Essay on Use of a Portfolio to Assess Students in Math and Science

Getting assessments to the desirable level is therefore vital, both for teacher and students. From the Educational Assessment Landscape chart, I believe the measurements go hand-in-hand to offer students the opportunities to show what they have learned through differentiated assessments, all leading to the final result of success in summative

Others may say that a standardized tests are fair and objective measure of students. The tests are neither fair nor objective. There use promotes a narrow curriculum. Standardized tests undermine the ability to produce innovators and critical thinkers.

Standardized tests are exams that are supposed to measure a child’s academic knowledge but have long been a controversial subject of discussion. Although it is one method to see how a child is performing, is it the best method? Standardized testing can be biased or unfair, inhibit both the teacher’s and the children’s creativity and flexibility, affect funding for schools, cause untested subjects to be eliminated from the curriculum, and cause anxiety for children and teachers.

Education has been an important part of society for centuries. Over the years it has slowly evolved into what it is today. The topic of education has been controversial since the beginning. It seems as though there is always someone that sees a need for change in how students are being taught and assessed. More specifically, many people think that standardized testing is not an effective way to assess students. While on the other hand, many also believe that standardized testing is the most efficient and effective way to assess people of all ages. The debate over standardized testing has been shown to effect students and the community in many different ways. Standardized assessments have had huge impacts with both teachers and students. Whether one thinks standardized testing is effective and efficient or misdirecting and unproductive it is a big part of the educational system. While the argument may present that standardized tests leads to simulated knowledge, others argue that standardized tests are very effective in assessing students.

The use of standardized testing to measure students’ knowledge is an inaccurate reflection of their capabilities. By being forced to take a test that does not effectively show their abilities, students become overstressed, and the tests themselves do not promote true academic achievement. Rather than learning about subjects in order to gain knowledge, students simply memorize facts and formulas to get a decent test score. Standardized tests are not an appropriate measure of student performance, only benefit certain groups of students, and do not prepare students for the real world.

Yes, tests are an important method to evaluate a student’s performance. In fact, tests demonstrate a student’s progress in the class, demonstrating what the student knows or does not know. It is the result or the outcome that needs modifications. After a paper or test or project is submitted to the instructor for assessment, that paper or test is given a value or a number based on the quality of the work, and this is the problem. This creates the illusion of learning because the end goal circulates in obtaining a high grade, not learning. In Pippin’s article concerning grades (352), she asserts, “students may be working hard for a hard grade and not for deeper learning. The interest is in the reward of the grade, not the

They do not do an acceptable job in furthering a child’s learning. Learning is much more than a test. There are students that may do very well at choosing the right answer, but not truly be learning anything that will help them later on in life. “Standardized tests, by virtue of being multiple-choice, don’t allow for students to express themselves.” (Evans) Students learn the most by expressing themselves to others. Bringing to light the flaws in standardized testing, this shows that in reality, these tests hold students back in their learning. Since standardized testing is such a big part, other important things are being held back from students because of the time in the classroom that is spent preparing students for these

For instance, “A June 2006 Public Agenda survey of 1,342 public school students in grades 6-12 found that 71% of students think the number of tests they have to take is “about right” and 79% believe test questions are fair” (Education Insights). This shows that many students believe in the idea of these tests. These tests also create a harder way for teachers to be biased against students due to the machinery grading the tests. These tests seem like the easiest and fairest way to go when including the idea that all students would be tested over the same curriculum and the same questions along with the same time allowed and creating a harder way for students to cheat. For example, It prevents subjective grading. This helps eliminate marking bias and ensures rationale behind each test question” (“Pros & Cons of Standardized Tests”). This is also one of the easiest ways to test such a large crowd. The ACT and SAT are the fastest, easiest and most cost efficient forms of standardized test that examine students on their current level of education on behalf of their acceptance into those colleges. These test are able to test students mental strength and endurance. These tests are still being proven to this day why it is still the most used testing form word wide.

I chose to focus on measurement for this assignment because I really enjoyed working on the “Chocolongo” math problem with children who attend my summer camp. They ranged in age from five to nine and I found it really interesting to watch the ways in which they approached the problem and their understandings of measuring. I began by tracking the changes in the specific expectations sections the Ontario Math Curriculum under the category for measurement. My work can be found in the chart that I included at the end of the assignment. I found it really interesting to examine when new concepts entered the chart and follow the concepts as they grew in complexity. While my chart is imperfect, it did allow me to organize the information so that you

In the United States, standardized testing is being used everywhere around the country. There has been controversy on whether it is actually an effective way of testing. These tests are deemed to be important to schools, since teachers spend countless hours trying to get students to master what will be on the test. This interferes with engaging lessons in which students spend less time learning and spend more time memorizing. These tests require a certain amount of hours to be taken, which interfere with valuable class time. Not only do these tests do absolutely nothing except restrict the learning environment of a student, they are inequitable, they don’t adequately measure a student's

All of these test are wearing the students down they are not learning from taking a test there is just to much time spent on testing.With less test we as kids will learn more about the subject they struggle with, and those are just some of the reasons why we need to get rid of some test. If we can reduce the number of test we will still learn but easier.It will be way more simple and we will still be learning the same amount maybe even more. It cant really hurt to try can it?

Students are stressed. But, what is the goal of these tests? Are we trying to make students compete with one another to see who gets the higher score? Or are we preparing them for life outside of school? Maybe at one time these tests were used to measure how well the future leaders of our countries were learning, but now it is no longer like that. These tests seem to show no post-school value except to find the most successful kids and give them scholarships to college. Going along with this, everyone, depending on their grade, is required to take the same exact test. Despite their different ways of thinking, students are grouped together and the ones who are different are “wrong” simply because they were unable to learn it due to the way they were taught. Holding every single student to the same standards avoids the fact that everyone has a different mindset and each person may excel in different subjects. This poses a question: when will the system change? Students are held to such enormous pressure that when they meet the standards, they are convinced they’re stupid, and I struggle with this, too. However, it would be easier if all of the intimidation encountered when we are testing would just be withdrawn and students can be able to take a test, try their best, and if they don’t succeed, they can continue to work hard because, after all, a test shouldn’t determine how

The word assessment has always been a scary notion for as long as I can remember. For most people test taking is a frightening concept. Even though assessments make children less confident and is stressful, assessments are important to children’s education because they help get them ready for collage, prevent children from moving forward without the help they need and assessments prepare children to become good test takers.

From the day you start school, and until you finish college, you will always be giving tests. Almost every one fear them, because tests put so much stress on you, Due to their Importance in evaluating your knowledge in any course. I do not like them, but at the same time I can’t that they are not important. I just want to know how important they are, and are they helping the teacher understand the student, or to help the student understand the material. Other people will relate the grades of their child on a test with how good their teachers are at teaching, some people do this to throw the blame on the teacher instead of blaming themselves for not helping their child study. I have heard many argument about tests, and still

The debate on standardized tests and its adequacy in testing a student’s knowledge about a subject has been going on for many years. Tests, in general, has been around for centuries and without them there would not be progress and no gleams of progress. Students ranging from elementary school to high school have experienced standardized testing. Teachers, educators, and parents are also involved in the students’ lives, which revolves around the tests, one way or another. There are many views on standardized test. However, the three most common views are: educators who are for standardized test which benefits students, educators who are at the other extreme of opposing standardized tests, and educators who view tests are a benefit if done in appropriate amounts.