There is no valid way in which I can adjust my teaching methods to relate to the narrowly focused test material without severely harming my or my students' goals towards excellence and future success.
Having spoken with other teachers in my school and district, I have found that the problem also applies to teachers of other subject areas and other schools in my district. After carefully considering the issue, it was decided that a number of suggestions should be made to the School Board and district authorities. These are of course substantiated with current teaching and assessment theory.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The first and most important suggestion will be that the assessment methods should be more closely related to teaching methods in the classroom. Like children, teachers have their particular personalities and goals for the classroom. These are concomitant with teaching methods, and should also run parallel to assessment techniques. Of course it is not suggested that existing, standardized tests be eliminated. These are important in terms of setting a district standard. However, we feel that individual goals and teaching should also play a role in order to diversify teaching methods.
At the moment standardized testing plays too large a role in the education process (Taylor & Nolen, 2005, p. 3), and the danger is that too many people will focus on these to determine a child's academic strength. Concomitantly, a danger mentioned by Porter (1995) is that teachers placing too much emphasis on the standardized test will in turn teach according to the assessment demands rather than according to the curriculum and pedagogic goals that teachers deem important for the success of their individual classrooms.
One such addition could be the student profile, group work done in class, or other methods of in-class, group assessment. Individual assessment by means of methods such as oral or in-class essays or other tasks can also be used. It should be kept in mind that each subject field will have a specific...
It is also our feeling that there is not sufficient communication with teachers, who work with teaching material from day-to-day. This point will also be used to make the suggestion that teachers should be more involved in standardized assessment creation. This will give teachers a greater sense of control and integration with their subject-specific and classroom-oriented goals.
Involving teachers in the assessment process to a greater degree will benefit not only teachers and students, but also the future of the country. Targeted, effective education is the key to providing the country with young people who are motivated to educate themselves for the improvement of their own and other's lives.
Conclusion: Towards the Future
The team I have gathered will then do thorough research on teaching and assessment methods, and how these integrate to produce a well-rounded, well-adjusted student. This is a challenge that every teacher faces, as students are seldom in a single classroom for more than one year. If teachers and program administrators can work on the issue as a team, this will greatly improve the flaws that are currently identified in the process. Surely teachers and learners deserve the best that this country can offer.
Sources
Hlebowitsh, Peter S. (2005). Designing the School Curriculum. First Edition. Allyn and Bacon.
Porter, Andrew. (1995). Critical Issue: Integrating Assessmsent and Instruction in Ways that Support Learning. Wisconsin Center for Education Research. http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/assment/as500.htm
Porter, Andrew (2004, Jan 2). Curriculum Assessment.Vanderbilt University. http://www.secsupport.org/pdf/curricassess.pdf
Taylor, Catherine S. & Nolen, Susan Bobbitt. (2005). Classroom Assessment: Supporting Teaching and Learning in Real Classrooms. Merrill/Prentice Hall.
