High Schoolers Learning Less
I can honestly say that I am not surprised by this new study. I am a firm believer that "better" test scores do not necessarily mean that our students are actually learning more. I have no doubt that some classes do "dummy down" their curriculum and I am also certain that some teachers curve test scores to make it appear as if their students are doing better than they actually are - I have been in courses like that myself (one very recently in my educational career). It is hard for teachers to look at our classes who may not be doing that well and admit that perhaps we need to examine our teaching methods, etc. for the answer to the problem.
I have heard so much lately about "teaching to standardized testing" that I wonder how kids can actually do poorly on these tests. Is it just an excuse when teachers ask how they are supposed to teach their students when they have to be so concerned about the standardized tests? If the students aren't doing well on these tests, then what are they learning? Or are they simply learning things that are not included on these tests? I really don't have an answer to those questions. Maybe someone else knows and could enlighten me.
When I graduated from high school I know that there were some who graduated at the same time that I did that - surprisingly or not - could not read or write. How can these things possibly happen in today's schools? I wonder if we, as educators, parents, or students, place enough emphasis on the importance of school and learning and what it means for our future and the future of generations to come. This whole study leaves me wondering if it's "No Child Left Behind" or "Every Child Left Behind". In a generation when it is important for us to be prepared to take on two or even three careers over the course of our lives, education becomes of even greater importance.
4 comments:
Darlene, you raise all of the questions that plague me as well. I have some "answers" but nothing you haven't heard!!
Dumbed down curriculum--check yes in too many classrooms
Ill-advised focus on a narrow range of "skills" that don't translate well to real world literacy tasks
I agree with you that in a 3.0 world education is more important than it has ever been.
You'll see a connection in the blog quiz this week to your discussion here.
Hi Darlene,
You and I are on the same page here. To me, it sounds more like "Every child left behind". I wrote on my blog that not only do I think standardized tests are the worst thing that the State could do to students, but what happens when our classrooms are all technology? Are they going to distribute tests asking how to turn on a computer and how to access wiki's and youtube? The study did not suprise me either, unfortunatly. So many students are smart and talented and get shunned away because of their test scores and teachers lose their jobs. If only some teachers would re-evalutate themselves and realize maybe a change is indeed needed.
Unfortunately, I do think you are right when you say that some teachers are "dumbing down" their courses so their students will get better grades in order to pass. Like you, I have also been enrolled in these classes, and I have even seen some in my observations.
From what I've been learning in my methods classes, I think the initial problem is that teachers do not expect their students to perform at a high level. When they set the bar low, students will meet the bar at that low level, or will even take advantage and do less. But as teachers, if we aim high, students are more motivated to work because we have confidence in them that they can perform at that level. Even if they fall short of our high expectations, they are still doing more work than if we set the bar low to begin with.
Jami
Darlene,
Standardized tests certainly are the downfall of education. They make no sense and only inhibit students from succeeding and becoming effective in their future lives.
Sometimes I wonder if we are preparing our students properly. I see technology and students using it, but I also believe, like others, that the world may one day go back on itself and completely turn the opposite way. I do not think technology is in the complete future of the world. Maybe in the immediate future. But I think one day things will go back to how it was. Not because I want it to, but because I think we are too jam-packed. Plus, kids today are not wise enough, nor being prepared well enough, to be the future tech-gurus. The guys who are doing it now are more enlightened on the topics, but they will not be here in 40 years.
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