I think
there should be a series of test that are ran to test and access a child’s
knowledge base. I do believe there
should be written standardized test.
However I think that should only be a piece of all those goes into the
categorization of a child. I believe
that a part of the test should be done verbally. What if a child knows the information but
they don’t know how show all their complete thoughts on paper but can verbalize
it better. Communication is even
challenging for adults. I for one never
did well on standardized testing. As a
young child I didn’t always understand what they were asking me. Of course it’s hard to give the right
educated answer if you don’t understand the question.
I also think
that maybe something could be done on the more tangible side. Meaning where a child is able to do something
physically. Maybe a child is better at
creating and can communicate more through actually doing something, than
answering questions. Again as adults we
later begin to communicate through books, music, paintings, and verbal
communication. “Our intellectual
abilities are divided among at least eight abilities: verbal-linguistic,
logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalistic,
musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal,” (Ferguson, 2009).
I choose the
Ukraine as a country to look up in regards to their educational assessment of
grade students. My boyfriend is
originally from the Ukraine and it’s a country that doesn’t seem to been on the
United States radar, especially in regards to education.
I was
surprised to learn that the Ukraine has not participated in any of the inter-national
learning assessments, nor has it carried out a national assessment of students’
learning, (Inna, 2010). It’s said that the
quality of education in Ukraine is measured on the basis of proxy indicators,
(Inna, 2010). In many cases children
from K-12 attend school together. It
seems to me their biggest noted assessment is how well a student knows
English. It was surprising to me that I
couldn’t find much information in regards to the educational assessment in the
Ukraine. I always thought you could find
tons of information about anything you googled.
Additional
link to look up: Educational System of the Ukraine http://www.bibl.u-szeged.hu/oseas/ukr1.html
Ferguson, C.
(2009, July 14). Not everyone is a genius. The chronicle review. Retrieved
from: http://chronicle.com/article/Not-Every-Child-Is-Secretly/48001/
Inna, K.
(2010, June 16). The 2010 Independent External Assessment Testing in Ukraine:
Why has it been questioned? Retrieved from: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/miss-inna/english-language-2010-independent-external-assessment-testing-ukraine-why-has-it-bee/
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI also found it hard to find information about assessments in other countries - I searched for China, Australia,Canada, and Japan.
It is interesting that they do not do standardized testing. Do you know how they rank against the rest of the work force as "competition"? Are the Ukrainians more focused on "on the job training" versus direct classroom instruction? I would like to know whether or not standardized testing hinders or helps the Ukrainians for college, and international jobs or schooling.
Danielle
Sherry,
DeleteSorry I thought I was on Natalie's blog! My apologies, but your blog did prompt me to think, so good job!
Danielle
That is amazing to find out that in this twenty first century the Ukraine does not part take in the international assessment. I am eager to learn more about their educational system. Thank you for sharing the info
DeleteI think that your ideas about testing children verbally and physically are good ideas. I do think that they would be very helpful to many children. I am wondering if you think that we have enough teachers or resources to do this kind of testing or any ideas as to how we could make it work. It would definitely have to have some changes from how things are currently done.
ReplyDeleteSherry, I like the fact that you stated the assessment of physical issues. Some children are more physical and agile than others. Written is also a great assessment. Written work says a lot about a student. It also can prove a point. I say this because I can remember being in school and this guy used grammar that was just not correct. One day he wrote a paper and the paper was so awesome, I could not believe it was written by him. He told us that he when he let his true side show, he did not have friends. He said that people thought he was a nerd, so he acted and spoke like that of someone with no education. We also found out that he was two years younger than us. He was about 14 and we were about 16.
ReplyDeleteSherri, I agree with you written should definitly be an assessment. You can learn a lot about what the child is interested in or what is going on in their life by just reading some of the stuff that they write.
ReplyDeleteSherry,
ReplyDeleteI had the same kind of testing experience that you mentioned. I was sick when I took my last test in high school. The monitor had to keep giving me kleenex tissues. I had a fever and I could not think straight. At that time - no make-up exams allowed.
I really believe that the state governments should rethink their methodology concerning assessments. The school district that I work under has seen so many families turn to alternative means of education.
It is hard to find data on other countries - I was beginning to wonder if it is private information.