The first part of this chapter gave samples of state tests that 10th grade students had to take Massachusetts. Wagner goes on to say how some of the parts in the tests can be completely interpreted wrong, for example the poem that was on the test could have been taken in two different ways. Also many of the math problems would require more time then they were given so many students did not pass this portion of the test.
Reading these sample tests just makes me think back on when we had to take the standardized tests in high school and how much I dreaded taking them. As Tony says in the book these kinds of tests do not determine whether someone is ready for college or the "real world," they don't accurately measure what they are said to be measuring.
Wagner also brought up a good point about advanced math being required for college even though many majors don't require you to take advanced math. Most people take statistics, probability, and basic computational skills. They say that advanced math will better prepare you for college but there is no proof of this. Wagner suggests just taking any academically challenging course in hich school will show an assocaition with success in college. Which I think is true because the only way for our minds to grow is if we challenge our mind.
When the organization of the PISA tests were giving a short briefing, a man for the organization was asked about the importance of moving away from multiple choice tests and turn towards more relevant authentic assessments. He told them that the U.S students tend to be good in multiple-choice tasks, whne four choices are clearly laid out and that we have a much harder time with open-ended questions. Which is the truth, but this just shows that the students do not have the ability to apply what they have learned so this just proves that those tests don't not properly show that knowledge that students gain.
AP courses were also mentioned in this chapter. Wagner interviewed some students who have taken AP courses and many of them said they think they were helpful, but again alot of the material that they learned was more focused on memorizing terms than analysing and interpretting material. I think these courses are good to have because I think they can be more challenging for the students who need the challenge, but I think they need to be reconstructed in a way that they mimic what most of the college level courses require you to do like research, critically think and apply this to situations.
No comments:
Post a Comment