Re-thinking Education
The ability for all children from varying walks of life to receive a well-rounded education in America has become nothing more than a myth. In excerpt “The Essentials of a Good Education”, Diane Ravitch argues the government’s fanatical obsession with data based on test scores has ruined the education system across the country (107). In their eyes, students have faded from their eyes as individual hopefully, creative and full of spirit, and have become statistics on a data sheet, percentages on a pie chart, and numbers calculated to show the intelligence they have from filling out bubbles in a booklet. In order for schools to be able to provide a liberal education, they need the proper funding, which comes from the testing.
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Almost state has gained federal funding from accumulating the test data from all of their schools (Ravitch 107). Data collected from multiple choice questions determines the intelligence of every student and their teachers. The test data is tracked throughout their lifetime in relation to their test scores, graduation dates and other statistics companies such as Amazon and Microsoft use to evaluate different groups (by age, ethnicity, etc) as a whole (Ravitch 107). Ravitch claims there are many problems with this, mainly, tests do not measure character, spirit, heart, soul, and potential (112). Not everyone is the same, and just because one may be weak in math or writing doesn’t mean they’re not smart, resourceful individuals with much to share with the world. For schools to be even seen with a slight amount more than just their test scores, they have to be in great standings with their students’ average test results. The government’s intense focus on test results hurts schools’ ability to be a well-rounded school immensely. In contrast to federal’s pinpoint focus on what students learn, educated consumers desire their kids to have a full, balanced, and rich curriculum (Ravitch 108). Schools need to be more than housing for test-takers. The Education Board may claim students’ proficiency in their testing makes them better people, prepares them for college, and ultimately, the workforce. What they are
The essay, “Standing Up for the Power of Learning,” by Jay Mathews explained how one of many students was accused of academic dishonesty. During the regular school session of the year 2001, three fourths of 187 students at Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT) were found guilty of cheating. This was because they collaborated on an assignment in a computer science (CS) course with friends. By communicating with others about the project, the students violated the course honor code that prohibited the discussion among students for that particular class.
In Diane Ravitch’s essay, “The Essentials of a Good Education,” she explains how schools in 2008 made budget cuts on a variety of if important subjects in school, such as history and science, in order to spend more time on tested subjects like mathematics and reading. Ravitch believes that public schools are forsaking the importance of life and social skills that every student needs. A child’s knowledge should not be rank, rated, or labeled, according to Ravitch, because “it does not measure their character, spirit, heart, soul, or potential.” Ravitch blames reform programs such as “No Child Left Behind,” which requires states to test children’s basic skills, on the cuts made in important subjects, which she believes are key components of education. She also said that educated parents would not want their children going to a school
Education” by Russell Baker, the author argued that many student futures are based off of a test score - whether that test is a state-regulated test or a test required for admission to college. Society measures what we learn by tests and schools receive more funding for better scores. Baker explained that many students base their intelligence on these test scores, and many institutions focus on test scores more than anything else. However, every student learns that their education and their future is based off of the score that they receive on tests. Baker said that this is “[a period that a child] learns that success come from telling testers what they want to hear” (225). Teachers don’t teach the content but teach students how to make educational guesses. I considered myself to be “dumb” because I did not get a satisfactory score on the ACT. Therefore, I didn’t think I would be a good candidate for college because I would not receive personal funding in the form of scholarships and I didn’t know whether or not I would be accepted into college. This score convinced me that I would not be able to complete college work and that I would only have a future working minimum wage jobs. However, I realized that I was smarter than my test score told me that I was. In the end, the author and I both agreed that students should not be subjugated by the scores provided by an invisible
In the text, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, author Diane Ravitch explores her ideological shift on school reform and the empirical evidence that caused this shift. Once a proponent and contributor of testing, accountability, choice, and market reforms, Ravitch’s support began to diminish as she realized that these current reforms were not viable options. She came to realize that the new school reforms focused entirely on structural and managerial adjustments and that no focus was given to actual learning.
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.
Standardized tests have been used to see how much a child has learned over a certain period of time. These tests have been a highly debated issue with many parents and just people in general. In the article “Opting out of standardized tests? Wrong answer,” the author Michelle Rhee argues that people should not be trying to opt out of standardized tests because it allows the country to see how much a child has learned and the things they need to improve. On the other hand, in the article “Everything You’ve Heard About Failing Schools Is Wrong,” the author Kristina Rizga argues that standardized tests are not an efficient way to measure a student’s intelligence.
To teach is to choose a challenging life. It requires passion in the profession, genuine love and interest in children, especially when one opts to teach young children. One must have a heart and needs to be ethical, reflective, caring and hopeful. It requires faith in yourself and respect for individual children, willing to work against the odds in order to contribute to an evolving environment. Ayers’s book, To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher is a book, I consider a work that strives for educational reform. Ayers write from his personal experience and then draws his educational philosophy around those experiences. William Ayers writes, as teacher, parent, student and observer, of the children he has known, and of the things that actually
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...
Standardized testing scores proficiencies in most generally accepted curricular areas. The margin of error is too great to call this method effective. “High test scores are generally related to things other than the actual quality of education students are receiving” (Kohn 7). “Only recently have test scores been published in the news-paper and used as the primary criteria for judging children, teachers, and schools.”(2) Standardized testing is a great travesty imposed upon the American Public School system.
“If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn't be here. I guarantee you that.” This quote by Michelle Obama illustrates the idea that standardized testing should not have such a large influence on education in America. However, a majority of people are under the impression that standardized tests are an accurate method to measure a person's intellectual ability. I believe that standardized tests have developed into a very critical part of the American education system that is hindering the growth of students and teachers instead of providing a tool that can accurately measure knowledge.
I have gone through many standardized tests and had frustrated parents for a long time. I didn’t understand why I seemed smart to my parents but not by state standards. My dad really helped form my opinion on standardized testing. I used to come home thinking I was dumb by state standards. He said this to me: “Did you do all you could do on this test?” the answer would be “Yes.” Then he’d say “The only opinion that matters is yours, if you feel that you did a good job.” Although standardized tests seem helpful for the state when giving out funding, we should not allow a child to be evaluated by simple multiple choice questionnaires at such a young age.
In this paper, I argue that standardized testing is an inaccurate measurement of intelligence that should be required for college. These test are biased towards low income families, adds too much pressure on students, and don’t reward students for years of academic success.
In “Bless the Tests: Three Reasons for Standardized Testing”, Aaron Churchill discusses standardized testing benefits and explains that such tests “assess students based on a similar set of questions, are given under nearly identical testing conditions, and are graded by a machine or blind reviewer. They are intended to provide an accurate, unfiltered measure of what a student knows” (1). He also asserts that “outside of standardized test results, no objective method exists for policymakers to identify either poor-performing schools that need intervention or high-performing schools which deserve rewards” (Churchill 2). Imagine teachers trying to correct hundreds of tests or assessments along with homework, classwork, and other responsibilities. Also, a teacher’s assessment or grading may be biased because they know the child and may unintentionally skew results for a child who was having a bad day or shows great potential. Standardized testing is the best way to gather impartial and equitable measures of how well the needs of students are being
From many years, it is known that each and every person on this plant are not identical. We all learn by nurture, using what we have from nature, in widely different ways. Yet, we expect every person in America’s schools to take tests that are based off of the normal, the typical . Standardized tests have set a bar for a normal society, a society that is not normal and not standard. Taking tests that are meant for the normal human is wrong. Expecting humans to become normal; devalue their strengths and weaknesses; and change school to be more about passing a class than learning from the class. Standardized testing does not measure the capability of a certain individual and decreasing the funds and benefits for the students who suffer from this