Post your "Value of Testing" essay.
Read someone else's paper, provide meaningful comments.
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8 comments:
The value of testing essay we wrote for our timed drill?
"The test has culled those individuals who are skilled in selecting the correct response from four or five choices" (Gardner 795). Gardner points out that most timed tests given are a guessing game of chance and probability. I agree with Gardner. Testing gives an unfair advantage to students who are skilled at guesswork and thinking quickly. One might suggest that this is the point of testing, but that is where I disagree. The point of testing is to gather a student's overall knowledge on a specific topic, no matter how long it takes them.
One retaliation to Gardner's essay was that "Conditions are held constant so that only a student's brain is responsible for his or her score (Moore 796). Giving a student extra time would be completely fair during an examination. The answers are still coming from the student's brain; it just took a little longer to come up with the answer. "Nothing of consequence would be lost by getting rid of timed tests by the College Board or, indeed, by universities in general" (Gardner 795).
"No one wants to be tested" (Ravitch 798). Even though this is the case in most situations, tests are still necessary process we must go through. I am not say eliminate tests, I am suggesting a) offer more time on tests or b) dismiss timed tests all together. Giving a test with unlimited time would not give a student any more resources than usual. The answers would still show the examiner what the student knows and that is the point of a test. Tests (that are timed) are not valuable because they do not show a student's real capability on a specific subject.
Aggy, I agree with your call to action. Even if students had more time they wouldn't be using any other resources beside their brains. In your essay you started by talking about timed tests, then you moved onto how testing is to, "gather a student's overall knowledge on a specific topic." After that, you went right back to timed testing. I really think you should have gone further into testing the student's overall knowledge topic and made it a new paragraph.
So I didn't know we were supposed to post the NEW essay. So here it is.
This is a Test
Testing, quizzing, and examining in schools is a) necessary, b) fundamental, c) a waste of time or d) fun? There are actually two possible right answers to this question, and they are both a and b. Testing is both fundamental and necessary in the everyday educational world. If it is proven that both of these facts are true, then why are so many people against something so crucial in our everyday life as testing? Not only is test taking a necessity, but it is an unavoidable process, and to pass them efficiently, you'd better see their significance now, because tests are not going to go away, and the only way to pass them is to a) know of the material needed and/or b) know how to b-s your answers so that you look like you know what you're talking about. Testing is valuable today because they shows students, parents, teachers, and school boards what a student knows or is learning, they shows us what the teacher or examiner has taught the student, and because "tests stimulate learning" (Alanso 801).
For many years, we have seen people argue that testing is biased and unfair. Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard University, has obviously seen, as well as given, his fair share of testing to all types of students. Gardner believes that "the test has culled those individuals who are skilled in selecting the correct response from four or five choices" (795). Although I'm sure that Gardner does know what he is talking about, here is where I have to contradict him. Yes, testing has favored students who are skilled at guesswork and thinking quickly. But that is precisely what a test is. That is why we test, to see what students can do on their own and what they can handle while under the pressure of a test.
Testing is valuable because it shows not only what a student has learned, but what their teacher has taught them. According to Diane Ravitch, a professor who has taught at Teachers College as well as Columbia University, is very much favorable to testing. In one of her many speeches given to her multiple classes, she states clearly that "They (tests) tell teachers what their students have learned - and have not" (798). Testing proves to teachers and school boards that their students are learning the material needed to not only pass a certain exam efficiently and knowledgeably, but to know the material to a high degree. Ravitch also says that "It is reasonable to test teachers to make sure they know their subject matter as well as how to teach it to young children" (799). She is saying that teachers not only have to be able to issue an adequate test, but also be able to pass that same test. Standardized testing holds teachers accountable. So if every student in a class does poorly, instead of the students being reprimanded, the teacher's methods would be examined. Therefore, it is essential for teachers to remain abreast of the curriculum that needs to be taught and to know how to teach it to their ever changing students. Testing is not something that will leave you at a certain age, testing will always be an unavoidable thing, and it will never go away.
"Testing, for both a student and teacher, is a means of structuring, and also of finding out which is blank or wrong and what has been assimilated and can be taken for granted" (Goodman 792). Testing is a way for students to relate everything that have been learning into one simple sitting. "Tests stimulate learning" (Alanso 801). When Joy Alanso made this statement, she meant that "examinations help a student to see how details (the meaning of certain words, the uses if the subjunctive, the dates of certain events, and so forth) may connect" (801). Final exams give a sort of closure to students, on all of the information that they have learned over a certain time period.
Another reason that testing is beneficial in today's schools is that it gives students a sense of accomplishment and achievement when they have completed an exam. Someone could argue that preparing for testing is stressful, and that causes them to fail. But the stress proves that a student will feel all the more relief and comfort when the preparing and testing is completely over. And even more so if you get an exceptional grade on the test. Grading offers a reward to students for something that they have worked and prepped hard for by studying. Others say that "cramming" for a test is unhealthy, and I agree with them completely. The cramming is what causes stress, not the simple studying, not if it is done properly. But I am not suggesting cramming. Once a student learns how to study and prepare for an exam properly, they will have absolutely no trouble learning the material in time for the test, if they manage their time wisely.
Louisiana schools started a program where you have to take and pass an exit exam if you want to move up to the next grade available for you. In an article that Diane Weaver Dunne posted about the Louisiana exit exams on Education-world. com, she quotes Scott Norton, the director of standards and assessments for the Louisiana Department of Education. Norton states that "through a combination of these efforts, we are beginning to see signs of improvement. ACT scores are up, the number of students needing college remediation is down, norm-referenced test scores are up, the standards based test scores are up, and the kindergarten through grade 3 reading scores have improved as well." The tests are improving overall performance for these students. They are helpful and efficient to the accumulative efforts in all Louisiana schools.
In conclusion testing is a valuable, necessary, unavoidable benefit to our everyday educational atmosphere. And because of this fact, I am suggesting that every student and test taker either a) learn everything in the world that is possible for your brain to hold, b) memorize the dictionary, or (the simplest solution) c) learn how to prepare for and take a test properly and effectively. Testing is never going to go away, not now, not ever. So whether you are for testing or not, you need to accept the fact that you will always be tested, no matter what. Time is up. Please put your pencils down.
Citation
Alanso, Joy. "Two Cheers for Examinations." 2004. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008.
Dunne, Diane Weaver. "Should Standardized tests Determine Who is Held Back?" September 2007. Education World: The Educator's Best Friend. http://www.education-world.com/a_issues/issue089.shtml
Gardner, Howard. "Test for Aptitude, Not for Speed." July 2002. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008.
Goodman, Paul. "A proposal to Abolish Grading." 1966. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008.
Ravitch, Diane. "In Defense of testing." September 2000. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008.
So I didn't know we were supposed to post the NEW essay. So here it is.
This is a Test
Testing, quizzing, and examining in schools is a) necessary, b) fundamental, c) a waste of time or d) fun? There are actually two possible right answers to this question, and they are both a and b. Testing is both fundamental and necessary in the everyday educational world. If it is proven that both of these facts are true, then why are so many people against something so crucial in our everyday life as testing? Not only is test taking a necessity, but it is an unavoidable process, and to pass them efficiently, you'd better see their significance now, because tests are not going to go away, and the only way to pass them is to a) know of the material needed and/or b) know how to b-s your answers so that you look like you know what you're talking about. Testing is valuable today because they shows students, parents, teachers, and school boards what a student knows or is learning, they shows us what the teacher or examiner has taught the student, and because "tests stimulate learning" (Alanso 801).
For many years, we have seen people argue that testing is biased and unfair. Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard University, has obviously seen, as well as given, his fair share of testing to all types of students. Gardner believes that "the test has culled those individuals who are skilled in selecting the correct response from four or five choices" (795). Although I'm sure that Gardner does know what he is talking about, here is where I have to contradict him. Yes, testing has favored students who are skilled at guesswork and thinking quickly. But that is precisely what a test is. That is why we test, to see what students can do on their own and what they can handle while under the pressure of a test.
Testing is valuable because it shows not only what a student has learned, but what their teacher has taught them. According to Diane Ravitch, a professor who has taught at Teachers College as well as Columbia University, is very much favorable to testing. In one of her many speeches given to her multiple classes, she states clearly that "They (tests) tell teachers what their students have learned - and have not" (798). Testing proves to teachers and school boards that their students are learning the material needed to not only pass a certain exam efficiently and knowledgeably, but to know the material to a high degree. Ravitch also says that "It is reasonable to test teachers to make sure they know their subject matter as well as how to teach it to young children" (799). She is saying that teachers not only have to be able to issue an adequate test, but also be able to pass that same test. Standardized testing holds teachers accountable. So if every student in a class does poorly, instead of the students being reprimanded, the teacher's methods would be examined. Therefore, it is essential for teachers to remain abreast of the curriculum that needs to be taught and to know how to teach it to their ever changing students. Testing is not something that will leave you at a certain age, testing will always be an unavoidable thing, and it will never go away.
"Testing, for both a student and teacher, is a means of structuring, and also of finding out which is blank or wrong and what has been assimilated and can be taken for granted" (Goodman 792). Testing is a way for students to relate everything that have been learning into one simple sitting. "Tests stimulate learning" (Alanso 801). When Joy Alanso made this statement, she meant that "examinations help a student to see how details (the meaning of certain words, the uses if the subjunctive, the dates of certain events, and so forth) may connect" (801). Final exams give a sort of closure to students, on all of the information that they have learned over a certain time period.
Another reason that testing is beneficial in today's schools is that it gives students a sense of accomplishment and achievement when they have completed an exam. Someone could argue that preparing for testing is stressful, and that causes them to fail. But the stress proves that a student will feel all the more relief and comfort when the preparing and testing is completely over. And even more so if you get an exceptional grade on the test. Grading offers a reward to students for something that they have worked and prepped hard for by studying. Others say that "cramming" for a test is unhealthy, and I agree with them completely. The cramming is what causes stress, not the simple studying, not if it is done properly. But I am not suggesting cramming. Once a student learns how to study and prepare for an exam properly, they will have absolutely no trouble learning the material in time for the test, if they manage their time wisely.
Louisiana schools started a program where you have to take and pass an exit exam if you want to move up to the next grade available for you. In an article that Diane Weaver Dunne posted about the Louisiana exit exams on Education-world. com, she quotes Scott Norton, the director of standards and assessments for the Louisiana Department of Education. Norton states that "through a combination of these efforts, we are beginning to see signs of improvement. ACT scores are up, the number of students needing college remediation is down, norm-referenced test scores are up, the standards based test scores are up, and the kindergarten through grade 3 reading scores have improved as well." The tests are improving overall performance for these students. They are helpful and efficient to the accumulative efforts in all Louisiana schools.
In conclusion testing is a valuable, necessary, unavoidable benefit to our everyday educational atmosphere. And because of this fact, I am suggesting that every student and test taker either a) learn everything in the world that is possible for your brain to hold, b) memorize the dictionary, or (the simplest solution) c) learn how to prepare for and take a test properly and effectively. Testing is never going to go away, not now, not ever. So whether you are for testing or not, you need to accept the fact that you will always be tested, no matter what. Time is up. Please put your pencils down.
Citation
Alanso, Joy. "Two Cheers for Examinations." 2004. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008.
Dunne, Diane Weaver. "Should Standardized tests Determine Who is Held Back?" September 2007. Education World: The Educator's Best Friend. http://www.education-world.com/a_issues/issue089.shtml
Gardner, Howard. "Test for Aptitude, Not for Speed." July 2002. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008.
Goodman, Paul. "A proposal to Abolish Grading." 1966. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008.
Ravitch, Diane. "In Defense of testing." September 2000. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008.
Imagine your in a room, your teacher is talking like a robot, in front of you is a test booklet, an answer sheet and a number two pencil. Your about to take a test that you have not studied for, and that you don’t care about, are you willing to do your best or will you guess? Is this test going to valuable when you’re thirty-five? The best answer would be no and that you probably will guess. On the other hand some students think that it is necessary to take these tests and do well on them. Does getting advanced on the SOL help you raise your kids? It essentially can, if you do well on the SOL then you can get into a good college, after college you will acquire a well paying job. Mainly because you graduated college, therefore you will be able to pay for your children’s desires and so on. It’s a chain reaction that never ends.
Every child should have access to high-quality education (Ravitch). The reality is not all children do. Schools that poorer children go to are poorer to so they are not receiving the same education as everyone else. As a result not all children have the same resources, so they get lower test scores. The government should provide the same amount of money, this way all children can receive the same education. Their test scores would be higher and they could get jobs, make money, and provide a better life for their kids then they had.
The second purpose of a test is to stimulate learning (Alonso). The fact that schools give tests to help students memorize subject material, vocabulary words, and important dates tells me that they are actually trying. Schools are trying to stimulate learning so that they can provide students with better lives than they actually have. In the cartoon by Smaller, the author shows a group of little kids playing. Presented on the board behind them is a schedule, the last thing on the schedule is S.A.T. Prep. This drawing shows me that schools are really trying to prepare our generation of children.
Another issue that comes to mind when pondering testing is how they time the tests. Many standardized tests that high-schoolers take are timed, how can a teenager take a test in a time limit? They learn. Nothing of consequence can be lost by getting rid of timed tests… (Gardner). I disagree with Gardner in this statement; if you get rid of timed tests then students won’t learn the responsibility of deadlines. Granted they should give you longer to take the test but it should not be untimed.
It is really necessary to remind our academics of the ancient history of Examination (Goodman). Testing goes back to the Greeks. Testing is important in our society today. The only thing that should not be tested is IQ because it doesn’t matter how smart you are it is how capable you are. Every one in the world today has probably taken a test on one thing or another; people don’t even realize that they are taking one.
All in all testing is a good thing. Granted a few corrections could be made to raise the value of testing. Schools are too lenient on tests but they are not completely worthless. They show how hard you work and how hard you are willing to work, they will be used and valued in the future.
Test- set of questions, problems, or the like, used as a means of evaluating the abilities, aptitudes, skills, or performance of an individual or group; examination. Tests are taken for a reason. The core motive would be as Diane Ravitch says, “Performance in education means the mastery of both knowledge and skills” (799). Testing also stimulates learning, and makes you work under pressure just like life outside of school.
Testing I a very valuable aspect of life for the fact that it assesses the taker and showing him or her the skills they are lacking in or the skills they are excelling in. “To promote students who cannot read or do math is no favor to them. It is like pushing them into a deep pool before they have learned to swim.” (Ravitch 799) No one honestly wants to be put in a class when they don’t understand the topic or anything else going on in it. That is precisely why it’s important for students to study.
Being able to study will make taking tests easier. Tests stimulate learning no matter how easy or hard the quiz is it still makes you recall what you have been taught in the past, even if it’s the night before. Alonso makes a point to say that quizzes only tests details while examinations shows how details connect. (801)
Some tests under a time limit are valued higher than tests with no time limit for the simple fact of the pressure put on the student. It’s a test inside of a test. It analyzes your ability to perform a given task under pressure. By doing this you’re preparing for jobs outside of school where you are forced to succeed in the assignments given to you under much pressure.
Testing is indestructible. Everyone needs to realize that fact. Testing should always be used, it stimulates learning, shows your ability on certain skills, and puts you under stress that you will be experiencing for the rest of your life. It prepares you for life, which makes it incredibly valuable to society.
I don't know if my other comment counts so I'm going to do another one.
Heather, You did an amazing job on your essay. The only things I saw wrong with it was that you have a few grammatical errors like your should be you're. in the first two sentences. Also, don't forget to cite the page number for the sources out of our book. Remember you can't start a body paragraph with a quote from a citation!!!!!
Raven
I like the fact that you actually used a dictionary definition for test. Did you use that as one of your citations? I would have.
I also agree with the fact that schools are trying, which is better then nothing.
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