As a preschool teacher in a developmental day school I use a variety of assessments to ensure that I know the ability levels of each child so that I can gear my lessons and facilitate learning to meet the needs of all my children. At my center we use the LAP assessment that assesses the developmental milestones in all the domains.
As a mother with children in the public school system I know that the school system assesses the basics on reading, writing, and math at the end of every year starting in the third grade to the fifth grade. This is called the end of grade assessment and the teacher start teaching the test the last semester of the school year. The older classes have an end of course test where children take the test as they finish each course. These tests are very confusing for me as a parent. I feel that they add a lot of stress to our children’s already stressful lives and to the teachers that are held accountable for their learning. These tests do not take in account that a child may be a bad test taker or having a rough day the day the assessment was given. They do not let current teachers know where children are at the present time and how to best meet their needs. My son is in tutoring now for his end of course exams because he is prone to score at the low end of the passing grade every year that he has taken the test. However, my son is an A-B student in all his classes.
I know that these tests are so they can hold schools accountable for the education of children, but shouldn’t assessments of children be so that schools and teachers can meet the needs of their students? These assessments are only for cognitive levels however, I feel it does not assess the whole child and does not truly demonstrate what a child knows or does not know. These tests tend to be multiple choice questions except the writing test so students have one out four chance to get it right if they guess. The writing exam may or may not demonstrate students’ skills because they are given a topic to write about. If they are not interested on know little about the subject their writing will not be so great.
Education in the Netherlands is different than in the USA. The elementary grades are from 4 years to 12 years or 8th grade. At the end of the eighth grade students are given a standardized test to determine if they have reached their attainment targets. This exam helps determine the secondary school that best fits each child. Schools have free choice in their teaching methods and parents can choose where their child attends school. All schools are free public and private. I found this article very interesting the fact that schools are held accountable, however they are allowed to choose how they teach children there are no set way.
Dykstra, T. (2006). High Performance and Success in Education in Flemish Belgium and the Netherlands. National Center on Education and the Economy. Retrieved from http://www.skillscommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/HighPerformance-and-Success.pdf
Lucinda,
ReplyDeleteWhat types of secondary schools are available in The Netherlands? I remember in my travels through Russia there were some youth attending secondary school for table tennis and similar things. Could you imagine here in the States a 10th grader studying table tennis?!
Shelly,
DeleteThere are four types:
1) Pre-university schools--VWO schools give exams and give you the right to apply to all universities in Netherland.
2) HAVO schools--senior general secondary education--five years. It prepares for higher vocational education or university for professional education called HBO which lead to bachelor's degrees in various subjects.
3) VMBO--pre-vocational and secondary vocational schools-- 12-16 years old. After 4 years about 76% continue at
4) ROC--regional education center which is the same as community college in the US. The other 24% joins the workforce and study part time as an apprenticeship.
Hello Lucinda.
ReplyDeleteHere in my state the public school system takes assessments in reading, writing, and math too. We are taking a state required test in Math this week. I've also heard of an assessment similar to the LAP assessment in the early childhood settings. Now a days there are more testing and less teaching in my district.
Lucinda, I understand about your son, I also had testing problems and still do...lol I always did good in my classes but when test time came I seemed to forget everything.
ReplyDeleteAt my head start center we use the Brigance testing and in our elementary and secondary schools we have the Virginia SOLs. As, Tomekia said there seems to be more testing than teaching going on. I know for a fact that our public schools teach to the SOLs some of the schools have a program called Elgin this puts everything together. They have even cut down of recces time so that they can get prepared for the testing.
In Maryland, every March, students third to fifth grade are tested using a standardized test, called MSA. MSA's are not only stressful for the students who are taking the tests, but also for the teachers,individuals who are administering the tests, and the school as a whole. Lunches and specials (art, physical education, music, and media) are rearranged so that there are less interferences with testing students schedules. This year to make things less stressful for the students, each primary grade was assigned to an intermediate grade to provide support and encouragement to the testing students.
ReplyDeleteLucinda,
ReplyDeleteI too relate too the issues you have with your son, for he struggles with these achievement tests. Within my household, I too have children who were good students, yet did not fair well on these standardized tests. I think its great that your are being pro active by helping your son, and having him tutored. Its interesting, I too feel a sense of empathy for the teachers. I think they often feel that they are teaching to the tests, and not always incorporating their learning styles... etc.. to the needs of the students.
Good post!!
Millie