over. What can
be done? Nothing! Which is why report cards are important, because it
allows for parents to help their children get the instructional help they need
in order to maintain the good grades.

Also, report cards help the student and the teachers as well. While the
teachers are preparing the grades for the report card they get to see first
hand the reasons why the student is failing. And in the midst of the report
card being sent out to the parents home, the teacher can soon set up
additional help with the child during classtime. Or provide the child our
undivided attention after school on the subjects on which the student is
missing the learning target, or just does not understand. Report cards
allow for a formal assessment that will help the student learn better by
addressing all their learning needs and explaining things in alternated
manners if they need may arise.