Testing for Intelligence

I taught first grade for two years during my credentialing internship.  This was my first real experience seeing how standardized testing works.  It upset me that a good portion of the students in my class tested poorly on skills I watched them perform daily in class.  I was also amazed at how long some of the tests were and that the children were expected to be engaged that long.  None of the testing took the “whole child” into consideration.  While I understand the importance of assessment, I also believe there are many ways to assess what children know that are more appropriate than paper pencil tests…yes for every age and looking at all areas of development which are according to Berger are cognitive, biosocial, and psychosocial development (2009). Within these areas of development academic areas build on, such as math, science, written language. Gosh it wasn’t until junior college that I was able to teach myself the test taking skills necessary to be successful. 

I believe that the education system has spent so much time focusing on what children know that all other aspects of growth and development have been somewhat lost in the debate.  I do not have an affinity on what should be assessed other than it should promote the healthy development of all children and it should consider family, individuality, learning style, cultural, and experiential backgrounds (Guddemi, M. and Case, B., 2004).  I bring up learning style because if we all learn in different ways…then why are we only assessed one way. I think assessment relates closely to the expectations of the educational system surrounding it, which can be highly academic after preschool.  In my opinion most academic learning is memorizing data and the processes to use that data, and how competent we are at these skills can greatly depend on how competent we are as learners.  This brings up the question: “If we are building competent learners, then why are we setting many children up for failure with standardized testing?”  We can teach the skill covered in the test, but if we don’t teach children how to take the test we have failed…and if we are only using one kind of assessment then we have failed.  So much research has been done on how children learn is unique and individual yet we assess them in one “standardized” way once they begin school.  We all construct knowledge in experiential, interactive, concrete, hands-on ways in addition to abstract reasoning and paper pencil activities (Guddemi, M. and Case, B., 2004).  Shouldn’t our assessments of individuals reflect this?
My grandfather came from the Philippines to California, so now as an adult, I one day hope to visit.  I never thought to actually learn beyond what my grandfather taught me until now.  What I have learned so far about these islands is a little disheartening.  I was unable to find any information on assessing child development but plenty of information on assessing new facilities and early childhood professionals setting standards for the advancement of early childhood care in the Philippines (Nayo, 2011). I found that poverty is a huge concern and that many school age children end up working despite exiting labor laws and reforms.  The Philippines is the 12^th most populated country and children make up half of the population and 65% of the population in rural areas (Nayo, 2011).  Almost half of all Filipinos live below the poverty line in rural areas and 30% of all pupils in first grade do not reach sixth grade (Nayo, 2011).  From these findings we might consider that assessment is not of great concern in the Philippines but rather finding a solution to poverty and child labor.

Honestly, if you do not have any manners, are not respectful of other’s opinions and feelings whether you agree or not, and have no tolerance for the differences of others who wants to talk to you and what true place do you have in society other than troublemaker…doesn’t matter how book smart you are if that’s all you’ve learned.  I think we have lost sight of the child in our race to out academic other countries…we need to put the focus back on the whole child and use a “whole assessment” plan to develop “whole children.”

References

Nayo, M. (2011, November). Advancing the cause of eccd towards professional development framework for eccd workers. Retrieved from http://www.arnec.net/ntuc/slot/u2323/conference/presentations/arnec%20singapore_save%the%20children_final%20ppt%20(MayaNayo).pdf on April 6, 2012

Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Guddemi, M. and Case, B. (2004). Assessing young children. Pearson Education, Inc., Retrieved from http://www.pearsonassessments.com/nr/rdonlyres/fd21fd54-asad-42ae-9400-43878827fd76/0/assessingyoungchildren_final.pdf on April 7, 2012