Areas that I feel should be measured when considering the whole child are Social/Emotion and Language Development, Cognitive and Gross Motor Skills as well as the physical development of the child. I feel that all these areas are important to a child's development when considering the whole child, however I don't feel that you can get a full picture of the whole child by standardized testing alone. I feel this way because some children test exceptionally well and some don't test well as all. I do believe that there are good and bad test takers, and for those who are not good test takers there should be some other form of assessment to see if the child is developing at his/her full potential. I feel this could be done by observations by the parents, educators and other professionals who are skilled in working with children. I think that's it's important to assess children, I just don't believe or agree that all children should be tested the same way because they don't learn the same; what works for one doesn't mean that it's going to work for all.
In China there are typically two ways to assess children and they are the classroom and external assessments. The classroom assessment is based on classroom performance, teacher and parent observations, assessments from peers, quizzes and test, performance based assessments and portfolios. The Chinese believe that many assessments taken over a period of time will give a more comprehensive picture of what a child is capable of. The other form of assessment measures the child's performance as well as how effective the program is, is what they call the external assessments. These are done through numerous standardized test.
I feel that if children are being assessed everything should be looked at when considering the whole child. I've never been a fan of testing, not being a fan doesn't mean that I didn't know the material, it just means I don't test well. Test anxiety is real and I do believe that when you have a person who suffers from test anxiety, you'll have a person who won't do well on that test.
Hello Latarsha,
ReplyDeleteThree points I strongly agree with are that I do not believe we should base everything on standardized testing and all children should not tested and measured the same by the same test and same exact criteria because children are all different and learn in different ways and formats. I also feel that when we do consider assessments we should consider the whole child.
GREAT POST!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Latarsha,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about all the different types of assessments that can be used. I have a daughter that was in the high junior high math class getting an A+ and took the high
school admissions test and was placed in the remedial math class. We changed it to the regular math class because the high school gave us that option. I asked my daughter if most of her math tests were open book. She said yes. Some people are good at using the tools to get the answer and some people are good at analyzing the problem. This daughter had lower grades in grammar and math when she was younger and higher grades in the other subjects. I came to the conclusion that she wasn't analytical. Even engineers, however, can use a book to find a similar problem and then try to solve the problem. The ability to use tools can make up for other deficiencies.
Everybody's brain is different. This daughter has an average IQ, but she had 800 points in accelerated reading this year and over 1000 another year. She is the fastest reader in the family by far although a test would indicate that some of her siblings were more intelligent. I think she is able to read fast because she takes things whole. She does not tear them apart. One thing that amazed me is how many AR points she had despite spending quite a bit of time on the computer like other children her age. Different subjects also require different types of brains. If a timed history test were given to my daughter and I in which we had to read history and then answer questions about what we read and we had to read as much as possible in the time given because the test would get longer depending on how fast we read, I would lose. I don't remember details and I read very slowly.
Liz Thomas
Hi Latarsha,
ReplyDeleteI agree that you don't get the whole child by standardized testing alone. As you have stated some children test exceptionally well and others do not test well on the standardized test. Children can be on completely different developmental levels. We don't know what kind of experiences children may have had the night before testing. Some may not be able to focus enough the day of the testing because of something that happened at home the night before. I also agree that all children do not learn the same or better yet at the same rate. Other methods should be adopted to assess children if they are not able to pass the standardized testing.
I enjoyed reading your post and I agree with you when talking about that anything can happen before testing and the child can feel different. My nephew is very smart and he skipped a grade and the teacher wanted to test him to skip another grade. She felt that he was very smart and knew more than enough to skip the third grade. My sister and his father were going through a divorce and a day before the testing they left their house because of violence. The day of the testing my nephew just forgot everything and couldn't focus on the testing. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHello Latarsha,
ReplyDeleteI agree,testing the child using a method the child can relate to is the best strategy for an authentic assessment.
Hi Latarsha,
ReplyDeleteIt is true you can not judge a child by testing them on paper. Some children test well and others could make you feel as if they do not understand what is on the paper. It is true children need to feel comfortable with the person who is giving the test because anxiety can make a child not do well on a test, as well.
Joyce Galloway
I definitely agree with you that standardized testing alone should not be used to measure intelligence. I am interesting in learning more about China's assessment procedures as they seem more logical. If we are going to measure intelligence with standardized tests, we should also assess the material that is being taught, how it is being taught and the instructor that is teaching the subjects.
ReplyDelete