User Comments

1. 

   4/15/09

   cookingasshole

   I think there should be standardized tests in grammar and spelling

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2. 

   4/15/09

   footiam

   don't like the idea of standardised teaching. It suggests that everyone is the same.

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3. 

   4/15/09

   kat822

   standardized testing has its place in education, however now it's tied to funding due to No Child Left Behind also which is another subject all together. I use standardized testing to determine if a student has a learning disability all the time. It's a good way to determine where a student is performing in comparison to their IQ

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4. 

   4/15/09

   dannyvice

   It's odd.
   
   The more people scrap traditional old school teaching techniques in lieu of nanny state policies.... the further behind our children become as compared to the rest of the world...
   
   The more educators scrap the basics "because they are old fashioned" the further we drop on the world scale.
   
   Standardized testing is the only true way to manage the development of billions of children - while being able to identify areas needing improvement right down to an individual basis.
   
   Standardized testing simply means.... "Here... lets start with this standard as being "where most students are at by this age"...
   
   Using this yard stick allows you to see where your child might need some additional help.
   
   My daughter (4) is currently getting a little speech therapy from the district, to help her develop some of her words... this was provided thanks to a standardized test which revealed that her speech skills were lagging behind a bit. Now she is back on target.
   
   If you want your kids to hang out in the wind.... then that's your choice... But don't punish my kids with that approach.

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   1. 

      4/20/09

      TimWicks

      Hi Danny,
      
      I think your post is spot on, and I appreciate you making your point. So much in our system is based on standardised testing. As a special school teacher I am aware of how funding is attached to results, and how one student can actually miss out on resources they need because of the wrong results (for whatever reason), I see this all the time. I also see funding go to areas of the department where it is not necessarily needed, but the right results were produced. These are just a couple of ways in which standardised testing can be a disaster. I am glad it has worked for you, as it has for some of my friends, and many of my students.
      
      I still hold to the argument that it misses as much as it hits, and that we, as adults in the 21st century can do better. It is not good enough to say, “oh well, it’s systemic, what can we do about it?”
      
      There are more comments made by people that are not on Blog Catalog here:
      
      www.timetoshine.com.au/component/option,com_wordpress/Itemid,55/p,174
   2. 

      4/21/09

      Anok

      I knew I could find something to agree with you about, Danny
      
      I agree, I see nothing wrong with proper standardized testing, and, I'm afraid that the more experimental we get with education, the more lax we get with the results.
      
      I don't for a minute believe that education is having problems just because of testing, I believe that our educational system is having a very hard time due to a combination of factors, up to and including funding, improper training of (new-ish) teachers, classes that are too large, school days that are structured poorly, parents who are inactive or apathetic about their children's education, cutting of beneficial programs for children etc and so forth.
5. 

   4/20/09

   kat822

   good post !

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6. 

   4/21/09

   exit2013

   Equal opportunity unfortunately doesn't produce equal results.
   A lot of people have a hard time accepting that.

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   1. 

      4/21/09

      TimWicks

      I am not sure what this means? Can you explain?
   2. 

      4/21/09

      elitethinker

      As for me diversity of opportunity is more important than equal opportunity. Today the system tends to favor too much "intellectual" or "abstract" ability instead of "practical" ones. I'm rather of the first type but I find it's a pity that the second type of ability is not so well upraised in our society.
      
      I don't know in US, but in France to become a Health Doctor you have to do a lot of Maths so that today people do not trust Doctors any more as they don't seem to really know practice of health
7. 

   4/21/09

   elitethinker

   It depends on the quality of the standard. Lowering more and more quality so as to pretend that more and more children pass the grade isn't really a good standard, it's regression and demagogy.
   
   Also what the system will do with those out of the 2 or 3 sigma on the Bell Curve ? If it's about orienting the "defects" towards a garage or dumping the most brilliant because they are out of norm, this is not good either.
   
   Last these tests are not absolute science, just a few tests will decide the career of your life this is really creazy. Happily as for me I was brilliant at school so I wasn't victim of this system but I saw many people who could have made a great job but failed at a few tests because on that day they were too emotive, the consequence is for their whole life.

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   1. 

      4/22/09

      TimWicks

      Hi elitethinker,
      
      below is a quote from a comment made on my blog that I think parallels with what you say:
      
      "these tests can cause extreme stress on children, teachers, parents and school communities. They give only a snap shot of where a child is on a particular day and do not take into consideration the child’s physical or emotional well being. Coleen.
8. 

   4/21/09

   MonkeyWrench

   I think standardized testing just leads to teachers teaching to the test, and the end result is that the kids don't learn anything, they only learn enough to regurgitate onto an assessment paper.
   
   Count me against state-mandated testing.
   
   
   wrench

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