PLEASE PLEASE leave comments and critique, I have limited time before i have to submit this. Deadline is DEC 1st for UT. Thank you.
This is about the ill effects high stakes standardized tests have had on my education and the education of my generation.
Prompt: Choose an issue of importance to you - the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope - and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation.
Mine and countless other student's experiences in public school have been centered around learning to make decisions when given a problem designed to have exactly one correct solution. Over the past decade standardized testing has risen exponentially thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act and it's successor Race To The Top. The laws mandate that test results be used as a measure of accountability to rate the success of public schools. Federal funds are then distributed based on those ratings with high performing schools getting increases and low performing schools being penalized with cuts. The battle for federal funding results in a strong focus on state standards at the cost of a broad curriculum and a well rounded education. In my home state, Texas, I took the high-stakes Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) every year from the third through the eleventh grade. Raising standards is a good thing, however as a student who has participated in the system of high-stakes testing, it is clear that while the system is slowly succeeding in raising scores, it is failing to prepare my generation for their own future and the future of society.
In my sophomore year pre-calculus class, following a first semester of trigonometry, the second semester comprised a lengthy and unengaging review of rudimentary algebra. For four months, I worked superficial problems on worksheets almost every class day. These depth-less problems were given to my class as preparation for the TAKS. This pattern of learning new material the first semester and reviewing for the TAKS the second semester happened in at least one class every year. In English we would read passages from old TAKS tests to practice short answer response questions and discuss strategies for test taking. The teachers did not seem to want it this way, however it was just the way things worked.
With my education revolving around an increasingly narrowing curriculum focused on a high-stakes test, I began thinking about what skills and values were not on the test. Creativity, discovery, curiosity, integrity, and critical thinking are just a few of the skills and values that the test does not measure, but that are important to a meaningful and prosperous future. Instilling these traits into students goes hand in hand with the academic goals of education, yet today there is no time for them in the test centered curriculum. There is hardly any time left to discuss current events, complex real world issues, or take a look at the people making a difference in the community and the world. There is little time at all for complex higher level thinking.
My school experiences were largely based on the idea that there is one correct solution to every problem. My generation has had this idea drilled into them since the third grade. As a society we must recognize this is not how to effectively educate future generations to prepare them to face the uncertain futures ahead of them. Our education system must move in the total opposite direction of standardization, starting with politicians and bureaucrats realizing that they can't simply make an education system based in the era of the Industrial Revolution work in the 21st century. In reality there is almost always more than one correct solution to any given problem. Doing away with excessive standardization and embracing the diversity of every generation is something I will always advocate for. For now by simply raising awareness, in the future by voting and voicing my opinions to those I elect to represent my community, my state, and my country.
This is about the ill effects high stakes standardized tests have had on my education and the education of my generation.
Prompt: Choose an issue of importance to you - the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope - and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation.
Mine and countless other student's experiences in public school have been centered around learning to make decisions when given a problem designed to have exactly one correct solution. Over the past decade standardized testing has risen exponentially thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act and it's successor Race To The Top. The laws mandate that test results be used as a measure of accountability to rate the success of public schools. Federal funds are then distributed based on those ratings with high performing schools getting increases and low performing schools being penalized with cuts. The battle for federal funding results in a strong focus on state standards at the cost of a broad curriculum and a well rounded education. In my home state, Texas, I took the high-stakes Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) every year from the third through the eleventh grade. Raising standards is a good thing, however as a student who has participated in the system of high-stakes testing, it is clear that while the system is slowly succeeding in raising scores, it is failing to prepare my generation for their own future and the future of society.
In my sophomore year pre-calculus class, following a first semester of trigonometry, the second semester comprised a lengthy and unengaging review of rudimentary algebra. For four months, I worked superficial problems on worksheets almost every class day. These depth-less problems were given to my class as preparation for the TAKS. This pattern of learning new material the first semester and reviewing for the TAKS the second semester happened in at least one class every year. In English we would read passages from old TAKS tests to practice short answer response questions and discuss strategies for test taking. The teachers did not seem to want it this way, however it was just the way things worked.
With my education revolving around an increasingly narrowing curriculum focused on a high-stakes test, I began thinking about what skills and values were not on the test. Creativity, discovery, curiosity, integrity, and critical thinking are just a few of the skills and values that the test does not measure, but that are important to a meaningful and prosperous future. Instilling these traits into students goes hand in hand with the academic goals of education, yet today there is no time for them in the test centered curriculum. There is hardly any time left to discuss current events, complex real world issues, or take a look at the people making a difference in the community and the world. There is little time at all for complex higher level thinking.
My school experiences were largely based on the idea that there is one correct solution to every problem. My generation has had this idea drilled into them since the third grade. As a society we must recognize this is not how to effectively educate future generations to prepare them to face the uncertain futures ahead of them. Our education system must move in the total opposite direction of standardization, starting with politicians and bureaucrats realizing that they can't simply make an education system based in the era of the Industrial Revolution work in the 21st century. In reality there is almost always more than one correct solution to any given problem. Doing away with excessive standardization and embracing the diversity of every generation is something I will always advocate for. For now by simply raising awareness, in the future by voting and voicing my opinions to those I elect to represent my community, my state, and my country.
