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Economic lens on the lack of funding to public school systems
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Should Victorian High Schools Repeal VCE Exams High school students face a stressful and strenuous time and are challenged by the vigorous preparation for VCE exams. The ‘do or die’ VCE exams that student face is a crisis time for them, instead of thinking about their graduation. Expecting students to take these exams is unfair due to its numerous reasons of unfairness and should not take place. The Victoria school board should repeal these exams. Students do not learn in the same, they are individuals. Thankfully for society, students bring to schools all kinds of intellect. Some students excel academically, others are artistic talents and other have vocational talents that VCE exams do not take into consideration or measure. The focus of my arguments for repealing VCE exams is that: Necessary funding for schools consistently rears its ‘ugly head’ and these exams prove to be very expensive and I believe, very much a waste of money. The money could be better spent on school materials like books, computers, and other necessary supplies. The allocated A study conducted by Charles Rooney a member of the National Center for Fair and Open testing states that, "[More than 275 colleges and universities across the United States, acting on the belief that "test scores do not equal merit," do not use the SAT or the ACT to make admissions decisions about some part or all of their freshmen.]" What do these exams prove except that they are educationally an injustice? However, I believe the truest form of assessment comes from the classroom teachers who guide the students and their learning. The generalised tests like the Sacs through the year should give adequate information that a student has learnt well the subject. Teachers are capable of understanding and demonstrating which students require additional study time and they can also gain awareness of what improvements are needed within the
Virginia’s Standards of Learning has come under much criticism over the past couple of years, and I for one think it deserves to be criticized. Each year student in every school district across America have to take two or more test such as, the (LPT) Literacy Passport Test, the Stanford-9 exam or the (SOL) Standards of Learning, depending on the grade level. In two out of these three tests, students are required to pass in order to graduate, and judging by last years test scores, most students future would be endangered if they are unable to bring there score up. This has led to the question, “are we testing our students too much”? This question was bought up at a General Assembly meeting in March of 2000, the Virginia Board of Education responded by saying they would move the Stanford-9 exam from the spring to the fall, so it would not interfere with the spring SOL tests. But this still is not enough for me, because all of these tests are designed to do one thing, and that is to evaluate a student’s comprehensive knowledge of a certain subject. So what I don’t get is, why do a student have to take two or more test a year just to evaluate his understanding of a certain subject.
Standardized tests, such as the SAT and the SOL, have been implemented for many years now for individuals in grade school to take. The SOL’s, or Standards of Learning tests, are Virginia’s version of standardized tests that students are required to take in order to pass a class, evaluating their knowledge on a specific subject. SOL’s are mandatory for students to take as soon as they reach third grade. Additionally, the SAT is a test taken in the final years of high school that colleges look at when comparing students for post-secondary school. People concerned with student’s education can come to the common consensus that education is important and there should be some way to compare a student’s achievements to one another. However, the process
... a tedious process, but the change can have immense, positive effects for the future college student. The ACT and SAT that supposedly measure a student's learning potential through multiple-choice questions should be replaced by a test of a student's desire to learn determined through the analysis of essays, recommendation letters, and school or community involvement. This change can result in a more academically motivated freshman class. Standardized testing in its current form does not accurately measure most students' learning potential. It does not allow for diversity and creates a huge hurdle for many potential academic achievers. An adjustment to a diverse, open testing format of the ACT or SAT and a stress on the student's other academic accomplishments can accurately measure the student's desire to learn, therefore measuring the student's learning potential.
According to the Virginia Board of Education, SOL test scores are the single best measure of students' and schools performance and should be the primary criteria for graduation and accreditation. But is this really true? According to fairtest.org, no standardized test can accurately measure a student's achievement. Multiple choice tests cannot truly assess critical thinking, problem solving, and application skills. The only real tests of knowledge are through essay questions and performance tests. I don't believe any single test should be used to make big decisions concerning students futures.
Although the California Department of Education (CDE) would argue that the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) is an effective way to evaluate student progress, based on recent interviews with parents, teachers, California public high school graduates and even the leadership of the CDE, there is no doubt this test creates a better education system and hinders a student’s performance. According to the state Department of Education figures for the class of 2014, 19,679 students did not pass the exit exam by the end of the senior year. Those alternatives included using the results of the eleventh grade Smarter Balanced Assessments; using results of other exams, such as the SAT, ACT or Advanced Placement tests, as a “proxy” for the exit exam; or using course completion in high school as a measure of proficiency. When asked if the exit exam was now abolished, Superintendent Torlakson hesitated, but explained that he, along with Mark McLean, CDE Assessment Development and Administration Division Director, look forward to forming a panel of students, parents, teachers, and education administrators to develop a more thoughtful approach to high school graduation requirements.
One of the main reasons that colleges have stopped looking at SAT scores is because there has recently been much speculation about the test being biased against certain groups, these groups being African Americans, Latinos, women, and those of a lower socioeconomic status. Also, some colleges are not placing an emphasis on the test anymore because the College Board has admitted that the SAT is designed so that only one half of those taking the test answer correctly. (Alfe, 2002)
According to Robert Jackson in . “Retooling education: Testing and the Liberal Arts” Colleges who changed their admission by making the SAT optional have directed their aims into a more high school grade based admission. This solution is the only true measurement we have at the moment and it is a better measurement than the SAT states Robert Jackson. The writer also goes on to say scholastic aptitude should be abolished, as it has no true value or indicator of student’s ability. A more precise measurement based on four years of schoolwork is a pretty good indicator of student’s ability. It gives equal playing field for all students from their freshmen year in high school until their senior year in high school. Students have equal opportunities to perform giving them four years to accomplish good grades for college admissions. this method gives unprivileged students the opportunity to go to college who previously could not attend college because of SAT Prep cost. Also this method benefits college admissions by providing an indicator on how students will perform in college classes making it easy to admit or deny
"Former Bates College Dean of Admissions, William Hiss, said that intelligence is so complex, varied, and multifaceted that “no standardized testing system can be expected to capture it”(Westlund). Throughout the years standardized testing has changed its purpose and not for the better. In the late 1930s, the goal of taking standardized test was to award scholarships to "diamond in the rough" students (Westlund). Currently, the whole idea of taking the SAT or ACT is getting admitted into a college. Standardized test should not be a deciding factor of being admitted into a college.
Thousands of students around the country and around the world will be preparing for the SAT and ACT tests while trying to maintain a high GPA. These tests will potentially have a significant impact on students' lives. Some will be taking these tests for the second or even third time to get that 1500 out of 1600 or that 33 out of 36, that they long desire. These flawed tests are not truly able to measure how well students will perform in college as they are supposedly used to predict. A single test that students have to wake up for at six, seven in the morning on a Saturday and travel to some random location to take a difficult test should not impact the student's chance of getting into college, let alone predict how well they will do in college.
SATs and ACTs are two major standardized tests. A University in California discovered that if colleges did not require SAT...
Lyndsey Layton has been covering nation education since 2011, she has written on many different topics in education, and has been employed by the Washington Post since 1998. In her article about standardized testing she states, “...students should be judged by multiple measures, including student work, written teacher observations and grades. And they overwhelmingly think teacher quality is the best way to improve education, followed by high academic standards and effective principals.” (Layton pg.1). This quote shows that standardized tests only judge certain measures of a student's intelligence. Students should be graded in multiple areas not just how well they can answer multiple choice problems. Standardized tests only grade students on one way of thinking and discourage creative, out of the box thinking. Kira Zalan is an editor for the U.S. News Weekly, she first appeared in September of 2011, and has been writing since. Zalan states, “...there are multiple paths to the same outcome and that engagement is an extremely important aspect of the equation.”(Zalan pg.1). Standardized tests only allow for one path of thinking. There can be multiple different ways to find an answer, but if students do not answer the “correct” way they will be graded as wrong. Because these tests are graded by machines and not people, the participants answers
As stated earlier, many states require a student to pass a certain test in order to receive a diploma. This results in many capable students, who have finished all of their requirements, being denied their diplomas. If the Valedictorian does not pass the exit exam, are you going to bar him or her from graduating? It is a fact that some people are better at taking tests than other people. Intelligent students who challenge themselves throughout their high school careers and have high grade point averages can do poorly on a test, while a student who has only taken basic level classes can score significantly higher. Is that a fair representation of what ...
Rejection. A word that I despise; and is something that has happened to me so many times in so many different ways. One of those ways was being rejected from one of my many college choices because my SAT scores did not reach their requirements. “Why apply?” you may ask, although my SAT scores did not meet their requirements, everything else on my application was perfect. I had great grades in high school, I volunteered many times; both inside and outside of school, I always helped around in my school administration whenever help was needed, and I always dedicated a month of my summer just to help my school give out the school books to students and sell the school uniforms. Doing all those things and being rejected made me feel like I was nothing; like what I did in my school life was all a waste. After taking all of those things into consideration, I still got rejected because of my SAT scores; which is why I genuinely believe that colleges should admit students using criteria other than their SAT scores.
The solutions to improve our educational system is one, stop using students for international competition. Instead of competing against other countries, we should learn from each other and help each other improve. Two, our standardized testing scores should also not be depended on for funding, which can stop the process of “Teaching the Test”. Our educational system can improve if the system stops focusing on numbers and more about our education.
Its time to change the school system to save future students from becoming stress crazed and to let them know that there is more to this world than a grade card and in the long run it is a very small fraction of life.