I believe that when you
are trying to measure young children holistically on an academic level I think
there is a wide spectrum of things that you should look at one being the
overall outcome of what they have learned over time. I think for every child
they are not going to pick up on a topic in one day or one week, it takes time
to introduce a subject or topic and then to let them absorb the content takes
practice and hands on exercises to get them involved and understanding the
content. I feel that this should be the same way the results of what they have
learned should be measured, over time and not in one day or one week. I do not
agree with standardized testing and I never have and it is for this very
reason. We cannot just look at test results to measure the content of what a
child is absorbing over the context of a year. The day of testing may not be a
good day for the child, they could have been effected by varying circumstances
the night before the test such as not having enough food to eat the coming days
before the test, parents arguing or fighting, a death or illness in the family,
or even a divorce. Many family circumstances can affect the child in the coming
days before the test and all of this can have an effect on even the smartest
child not scoring high on a test. We should measure or assess our children
based on their overall grades and performance throughout the year to determine
their outcome. Even if a child starts the year off with a bad start and coming
to the end of the year the child has improved and starting getting reputable
grades that is a great accomplishment and should be looked at as well.
I decided to reflect on the school
age children assessment for Asian children and children in china because it
seems many times when they come to this country they are already excelling in
math and science classes no matter the grade level. Since traditional testing is still used most often
for its own purpose, classroom assessment should coincide with what the students
are learning and how they have learned it. Among the assessment tools that teacher
will use for classroom assessment include:
- Performance-based
assessment tasks
- Self
assessments
- Peer
assessments
- Teacher
observations
- Portfolios
- Quizzes
and tests
“A growing array of standardized, external assessments is
available to measure student performance and program effectiveness. With the
exception of Lingua Folio, which focuses on students' self-assessment and
reflection, the testing instruments listed below allow the program to compare
its results with those of other students and programs nationally and
internationally” (Asia society,2013)
For me
personally I think standardized testing is not fair in accessing young
children. I think there are many other successful ways that we can find out
what level they are on and how much they are progressing.
