Do the Schools have Appropriate Testing Methods?

The tests are important part of the assessment of students’ progress in the schools and colleges. Most of the tests given to the students are standards ones considering the aptitude of the students in general. For some of the students these tests could be above their intelligence and for some others it could be fairly easier. Besides other doubts there have been questions about the number of tests the students should take during their academic year. In recently held town hall meeting hosted by Univision, a student Luis Ayala asked President Obama if it was possible to find out the way by which the number of tests the students have to take can be reduced. To this Obama said, “We have piled on a lot of standardized tests on our kids. Now, there’s nothing wrong with a standardized test being given occasionally just to give a baseline of where kids are at. Malia and Sasha, my two daughters, they just recently took a standardized test. But it wasn’t a high-stakes test. It wasn’t a test where they had to panic. I mean, they didn’t even really know that they were going to take it ahead of time. They didn’t study for it, they just went ahead and took it. And it was a tool to diagnose where they were strong, where they were weak, and what the teachers needed to emphasize.” He further said, “Too often what we’ve been doing is using these tests to punish students or to, in some cases, punish schools. And so what we’ve said is let’s find a test that everybody agrees makes sense; let’s apply it in a less pressured-packed atmosphere; let’s figure out whether we have to do it every year or whether we can do it maybe every several years; and let’s make sure that that’s not the only way we’re judging whether a school is doing well.” Considering that the tests taken in the schools are standard, the President knows well that the teaching is done as per these tests, but many other important aspects of the studies are ignored. He said, “So what I want to do is -- one thing I never want to see happen is schools that are just teaching to the test. Because then you’re not learning about the world; you’re not learning about different cultures, you’re not learning about science, you’re not learning about math. All you’re learning about is how to fill out a little bubble on an exam and the little tricks that you need to do in order to take a test. And that’s not going to make education interesting to you. And young people do well in stuff that they’re interested in. They’re not going to do as well if it’s boring.” It would have been nice if the President on his part would have suggested some alternative testing methods. He could also get views of important traditional and online degree colleges like Almeda University for the testing methods being followed by them and what could be the best methodology for the school students. It is easy to understand President’s strong will to improve the education system, but he has to set the realistic aims and deadlines and have right people onboard.