Although I do not agree with all the standardized tests
children have to take, I do think assessing children’s skills are
important. It is important to know what
children understand and what they need more help in understanding. For example, my preschoolers practice the
skill of counting all the time. Usually
this practice takes place in a small group or whole group. Having the children
count together is great but sometimes I need to take children aside and really
assess whether they know how to count on their own without other children
counting with them. I need to do this
assessment to know whether counting is something they need work on. Sometimes I might do my assessment by just
having them count for me or by observing them counting during lab time.
I do not agree with all of the computer tests children have
to do these days. I think that children
need to be able to answer assessment questions in their preferred learning
style. Many children need more hands on
opportunities to really be able to answer questions. There needs to be different ways for children
to show what they really know about a topic. I believe teachers need to be able to assess
children by observation and not always by a standardized test.
Since 2010 New Zealand has had a curriculum for the years 1
– 13, which is typically ages 5 to 13. For primary education (1-8 years) they follow
national standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Teachers are expected
to assess children in regards to the standards and regularly report the progress
to parents. New Zealand’s education
system is highly inclusive in regards to special education. Children from year 3 to 10 take the
Progressive Achievement Test (PAT) each year.
This test is taken at the beginning of the school year and maybe at the
end but it is not taken more than two times a year. This test has four different parts that
measures reading vocabulary, reading comprehension, listening comprehension and
mathematics. The data from this test can
be compared to other children taking the test.
Each one of these tests takes approximately 25 to 45 minutes. Other tests children take in New Zealand are
the STAR test, which is a reading test and the AsTTle, which stands for
Assessment Tool for Teaching and Learning.
This test is a numeracy and literacy assessment tool.
The PAT test sounds a lot like the NWEA test our elementary
students take at least twice a year. The
NWEA is done on the computers and tests different areas such as reading and
mathematics.
References
Nusche, D.,
Laveault, D., MacBeath, J. & Santiago, P. (2011). OECD Review of Evaluation and Assessment in
Education: New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/education/school/49681441.pdf
NZCER. Understanding PATs – for parents and the community. Retrieved from http://www.nzcer.org.nz/tests/understanding-pats-parents-and-community
Yes, exactly there are ways that children can be assessed without the pressure of knowing that they are being assessed. Its all in how creative the educator can be to pull these skills from the child. Many children also respond better in a group setting when asked questions because they want to show their peers that they are just as smart. Computerized test can make anyone nervous because the entire test you are constantly thinking how many you got wrong or just trying to hurry through the test. Many things can affect the way you test on any particular day. Enjoyed reading!!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Courtney, I would agee with you that children should be assessed for what they do know and need support to master. I feel that standardized testing doesnt give a full understanding knowledge of young children and how to best support them to continue to grow and develop within their lives. It amazes me how the world feels regarding testing of children and each country have their own test to give to children. Testing should be used for measuring how a child's brain can process the testing and how to support the children to understand the knowledge regarding standardized testing. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteChildren need to be assessed in more then one way so you as the teacher are truly getting an idea of where that student is at. If everything you do is solely based on standardized tests then you aren't getting the correct data on the students.
ReplyDeletehi Courtney, Its the end of the road and everytime I would go to do my homework I would see your long paragraphs and great insight and be amazed by everything that you would write about children around the world and solutions to healthly change a child and the way they think. What im trying to say is that you are going to do great things on your path to childhood development
ReplyDeletesincerely ,
Triana Hendy