Childhood Assessments
I am not one that’s big on assessments and test, and
this is for personal reasons. When I was in school it’s like my life revolved
around preparing for EOG’s. However as an early childhood teacher I do
recognize the need to assessed children, so that we can see where they are
developmentally. Children are always growing and changing so of course I feel
that we should assess and measure their physical growth over time. So that if
they are not developing normally there can be some type of intervention or
treatment sought. I have to be honest I feel that assessing children in school
to see what skills they have mastered is necessary only to see if they are
performing at grade level. If results show otherwise they should not be used to
hold children back or to label children. Instead they should be used for
personalized educational plans that map out how children are going to get to
the level that they should be on. If they are already on grade level their plan
should state how they will be challenged. I am whole hearty against regular
standardized testing in schools because I feel like they cheat teachers and
students. Because some children are not good test takers and secondly teachers
cannot literally place information in the head of a child. This week in our
text we learned about IQ test which produces a score that measures the overall
intelligence of a person (Berger 2016). This is a test that I feel that could
be done for fun, but not for valid results. Because over the years the results
of IQ test have been questioned.
I love to travel and one of the places that I would
like to travel to is China. Chinese parents are very avid about their children’s
education. Student engagement in the
classroom is prized. Students are expected to be full participants in the
lessons, which often include problem solving individually or in groups. This
emphasis on student engagement is common in Chinese schools, but Shanghai
schools have been leaders in focusing on understanding and application rather
than memorization and have even instituted a limit on the number of hours of
homework a student may be assigned per day (http://www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/shanghai-china/shanghai-china-instructional-systems/).
Chinese children go through a formative amount of assessments throughout their
time in school. At the end of their lower and secondary year of school they
have to take a graduation examination. They even take tests that will help to
determine if they will be accepted into college when they finish high school.
All tests are given locally put differ depending on what part of China the
child lives in. In 1985, the Ministry of
Education granted Shanghai the right to create its own higher education
entrance examination. This privilege has been granted to an increasing number
of regions since then. Since 2001, the Shanghai examination has been based
on the principle of testing what students can do, rather than what they can
memorize, and includes “integrated papers” – essay questions in which students
must demonstrate knowledge from multiple disciplines in order to respond (http://www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/shanghai-china/shanghai-china-instructional-systems/).
China’s education system is very rigorous especially for the older children because
they expect them to further their education, so that they can be productive members
of society. I feel like all countries have their youths best interest at heart
as far as education, they just have different was about do it.
Reference
Berger, K. S. (2016). The developing person through childhood (7th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Hi Leah, thanks for sharing it is a insight to know that educators in China has realized that it is " what students can do rather than what they can memorize." I sure hope we in America will soon come to realize this fact also. Teachers in America should be teaching for children to learn not teaching for children to take a test. I also agree with you that assessments should be used to help teachers map out plans for the children's development and progress, allowing the assessment to guide the educators to help and support the children further their skills and get to their age appropriate level of education.
ReplyDeleteHi Leah, such interesting information about China. With a rigorous academic program, I wonder if the children ever feel stressed about their school performance.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the standardized testing. I am not a good test taker and am better at logic and common sense. Children should definitely be tested for grade levels but I know there has to be a way to do it without using standardized testing. I deem it unfair to each child. Every child learns in different ways and that cannot be tested when given the same written test.
ReplyDeleteAnytime I think of China I think of how studious the population is and how rigorous their education must be. THanks for researching this topic, I found it very interesting.
Amanda Tolbert