[Winona Online Democracy]
--- Joliene Olson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
[...snip...]
> My point is, why don't we make sure the tests that are given
> are actually measuring what we want them to measure? What
> they measure should be the curriculum we have adopted to give
> us the information, skills etc that we want our kids to have?
I think the fundamental problem with tests lies in the danger of
teachers teaching too narrowly, teaching curriculum that will
require students to memorize facts, equations, vocabulary words,
etc., instead of teaching through assigning and guiding
practically applied hands-on projects that utilize the
curriculum material and engage the student's imagination, ignite
his/her natural inquisitiveness, and promote a life-long love of
learning. Through such learning, children are more apt to learn
such facts, equations and vocab words, etc. and remember them
much longer because they were learned in a context and stored in
long-term memory. If a child sits down with a worksheet (in my
experience as a student, most teachers would pass out worksheets
with the material that would be on the test) to study, the
material is likely to be stored in short-term memory only.
It seems to me that teachers, pressured by the threat of lowered
funding if test scores are low, will eschew this kind of
instruction for the teaching of material that requires blind
memorization, material that will be on the test.
Can the tests be changed? Quite possibly, but I don't see how
this would make a difference. I think when teachers say they
are afraid of teaching to the tests, they are expressing
dissatisfaction with the style of teaching tests encourage
rather than just the test questions or the curriculum material
itself.
Lori Baumgardt
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