In Response to Elena's Blog 5

I really loved reading your post and the video of Sir Ken Robinson. I haven't seen that one but he is one of my favorite speakers and I almost always agree with what he says. Standardized testing is a bit of a sore subject of mine. In a Diversity of Education class I am taking this semester I had to write up my philosophy on education. I thought it would be beyond hard because, as a freshman who just declared at the end of last semester, how was I supposed to know how I wanted to teach my future students. To tell you the truth, it was easy. Almost too easy. And its because I realized how strongly I dislike No Child Left Behind and Standardized Testing. These standardized tests were developed out of World War I to see what soldiers had the potential to become military officers. It is absolutely ridiculous that they have moved into the school system. This video is one of my personal favorites talking about the subject of standardized testing.

I hate how my future is decided on an A or F. Why is my worth determined by that? As Elena stated, all of us obviously have gotten the marks. My question is how much did you have to give up to get them? and in the end, how much of the information you were tested on do you actually remember?

I don't want to just go on a rant, and I know I am dangerously approaching one. My main point is that a test cannot show your worth, so why are we letting them. My freshman and sophomore years of high school we are required to take both World History and US History. I passed both easily with an A. On the plan tests and MEAP I killed it on the social studies section. But when Professor Stark asks in class if I have heard about the Alamo, I got nothin'. Or how about the geography of European nations...Nope. And the one I know you are all in the same boat with me as, the US occupation of the Dominican Republic which we have absolutely never heard of. So honestly, how worth my time was staying up late, missing time with my family, missing community events, missing the real world, to memorize some facts that I am never going to remember just so I can get into college and do it again?
I propose a shift in the way schools are run. We need to focus more on letting students carve their own paths and learn what they want to learn. In college we get this opportunity a bit more than in high school. But we are still bombarded with gen-eds that may not have anything to do with our future plans. I took Latin American Civilizations and Literature because I wanted to. And Surprise! I can remember a lot more of what I have learned in this class than many of my other ones. Thank you Elena for posting what you did. I think it's an awesome subject to look into, read, and hear about.