High Stakes Testing Albert Einstein once stated, “not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.” High-stakes testing attempts to determine the knowledge a person has obtained throughout grades K-12. These standardized tests are being used to judge a person’s ability to graduate from high school and also judge if a child has enough knowledge to proceed to the next grade level. Throughout this paper, I will be discussing how these tests do not accurately portray one’s intelligence, how they have increased drop out rates, and also show the damaging psychological affects they have had. High stakes testing does not accurately determine a student’s intelligence. In 1999, the National Academy of Sciences researched the appropriate and inappropriate uses of tests. They agreed that “no single test score can be considered a definitive measure of a student’s knowledge”(http://www.allianceforchildhood.net/news/histakes_test_position_statement.htm). To use these standardized tests to decide if a person has earned his/her diploma is unreasonable, and they have been proven ineffective. The Alliance for Childhood states that, “the use of standardized tests as the sole measure of whether students are promoted, are placed in low-track classes, or will graduate from high school is condemned as insupportable by every professional testing organization.”(alliance). In Arizona, the AIMS (Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards) test will soon be used in this way; high school seniors in the year 2008 must pass this test to graduate. A study prepared by the Arizona Standards organization states that, “the Arizona AIMS test, if implemented today, would fail between 50% and 75% of all high s... ... middle of paper ... ... Standards (AIMS). Arizona Department of Education. Retrieved October 24, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ade.state.az.us/ standards/aims/PerformanceStandards/performancelevels.asp 2. Testing and Grade Retention. Retrieved October 24, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.fairtest.org/arn/retenfct.htm 3. High Stakes Testing Position Statement. Alliance for Childhood. Retrieved October 24, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.allianceforchildhood.net/news/histakes_test_position_statement.htm 4. Haney, Walt. The Myth of the Texas Miracle in Education. Retrieved October 24, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8n41/ 5. What’s Wrong With High Stakes Testing in General and Aims in Particular? Retrieved October 24, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.azstandards.org/protestmaterials.htm
Even with material being taught incessantly, standardized tests can not accurately measure a student’s ability. The tests are “single-target—meaning that every student, no matter what level of achievement or ability, course selection, or cu...
Kohn, Alfie. "Standardized Testing and Its Victims." Education Week. N.p., 27 Sept. 2000. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.
Throughout the United States standardized testing is a popular way that educators measure a student’s academic ability. Although it may seem like a good idea to give a bunch of students the same test and see how each one does, it is not that simple. The results do not represent how smart a student is or a student's potential to do great things in the real world. In taking a standardized test one student may have a greater advantage over another for many reasons. Reasons that are not shown in the standardized test score.
Duncan’s death, which is one of the main events of the entire play and drives the plot for much of the story, is heavily associated with sleep. To top that, he is murdered in his sleep. Two quotes in particular exemplify this idea. The first is spoken by Macbeth right after he kills Duncan. “Sleep no more. Macbeth does murder sleep.” (45). this line does not mean that Macbeth literally murdered sleep. He killed Duncan who not only represents sleep but Duncan was also sleeping at the time of the murder. This reinforces the not everything is what it seems theme. The other quote that relates Duncan’s death to sleep is in Act III spoken with an envious tone by Macbeth yet again. He says, “In restless ecstasy Duncan is in his grave” (75). At first blush this quote is so confusing, what is restless ecstasy? In this quote Duncan is “sleeping” in his grave. But more importantly we see sleep and Duncan in a more positive light. Shakespeare is again reinforcing his not everything is what it seems theme because at first glance death may seem ba...
Text messaging has become a norm in our generation, as technology rapidly advances and gives way to more efficient forms of communication in a fast-paced world; and many are skeptical about the influence this new form of interaction is having on our society, especially with our younger generation. David Crystal, a professor at the University of Wales, writes “2b or Not 2b?” in support of text messaging. He insists, despite those who underestimate or negate the beneficial influence text messaging has on language proficiency, that “there is increasing evidence that [texting] helps rather than hinders literacy” and that the fairly recent form of communication has actually been around for a while and “is merely the latest manifestation of the human ability to be linguistically creative and to adopt language to suit the demands of diverse settings. In contrast, Jeffery Kluger argues in “We Never Talk Anymore: The Problem with Text Messaging” that text messaging is rapidly becoming a substitute for more genuine forms of communication and is resulting in difficulty among young peoples of our generation to hold a face-to-face conversation, engage in significant nonverbal expression, and ultimately build effective relationships with family, friends and co-workers. Both writers’ present valid arguments, however, my personal experience with text messaging has led me to agree more with Crystal’s view on the matter. Text messaging is indeed having a positive effect on society by making frequent texters primarily aware of the need to be understood, as well as offering betterment of spelling and writing through practice, and reinventing and expanding on a bygone dimension of our language through the use of rebuses and abbreviations.
Bushweller, Kevin. "Teaching to the Test." Introduction. American School Board Journal, 1997. 1. The American School Board Journal. National School Boards Association. Web. 15 Apr. 2011.
On April 11, 1951, President Harry S. Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of the command of the United States forces in Korea because of his opposing views with the President over the extent of American involvement in the Korean conflict, upsetting many Americans and causing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to investigate his firing to determine if the firing was justified. Although found to be justified, Truman’s handling of the dismissal lacked diplomacy and caused him to lose popularity with the American public. The dismissal of General MacArthur should not destroy his reputation as one of the greatest generals in American history.
The argument over standardized testing in public schools is significant. It influences the future of education in this nation. “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” – Albert Einstein
Speaking up quickly, Margaret said, “We’ve not eaten. When your dad heard about Katherine, he forgot about dinner and wanted to get over here to be with you guys.”
Throughout the play the conventional idea of sleep as being a calm, restful time is switched around to demonstrate evil. When Macbeth is just about to murder Duncan in his sleep one sees his sleep is going to be disturbed. “Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse the curtained sleep.” (Shakespeare 41) “Nature seems dead,” shows that Macbeth is feeling guilt already, not just about him killing King Duncan, but that with the murder, he is killing everything else of the country. “The curtained sleep” is saying that your sleep should be private and peaceful, like you are behind a curtain, being hidden from everyone else. This sleep is not peaceful though because it is being disturbed by the wicked dreams. Macbeth is picturing the deed he is about to perform as a nightmare, giving sleep an evil feel. The sleep of Macbeth is also being disturbed by his killing of Duncan. After Macbeth murders King Duncan, his consequences are that is sleep is being disturbed. “Still it cried, ‘Sleep no more' to all the house; ‘Glamis hath murdered sleep’, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more.” (Shakespeare 45) As we see from this quote, Macbeth is starting to go crazy from his loss of sleep. The disturbance of his sleep is staring to disturb him physi...
High-stakes testing dates back to around one hundred years ago. They were first created as a means to sort people into groups to where each student could be placed where they could receive the most appropriate level of instruction based on their test scores. These tests were also used for determining what type of vocations the test takers were most suited for. Students began being tested nationwide for reading achievement in the 1960’s, starting with National Assessment of Educational Progress. This assessment was given every four years to students in 4th, 8th, and 12th grade. High-stakes testing began to increase significantly after “A Nation at Risk” was published in 1983 by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. This publication caused a state of panic through its portrayal of the U.S. education system as being significantly inept in preparing students for success in
A majority of the novel was based off of evilness by the different characters, which the imagery of sleep displays. During the play evilness completely transforms the lives and personalities of people into polar opposites. The complete horrific living nightmares that the characters' lives turned into because of their evil actions and presence is in direct correlation with the imagery of sleep in the novel. "Now o'er the one half-world nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse, the curtain'd sleep" (II.1.49). Right after Macbeth murders Duncan; the imagery of sleep is used to convey the evilness of what Macbeth has just done. Usually sleep is the time the mind can put a curtain around itself an...
Stecher, “The net effect of high-stakes testing on policy and practice is uncertain. Researchers have not documented the desirable consequences of testing—providing more instruction, working harder, and working more effectively—as clearly as the undesirable ones—such as negative reallocation, negative alignment of classroom time to emphasize topics covered by a test, excessive coaching, and cheating. More important, researchers have not generally measured the extent or magnitude of the shifts in practice that they identified as a result of high-stakes testing.” Which means that in completion no test is truly valid or reliable for there are too many mistakes to be had by either the test takers or the Test
Cullington in her article “Does Texting Affect Writing?” highlights both views of texting. People who support texting especially for students say that it is an effective way of building individuals’ confidence among students who are not confident enough to communicate with others. They believe that through texting, students are able to construct meaningful and concrete information. Supporters such as David Crystal believe that texting provides extra practice to those students who are not able to convey information. He believes that texting helps the student to know how to express themselves in the shortest possible way and in clear form. Crystal further explains that students who are not proficient with language will not be able to text and convey the required message. This means that texting not only improves the skills of the student but also does affect them negatively. From his argument, it can be seen that she advocates for writing as an effective, interesting and most effective way of improving and establishing language in students. She believes that texting facilitates language development and knowledge as students are able to learn new things
Step onto any college campus and take a look around. You will find clumps of students standing around in circles, phones in hand, typing away. What is it they are doing? Texting. Ever since the first text message was sent in 1993, the use of text messaging as a means of communication has spread like wild fire, especially amongst the adolescent generation. And with this new form of communication a new language has appeared; text-speak, the shortening of common words into abbreviations and acronyms (Drouin 49). While texting and the text-speak language seem to have been welcomed by many, what affect is this new technology having on the way we communicate? Is it possible that texting is negatively affecting our ability to use formal written communication, or is this idea just a myth perpetuated by negative media attention? And what changes has texting brought to the way we communicate person-to person? Are these changes positive, negative, or perhaps a mixture of both?