Considering All the Facts: Mistakes About Standardized Tests
There has been a lot of talk about standards for schools. Politicians have made this issue a campaign debate. Now everyone has jumped on the “bandwagon” and wants accountability of students’ education (Shafer, 2002). When there is a problem in the education system, teachers are the first to be blamed. They are left with the responsibility of proving they are teaching what needs to be taught. States as well as the federal government use standardized testing to assess learning. They want someone to be held responsible for students’ learning. The problem lies when the teacher and student suffer from the results of standardized testing. “The pressure on educators and policymakers to demonstrate accountability in schools has driven some to use the test results inappropriately (Holloway, 2001).” Standardized tests are comparisons of one student to another not of how well a teacher teaches or a student learns. Standardized tests should not have such high-stakes in assessing learning because that is not their intended purpose.
In order to understand the purpose of these tests we must first examine what they are. According to W. James Popham(1999), “a standardized test is any examination that’s administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner”. Norm-Referenced tests and Criterion Referenced tests are two types of tests used to evaluate students. Norm-referenced tests compare a student’s score with a “norm” group (same age or grade level), while Criterion Referenced tests are supposed to be an assessment of what is actually taught. Students are supposed to do better on the latter because it is assumed they are taught the material that they will be teste...
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... and misuse of standardized tests. Educational
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Norm-referenced standardized tests (NRST) used for different administration over the decades. The NRST classifies individuals. It highlights achievements differences between and among students to develop reliable scores. In school systems NRSTs helps identified students for remedial programs. The U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment (1992), establish a standardized test as one that uses (NAGC - ED Norm- and Criterion-Referenced Testing. (n.d.) (Retrieved from http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=314). Similar procedures for application and scoring in order to ensure that results from different people are comparable (Bond, 2010). NRST compares the performance of students with other students from large groups. Using a standardized test like the NRST will grade students in order from high to low achievers. A valid population must be from the widest range of the student population. Accordingly, the assessment must also report the status of student achievement “broken down by gender, ethnicity, disability, economic disadvantage, English proficiency, and...
Parents and advocates of education can all agree that they want their students to be in the best hands possible in regards to education. They want the best teachers, staffs, and schools to ensure their student’s success. By looking at the score results from standardized testing, teachers can evaluate effectively they are doing their job. On the other side, a proponent for eliminating standardized testing would argue that not all students care passionately about their education and will likely not perform to expectations on the test. However, receiving the numerical data back, teachers can construe the student’s performances and eliminate the outliers of the negligent kids. Teachers can then look at the individual scores and assign those outliers to get the help they need in school. This helps every student getting an equal chance at education. Overall, taking a practice standardized test can let a teacher look at individual questions and scores and interpret what they need to spend more time on teaching. A school also can reap the benefits from standard testing to ensure they are providing the best possible education they can. The school can look at the average scores from a group and hold the teacher accountable for the student’s results on the test. The school can then determine the best course of action to pursuit regarding the teacher’s career at the school. By offering teachers and schools the opportunity to grow and prosper, standardized testing is a benefit for the entire education
This is precisely the problem. Standardized tests are old and outdated, and the harm they cause to America’s education system by far outweighs the benefits. These tests were intended to monitor and offer ways to improve how public schools function, but instead they have impaired the natural learning ability of students and imposed upon the judgment of experienced educators. Although a means to evaluate the progress of public schools is necessary, it is also necessary to develop more modern and effective ways of doing so. Standardized testing mandated by the federal and state governments has a negative effect on the education of America’s youth.
The Renaissance has not ceased to be an age of discussion and debate among historians throughout the recent centuries. The vibrant nature of the era marks it as a most fascinating period of history. The Renaissance can be described as an age carrying the essence of “self-discovery and fulfillment, of recognition of human worth, and a dynamic outpouring of artistic activity.” This new world flourishing with art and creative optimism was also steeped in a spirit of “revolt of the Medievalists.” In an effort of “rebirth,” the previous culture of the Middle Ages was rejected, and even scorned. Foundational principles in all fields were overstepped, and old cultural norms were practically obsolete. It was an era whose humanistic philosophy greatly impacted the lens through which man viewed himself and the world.
The renaissance or “rebirth” was a cultural awakening which spanned from the fourteenth to sixteenth century. A growing interest in humanist traits and classical ideas heavily influenced the art during the renaissance. A growing community of artists provided much needed competition for their profession. The renaissance introduced many different and modern ideas but also remained obedient to classical belief. The unique art of the renaissance spread throughout Europe. Northern European art differed tremendously from Italian art.
Salvador Dali began his painting career at the age of eight. His parents allowed him to continue his artistic interests because of the influence of the Pichot family, a family full of artists who lived at the Mill-Tower, their family home. Ramon Pichot provided Dali with his first contact to Impressionism. During this early period Dali primarily created still lifes, figure drawings, and landscapes of Cadaques. Dali was also influenced by Juan Nunez, a teacher at a night school for drawing which he was allowed to attend. Nunez introduced Dali to watercolors and etchings. Dali was influenced by Impressionism until 1919. From 1920 to 1921 Impressionism gave way to Pointillism and the use of color. During this time ...
Smith, M. (2010). Why NOT a National Test for Everyone. Kappan, 1. Retrieved March 16, 2014, from www.pdkintl.org
Since the U.S. Congress passed the No Child Left Behind program, standardized testing has become the norm for American schools. Under this system, each child attending a school is required to take a standardized test at specific grade points to assess their level of comprehension. Parents, scholars and all stakeholders involved take part in constant discussions over its effectiveness in evaluating students’ comprehension, teachers’ competency and the effects of the test on the education system. Though these tests were put in place to create equality, experts note that they have created more inequality in the classroom. In efforts to explore this issue further, this essay reviews two articles on standardized testing. This essay reviews the sentiments of the authors and their insight into standardized examination. The articles provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that standardized tests are not effective at measuring a teacher’s competency because they do not take into account the school environment and its effect on the students.
Evans, Donia. "The Case Against Standardized Tests." The Meridian Star. 24 Nov. 2013. The Meridian Star. 01 Dec. 2013 .
tests were primarily employed as measures of student achievement that could be reported to parents, and as a means of noting state and district trends (Moon 2) . Teachers paid little attention to these tests, which in turn had little impact on curriculum. However, in the continuing quest for better schools and high achieving students, testing has become a central focus of policy and practice. Standardized tests are tests that attempt to present unbiased material under the same, predetermined conditions and with consistent scoring and interpretation so that students have equal opportunities to give correct answers and receive an accurate assessment. The idea is that these similarities allow the highest degree of certainty in comparing result...
The Italian Renaissance is appropriately known as a period of such dynamic change within cultural innovations amongst European civilization that it is seen as a major turning point in European history. This age of rebirth abnormally broke the bonds of earlier cultural restraint and unleashed an outbreak of innovations that would forever change the course of history. Despite the common misunderstanding of the Italian Renaissance being a period of originality or of a reawakening of older cultures, it generated fundamental modernizations that accelerated growth in a vast number of forever impacting ways. Lasting from about 1350-1550, this age of modernized technology conveyed a sense of distinctive themes in art, which globalized the unification of a diverse culture. Within the Italian Renaissance, artistic innovations accelerated a new and centralized life and culture in Western European history.
The Standardized Testing System, instituted in the public school system, has been used as a guideline in assessing a student’s comprehension of the subjects taught in the classroom and for measuring a teacher’s aptitude of relating the subject material to the students (Fletcher). Florida has instituted a new Bill SB-736 that will now no longer grant teacher’s tenure, and will use the scores from the FCAT to decide whether a teacher will keep their job. While originally created to help the school system, standardized testing has been shown to have many problems, and even to cause harm to students, teachers, and schools. The standardized testing system must be severely revamped, as well as the way the scores affect the schools the students attend.
“Sometimes, the most brilliant and intelligent minds do not shine in standardized tests because they do not have standardized minds.” – Diane Ravitch.
Standardized testing is not an effective way to test the skills and abilities of today’s students. Standardized tests do not reveal what a student actually understands and learns, but instead only prove how well a student can do on a generic test. Schools have an obligation to prepare students for life, and with the power standardized tests have today, students are being cheated out of a proper, valuable education and forced to prepare and improve their test skills. Too much time, energy, and pressure to succeed are being devoted to standardized tests. Standardized testing, as it is being used presently, is a flawed way of testing the skills of today’s students.
During the Italian renaissance there were many inventions, creations, and art, but some of the things still affect our lifestyle today. Some of these things are well known by people, where some are just artwork that has lots of exposure in the modern world. There are people who devote their lives to study these works of art. There must be some information on how this outburst of art and other works began, as before the Renaissance Italy was in a depression. This is a complete turnaround from a depression. In this report I am going to review and go over how the Renaissance started and who kept it alive, by studying the life of rich patrons. There is also going to be sections on specific inventions and artwork that shows renaissance lifestyle, using a book of Art History and information about popular inventions.