Tests can be false indicators
By Terry Umphenour |
March 28, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THROUGHOUT the past couple of decades two common educational practices have spurred much controversy with regards to predicting student achievement: standardized test scores and homework. Do standardized tests such as the CTP-4, Stanford Achievement Test, or the coveted SAT really predict student success? Will adding homework to a child's daily regimen increase academic skills and scores? Educators and researchers line both sides of these issues arguing for and against, so what is to be believed? Perhaps the most practical solution is to look at the pluses and minuses of each of these issues with regards to application.
Standardized tests indicate success when the test includes a large number of students tested to form an average (i.e. norm), which informs parents and educators how well a child competes with the test group. The larger the test group, the better the reliability. Standardized tests help schools and teachers develop and refine curriculum to meet regional and societal needs. Most schools require standardized testing on at least an annual basis. However, standardized tests become false indicators when they become the sole tool to measure success. Because standardized tests only show a snapshot in the life of a child's performance, false conclusions may be drawn, especially if an ill or distracted child performed poorly on the annual test.
Standardized tests become even greater false indicators when school administrators use the test to measure teacher competency, which often leads to teachers teaching to the test and voiding the test's reliability. There is no doubt that standardized tests will continue to play an important role for predicting student success; however, it is prudent to take other factors, such as student learning styles, educational opportunities and motivation into consideration when predicting student success at any learning institution.
Homework becomes a tool for success when students perceive the work as a necessary extension of the classroom. In such circumstances, homework provides a meaningful activity that helps students organize and develop independent working skills. Most importantly, homework helps students learn by refreshing short-term memories learned during the school day, so the brain can place those memories into long-term memory during the sleep cycle.
Homework becomes a false indicator when given only to satisfy some scientific study that shows students who do homework score better on standardized tests than students who do not have homework. In such cases, the homework becomes busy work and deprives students of necessary sleep for memory retention if taken to extremes. Taking time to ask school administrators about homework policy may prevent many battles at home, which in some ways might be the best indicator of success.
(Terry Umphenour is Grade 8 teacher of Concordia.)
Standardized tests indicate success when the test includes a large number of students tested to form an average (i.e. norm), which informs parents and educators how well a child competes with the test group. The larger the test group, the better the reliability. Standardized tests help schools and teachers develop and refine curriculum to meet regional and societal needs. Most schools require standardized testing on at least an annual basis. However, standardized tests become false indicators when they become the sole tool to measure success. Because standardized tests only show a snapshot in the life of a child's performance, false conclusions may be drawn, especially if an ill or distracted child performed poorly on the annual test.
Standardized tests become even greater false indicators when school administrators use the test to measure teacher competency, which often leads to teachers teaching to the test and voiding the test's reliability. There is no doubt that standardized tests will continue to play an important role for predicting student success; however, it is prudent to take other factors, such as student learning styles, educational opportunities and motivation into consideration when predicting student success at any learning institution.
Homework becomes a tool for success when students perceive the work as a necessary extension of the classroom. In such circumstances, homework provides a meaningful activity that helps students organize and develop independent working skills. Most importantly, homework helps students learn by refreshing short-term memories learned during the school day, so the brain can place those memories into long-term memory during the sleep cycle.
Homework becomes a false indicator when given only to satisfy some scientific study that shows students who do homework score better on standardized tests than students who do not have homework. In such cases, the homework becomes busy work and deprives students of necessary sleep for memory retention if taken to extremes. Taking time to ask school administrators about homework policy may prevent many battles at home, which in some ways might be the best indicator of success.
(Terry Umphenour is Grade 8 teacher of Concordia.)
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