This week, our task was to respond to a quote from Garcia & Pearson (1994):
"Assessment is a political act."
"Assessment is a political act."
Discussion Post |
Discussion Post (created November 28, 2017 by Amanda Johnson)
I agree with the statement that "assessment is a political act" because it has been used for decades to showcase which schools work and which ones don't. It has been used as a political tool for some people to get their way and make changes that weren't always a necessity or sending education in the right direction. Some of these tests are why we ended up with No Child Left Behind. That put a major spotlight on these tests and even more pressure on our young students to do well. We have been asking teachers to show the public, and our political leaders, that they are doing a good job and that students are learning what they are supposed to be learning. What these tests never showed, was the complete diversity we have in the classroom. We have students that are limited to no English, taking a grade level exam that they don't understand. I have often questioned why a child that receives special services in school, ranging from special education to ESL; have to take the same tests with limited accommodations.
These assessments open doors for districts and students that perform well. They get recognized and can include information like that on applications for school. It also may increase funding for schools that have better performances on tests, which will give them another advantage that poorer schools do not have. The schools that have lower test scores do not get the additional benefits of funding and other resources that are traditionally given to schools that have been recognized for excellence. This only causes the struggling schools to fall farther behind and never takes in to consideration the work that teachers have to do to get students that are not anywhere near grade level, prepare to take grade-level assessments.
I agree with the statement that "assessment is a political act" because it has been used for decades to showcase which schools work and which ones don't. It has been used as a political tool for some people to get their way and make changes that weren't always a necessity or sending education in the right direction. Some of these tests are why we ended up with No Child Left Behind. That put a major spotlight on these tests and even more pressure on our young students to do well. We have been asking teachers to show the public, and our political leaders, that they are doing a good job and that students are learning what they are supposed to be learning. What these tests never showed, was the complete diversity we have in the classroom. We have students that are limited to no English, taking a grade level exam that they don't understand. I have often questioned why a child that receives special services in school, ranging from special education to ESL; have to take the same tests with limited accommodations.
These assessments open doors for districts and students that perform well. They get recognized and can include information like that on applications for school. It also may increase funding for schools that have better performances on tests, which will give them another advantage that poorer schools do not have. The schools that have lower test scores do not get the additional benefits of funding and other resources that are traditionally given to schools that have been recognized for excellence. This only causes the struggling schools to fall farther behind and never takes in to consideration the work that teachers have to do to get students that are not anywhere near grade level, prepare to take grade-level assessments.
Peer Responses
For me I feel that all schools should be equal and in order to do that they should allow funding for the schools with low scores. No matter if a student is low income or high income they are all there in order to learn and achieve their goals in life. Here in Oman, the students are all treated equally. If they are low income there is no way to tell as they are all there learning, laughing, and achieving. The Sultan here makes sure to give funding to all schools equally. Many times in the USA you will see the schools and wonder why they don't have more funding. It is because of the assessments that are given. Assessments should be for the teacher to be able to help them more when needed.
Selena Alkhatim, November 29, 2017
Selena Alkhatim, November 29, 2017
You are correct in your assertion that assessment is used to highlight different schools. I'm not sure, however, that it is highlighting which ones are working and which ones are not. When I taught in the public school system in South Carolina as a substitute teacher I frequently worked at two different schools less than 15 miles apart. One school was 90% minority students scoring in the bottom 1% of the United States in reading. Most of these children came from single-parent families and faced tremendous disadvantages in almost every aspect of their existence. The second school was about 99% affluent white kids scoring in the top 20% of the United States. This is segregation. Parents with money send their kids to "good" schools and the "bad" schools are stuck teaching the ones who can't afford to go there. I put "good" and "bad" in quotes because that's what an assessment will determine about those schools based on performance. But that is absolutely ludicrous and completely unfair. The fact is that the teachers at both schools are excellent and doing the very best with the students they are given. Beyond that, I won't even concede that the students are better at the affluent school. Being born into a rich, stable, two-parent home doesn't make you any better than a student who does not have those advantages. It just means you are lucky and it puts you at an incredible advantage. I view students as "good" or "bad" not on their ability, but on their willingness to work hard to improve. The problem with using an assessment that doesn't take all of these factors into account is that it will reward schools that already have tremendous advantages and punish schools that need help. This, in turn, rewards students who are already at an advantage and punishes students who are already struggling through no fault of their own. This will only increase the gap between schools that should not exist in the first place. It is like giving the Superbowl champions three first-round draft picks year after year and then wondering why the last place team can't compete.
John Foster, November 29, 2017
John Foster, November 29, 2017
I agree that standardized assessments are basically used to show which schools are "working" and which schools are "failing". You make a good point that many of our students are ELLs or have a type of disability, yet they still have to take these same tests. I have a friend from Brazil, and when I told him that I am a public school teacher, he said that our school system cannot be compared to others around the world, because we actually educate "all students". He said that many countries have special schools for students with disabilities, etc. This really made me think, because it seems like the US is always comparing our test results with China, Finland, Japan, etc. and our student population is very different from theirs.
Amanda Akridge, November 30, 2017
Amanda Akridge, November 30, 2017