Standardized Testing

Photo source:  cornish-coastal-holiday.co.uk

"The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows." --Sydney J. Harris

My quote has nothing to do with standardized testing but the education that we acquire and pass on to our students has some purpose. We just can't see the same thing all the time. Windows hold a lot of opportunities.

  Our educational system places so much emphasis on tests and test scores which can be quite a stressor in a young person's life.  I can admit with great honesty that the GRE score I received was not a flattering one.  It was a standardized test like all the ones I had taken in my lifetime.  Stress was my enemy.  Did the contents such as the vocabulary component of that test place me as a top-salary educator?  It somewhat helped me.  I earned my first Master's.    

In the previous chapter, Chapter 4, it presented some facts about other countries administering standards-based assessments or standardized testing.  Our foreign counterparts become so overwhelmed with attaining that high score that most of the time it pays off.  It shows when our country's education is in the news.   The companies who develop this kind of testing spend a lengthy time to ensure validity of its contents.  I cannot see myself creating such a test unless I am ordered to do so.  

Standardized testing has its pros and cons.  This would probably fit the "pro" mold. Does this high test score equate to the kind of a job you will hold later in life? Probably not. It will help on a resume though.  Here's a con: if my life was placed in the hands of two great surgeons, both of them have passed the medical board exams, I would have to make a wise choice. Dr. A encompasses a great deal of common sense and Dr. B relies on being book smart. No doubt my decision would favor the practical expertise of Dr. A.