As teachers we are told to view children holistically when teaching. Yet, administrators then require students to take standardized tests. How are we to teach the whole child if we have to "teach to the test?" All year long teachers of school age students are spending every minute preparing students for state testing. Standardized tests only assess children in areas of math, science, social studies, and english. What happened to teaching holistically? How are standardized tests an appropriate assessment of the whole child? I do not see how they are. For one thing, they only test children academically. They do not assess the child's physical development, social/emotional development, or much of thier cognitive development. For another thing, the tests do not even do an adequate job of testing children's academic skills. No two children are alike, so how can all children be expected to perform the same on the same test? Some people are not good at taking written tests. Some people do not deal well with stress. Both of these come into play with standardized tests. Add into the equation that perhaps the teacher didn't present the material in a way that the child was best able to learn, and therefore did not understand the material he/she may otherwise have grasped had it been presented a different way. For example, say I am a tactile learner. I have to phsycilly work with materials in order to learn a topic. But my teacher presented it to me orally. Will I have as good an understanding of it as I would have if I had had the chance to learn it hands-on? No. So then I have to be tested on the material on a written test. I am not going to do well on the test. This doesn't mean that I do not have the ability to understand the material, but I wasn't given the chance to learn it on my terms.
For some reason once children enter 1st grade, teachers stop assessing the whole child. If we are going to get an adequate picture of each child's abilities, we need to assess them in all areas, not just academics, and not by using standardized tests. In my opinion observation and hands-on activities are the best ways to determine a child's abilities. Teachers usually know thier students' capabilities even though test scores may show different results. They know this because they observe the children day to day. They know whether or not a child is developing well socially and phsyically. They know if a child has the potential to learn a certain topic or do a certain task. Yet, all administrators and politicians care about are the test scores. This part of our education system really needs to be reformed. If it were, we would have happier, less stressed teachers and studnets. Students would likely have more fun and enjoy school more because there wouldn't be so much pressure on them and could partake in more engaging activities. In turn, this would result in the students gaining more from school and having a better understanding of the material that they are currently being so pressured to test well on.
In Mexico, I could not find any information showing that children are required to take tests. "In Primary Education no assessment programmes of the study plans are in place, given that these are of a national scope" (Barriga). School in Mexico is much more relaxed. Children are only required to attend up to sixth grade, though most children continue longer. No standardized testing is in place though until you reach the university level. I could not find anything saying what was used instead of testing to measure student progression, but I assume it is observation techniques. Though Mexican education system is lacking in alot of areas, this is one area I have to say that I agree with. I don't think testing should be as strenuous as it is. In Mexico, there isn't testing and children are more relaxed. If you ask me, a relaxed child is going to be better able to learn than a stressed one.
Barriga, A.D. 2009. Assessment in Mexican Education. Retrieved June 12 from: http://sisifo.fpce.ul.pt/?r=24&p=23
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