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Add to FavoritesTesting itself does not hinder the education process. Ongoing assessments should be made by teachers on a daily basis. There is, however, a politically driven set of tests given in grade schools at the end of each year that do hinder the education process. There is also evidence of damage that they tests cause as a result of their construction, method of delivery, and culturally biased nature.
I am deliberately avoiding use of the name of the political movement that has mandated testing beginning in grade school and continuing throughout high school. Though this act's intentions seemed good at its implementation, there is much about it that is highly flawed.
First, these government mandated final exams cut into valuable teaching time. If the government wants to mandate nation wide testing, perhaps they should be the ones to schedule time outside educators' academic year. They also ought to hire their own set of professionals to administer these tests, rather than imposing on a teacher's already filled schedule.
Another observation I have made about these end of level tests that questions the validity of these tests is that all are required to test on grade level by 2014. This may seem like a reasonable goal. The first major flaw is that this is a politicians goal. How can a politician reasonably set a goal for a system in which he or she has never worked?
The implementation of this politically set goal creates a plethora or problems for students who are of low socio-economic status, students whose primary language is not English, and students who are on an Individual Education Plan due to a disability. The way these tests are written and scored, and the way they often determine funding for a school set these students up to fail.
These tests already have scores that show these students scoring the lowest on end of level testing. Many times school administrators blame these students for causing their school to fail AYP or Adequate Yearly Progress. Is this it fair to blame these kids for a failing a system that has actually failed them? Politicians may argue that these students are given accommodations. The thing that these politicians don't understand is that these students who are below grade level may have made phenomenal progress over the year, but have not yet closed the gap enough to be right on grade level. Though accommodations may seem that they are making the testing fair for all, these students are not measured according to the progress that they have made. Their peers who do not have these same challenges have no gap to bridge and testing shows progress. Students who come from these less fortunate circumstance are shown no such progress according to these test, even though progress has been made over the course of the year.
Finally, and perhaps the most important point that I can make, governmentally mandated final exams do not measure collaboration between regular education, special education, related services and/or ELL (English Language Learning) services. It does not measure the effectiveness of that collaboration. It does not measure the experiences that these students have as a result of this collaboration.
With the success that comes from collaborative efforts, it surprises me that a better measure of student achievement has not been created. Perhaps it is because politicians did not think to collaborate with educators before they made their decision to put mandates on them. Final Exams may be helpful with a certain level of fixing. Current practices do not aid in the instructional process. I hope this can be a voice to promote change and action by parents, government leaders, and all voters.
Learn more about this author, Abbi Sharp.
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Help
It's a funny thing, they're called final exams, but almost everyone translates that to "last test". While often true, the final exam is much more than is commonly realized. Everyone knows that exam is short for examination, but they usually don't think much of that fact. After all, "a test by any other name is still a test, right?" I'll be frank, with some teachers, in some classes, the final exam truly is nothing more than another test, sometimes even the last chapter test. This is an unfortunate and lazy practice, and misses the whole point of the examination. The final examination is meant to be just that - an examination of what the student has learned during their studies, verifying that they have achieved all of the necessary skills to proceed on to the next level. Anything less does the students a disservice by allowing them to move forward without the proper preparation, in which case they will need remediating at the next level, and subsequently learn less thanks to the wasted time.
A final examination should always be a cumulative evaluation. It should encompass all the major concepts or skills covered throughout the course. It should also be announced that such is the case on the very first day of class. This lets students know that they are expected to do more cram, test, and forget along the way. A well-run classroom will build on past lessons, encouraging retention and development of knowledge along the way, but it is important that students make the effort to grow in understanding and retain what they learn along the way. The final exam helps to make them accountable for their learning.
The final exam does not have to be a test. In fact, many of the best final exams take other forms, such as a written project or a laboratory experiment. If the project is designed so that a student must draw on all the skills and knowledge gained throughout the class, it thoroughly demonstrates a mastery of the material. The project approach has additional benefits, as it does not promote night before cramming (leading to sleepy students who don't perform at their peak), does not cause test anxiety (leading to students with mental blocks on material they actually know), and it provides room for a personal touch on the student's part (which actually helps to further retention of the material, since it is then linked with their own creative genius in their minds).
In no way does a proper final exam hinder education. The final exam provides a motivating stimulus for the duration of the class. If a student practices good study habits throughout the class, the exam poses no threat to them. A student who does not practice good study habits, or even make an effort to keep up with the material at all during the course, has much to fear. This is as it should be. The whole purpose of the class is for the student to avail him or herself of an education. This education is the set of knowledge and skills that has been mandated by society at large as important and necessary for a student to succeed. If a student can bypass this system, then society (not just a teacher, and not just a school - the responsibility for education extends to family, friends, and society at large) has failed to provide for this student's needs. The final exam is an excellent check for progress. A failure of a student to be ready for a final exam is a sure sign that the student has not received the proper instruction. Again, this is not strictly a matter of a teacher failing to teach. A student is instructed throughout his or her life, learning whether to value education, whether to listen when others speak, how much time should be devoted to study, how to study, who to turn to for assistance, and even that people care enough to provide assistance when needed. It is actually quite rare that a teacher simply fails to teach. It is an unpopular view, but if a student has not been taught basic lessons in life, as well as in school, before reaching higher level classes (where final exams are to be found), they are going to struggle with the expectations placed upon them - namely that they are expected to have learned that education matters, that they do have to make time to study, and that they do have to seek assistance when it is needed. If these expectations are not met, then certainly a student is destined to fail final exams. If the system still allows them to progress, and the performance is repeated in class after class, certainly it could be discouraging. The problem, however, is that the problem itself goes unaddressed.
A failed final exam should be a sign that a student needs special attention, and they need it yesterday. Unfortunately, the unpopularity of final exams has caused their weight to dwindle with time. Commonly, a final exam will only count as 20% of the final grade. This helps to reduce the pressures associated with the test, as students realize (or teachers even point it out to them) that they can actually fail the final exam and still get an "A" or a "B" in the class. For a dedicated student, this isn't problematic, as they still make the effort to learn and proceed to do well on the exam. For unmotivated students, however, the temptation (and reality) is to work hard enough at cramming for regular tests during the year to score well enough that they can afford to fail that final exam while still "earning" a passing grade overall. This is true de-motivation at work. A system which teaches students how to get by with the bare minimum of effort can never be one which will achieve its goals. So long as failed final exams are tolerated ("because the student passed the class overall") the educational system is weakened. A passing score on final exams really needs to be required for a student to pass, and when this does not happen, it should be recognized as a sign that the student needs to repeat the class in some form, and that they need more attention in other areas as well. If this practice is ever placed in action, then final exams will truly help the education process.
Learn more about this author, Ernest Capraro.
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