Consequences Of Rote Learning And Cramming

Whether we realize it or not, test scores play a vital role in many people’s self esteem. A person who frequently scores high will be confident that they are very intelligent and will expect others to see them that way. Asimov attested to this when he stated, “All my life I’ve been registering scores like that, so that I have the complacent feeling that I’m highly intelligent, and I expect other people to think that too.” (Asimov, 536). On the other hand, those who score low on tests often write themselves off to be unintelligent. Emphasis on the importance of the ACT or SAT test scores can lead an adolescent to conclude that he or she is not capable of succeeding in college and lead them to not pursue higher education. The tragedy is that we may pass on opportunities because we have labelled ourselves unintelligent based on a test score which is not a true refelection of our

Currently, there are around 37 thousands schools in the United States. Each year, there are more than a million students that applying for college institutions (National Center for Educational Statistics). As an university admission office, it is often difficult to select students based on numbers and words that show up on their application without knowing the applicant. Since there are many factors and can impact a student’s high school experience and performance, it is unfair to be comparing every student in the United States with a same standard. In order to minimize these differences, standardized tests were invented along with the No Child Left Behind act in 2001 which enforced all students to participate. Ideally, standardized tests are objective and graded by computer. The test is expected to be evaluating all students with the same standards. While the educators and designers of the standardized tests focus on generating a test that allows them to compare all students fairly, they abandon the fact that all students’ resources and backgrounds are inevitably different. Assuming that all elements of an educational system serve to benefit students’ learnings, standardized testing is an inadequate method of evaluation due to its negative impact on students and teachers’ mindsets, inaccuracy in evaluation of students’ abilities, and the

Standardized testing has been around since the early 1900’s. Today, it determines a high school student’s future. Every year juniors in high school start to prepare months in advance for the SAT’s and ACT’s. Along with the test itself, comes stress that is not necessary. The debate of standardized tests defining a student’s academic ability or not has become a recent popular controversial topic. Many colleges and universities are starting to have test optional applications because they are realizing that a single test score does not demonstrate the knowledge of a student. There is more value in a student that should rule an acceptance or rejection. In the article, “SAT Scores Help Colleges Make Better Decisions” Capterton states, “The SAT has proven to be valid, fair, and a reliable data tool for college admission” (Capterton). Capterton, president of the College Board, believes that the SAT’s and ACT’s should be used to determine a student’s acceptance because it is an accurate measure. What Capterton and deans of admissions of colleges and universities don’t know is the abundant amount of resources upper class families have for preparation, the creative talents a student has outside of taking tests, and the amount of stress they put on a 17 year old.

South Korea and America are two pressing and influential countries in the world, both with an expressible different history back grounds and present day cultural life style. While most of South Korea is notably similar to America in architect and popular culture, there are some huge divergences in our education system such as classroom atmosphere and student conduct, what a prototypical school day looks like and how many hours we study, and our college placement assessments.

Over the last two decades America’s educational system has been descending on the national ranking chart. According to Rankingamerica.com, countries like South Korea and Japan are leading the charts in education while the U.S is rank number fourteen. There are many attributes that play a part of this destruction, but the overuse of the unforgiving arrangement of standardized testing has a strong presence. Though, standardized testing has been around since the 1800’s but the tests that are implemented today are no match for educators or students.

“Each household pays 288.000 Won (about 250 USD monthly), which is about 8 percent of household income, for their children’s private tutoring. As a whole, Korea spends about 2.2 percent of GDP on private tutoring.” (Nakamura 43). The aspiring universities are usually located in the capital and big cities, which are the center of business trading and academic training. It is not surprised when lots of parents want their children to study and achieve academically in there. For instance, in South Korea, the capital Seoul has been a place for people who wanted to work in academia or government. “Many parents in rural areas or small cities have been sending their children to schools in bigger towns or large cities. As people, especially younger generations, move to Seoul to study or work and then settle in/near Seoul metropolitan area, rural areas are becoming “empty nests.” Schools in rural parts of Korea are now being closed in rural parts of Korea due to an extremely low number (or none) of school-age students; meanwhile, many schools in Seoul and vicinity are overcrowded.” (Nakamura 33). After graduating, students will also face with a tight contest of getting a good job with the limited number of positions. One of the qualifications required by most employers is English proficiency, which is evaluated through some exams such as TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), IELTS (International English Language Testing System), TOEIC (Test of English for

Today is test day, an obstacle that in time will falsely decide a student’s future academically and morally. He has one chance to portray his academic performance in such limited time, having to forcefully disregard whether or not he is in fact emotionally prepped on the given day. There is an unnecessary surplus of students who share such experiences, who too have had their dreams and talents ripped by automated grading. This tale is nothing new, such senseless obstacles have troubled generations. Standardized tests are not a valid measurement of academic success and should be discontinued due to their one-size fits all curriculum, inaccurate performance judgment on a given day, and inefficient test taking times.

Students in South Korea take their education very seriously. Eric described their school system as a “pressure cooker”. “rigor mattered, koreans understood that mastering difficult academic content was important. They didn’t take shortcuts.”(pg.116) These students have to compete with each other in order to get accepted into the most prestigious colleges. Not only do students attend school from seven in the morning to three in the afternoon, they also have to attend hagwons which are private tutors after school. They study at least twelve hours a day to make sure they get the best grades.

Albert Einstein once stated, “not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.” High-stakes testing attempts to determine the knowledge a person has obtained throughout grades K-12. These standardized tests are being used to judge a person’s ability to graduate from high school and also judge if a child has enough knowledge to proceed to the next grade level. Throughout this paper, I will be discussing how these tests do not accurately portray one’s intelligence, how they have increased drop out rates, and also show the damaging psychological affects they have had.

Under this misconception and “model minority” stereotype pressure, some Korean-Identified students have to downplay even hide their real academic work because they not doing enough. In this group, they always maintain that pecuniary condition and social-class status is the most basic theory to influence the

Looking overseas, there seems to be a huge academic gap when it relates to worldwide standardized testing. One country that is dominating the world in academics is Singapore. Singapore has realized how much education is valued and how important the teachers are in the classroom setting. However, there have been speculations in how their students have prepared for these exams. In

That time when students must begin applying for university is quickly approaching. Many students are preparing to take standardized tests such as the SAT in order to get accepted into the university of their dreams. However, standardized tests such as the SAT do not properly assess the level of knowledge of students since equality is not the same as justice. Factors such as personal weaknesses and biological effects may not have been considered when standardized tests such as these were written or when it was decided that the SAT would be a major factor in being accepted into a university. Therefore, one's SAT scores should not be the most, or an, important factor in determining one's acceptance into university.

Test anxiety is a psychological condition that occurs when students undergo a constant state of stress and pressure which can significantly hinder a performance on a test (Columbia University Office Work/Life, 2013). There are many students who fully understand the material presented on the exams even if the results show otherwise. However, standardized testing only evaluates a performance on one particular day, not taking any external factors into consideration. For example, “if a student has an argument with their parents the morning of the test, chances are their focus isn’t going to be where it should” (Columbia University Office of Work/Life, 2013, p. 1). Standardized testing has become so important for future applications that an individual may stress about the consequences of performing poorly on the test and then in return, perform poorly. However, the results of these tests do not reflect an individual’s intelligence level and as previously mentioned, a student is more than just a number. People who oppose standardized testing argue that these tests are full of flaws and inaccurately measure an individual’s intelligence (Sacks, 1999). There are many external factors that influence test performance; however, these factors are not taken into consideration when it comes time for the

Unlike America, Japanese education is highly influenced by the culture. The student works hard during their middle school and high school since the view college as a reward. Japanese student carry a different mentality in college than high school, “ students are also widely known to traditionally consider their university days to be a social playground , a reward for the hard work and making it there…” (“ Education In Japan”) The student feel the pressured to make it to college from strict parents, this make them busy in high school focusing on academics. They view that college is the ultimate reward for all their hard work and struggle. Family plays a huge role in the success of the student and that one reason the Japanese are more effective. The parents are strict and pressure the student to succeed. The American system of education is not as effective because parents are not

South Korea’s social structure revolves around the individual’s professional, family, and education background. People who have attained prestigious job titles, graduated from a first-rate university, or was born into an influential family are placed very high on the social structure. People who do not have a respectable education background are usually on the bottom of the status pole; however, it is possible for social mobility. The South Korean education system is similar to the one in the United States. Even though the years of attendance might be dissimilar from the US, the education system still consists of an elementary, middle, and high school. After graduating from high school, most students apply and attend universities from all across the nation.