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¶ … school-wide inquiry into learning and teaching performance and participating in professional inquiry as a colleague" I have often found my school lacking (Copland & Knapp 2006). My current Capstone project is on the phenomenon of 'teaching to the test,' or the extent to which the pressures of standardized testing have inhibited teacher's creativity and limited the development of individuated curriculums in schools today. Copland and Knapp (2006) suggest that under ideal circumstances, a partnership exists between teachers and administrators as they engage in a joint effort to discover what works and what does not work when comparing teaching strategies. But I often find (which is not uncommon amongst teachers) that the standardized test becomes a kind of 'third party' in the relationship between teachers and other stakeholders.
Rather than engaging in research to determine what works and does not work to enhance learning, instead teachers and administrators alike must shape student learning in a particular fashion to enhance test performance, rather than really reflect on how to teach students to 'learn how to learn.' Using standardized testing is the antithesis of creating...
Instead, there is instead a specific benchmark that is predetermined for students to meet, and administrators and teachers cannot question whether such standards are desirable or reasonable, even given the student body's unique background. Rather than teachers working together as a community, outsiders set the standards of the learning community (Copland & Knapp 2006: 25).
The results of standardized assessment are also seldom valuable in developing the curriculum from a pedagogical standpoint. The results of the test come in too late to fundamentally restructure the curriculum for the students, and the feedback is not individualized. While I do not deny the need for students to master basic skills, it is questionable if standardized testing really tests applied vs. rote learning, and truly enhances the learning of students most in need of assistance.
Reference
Smith, M.K. (2009). Donald Schon: Learning, reflection and change. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-schon.htm
Discussion 2
My Capstone project focuses…
Reference
Rose, L.P. (2009). Students as researchers: a framework for using action research. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 20(2).
Convergent questions seek one or more very specific correct answers, while divergent questions seek a wide variety of correct answers. Convergent questions apply to Bloom's lower levels of Knowledge, Comprehension, and Application and may include questions like "Define nutrition," "Explain the concept of investing," and "Solve for the value of X." Divergent questions apply to Bloom's higher levels of Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation; are generally open-ended; and foster student-centered discussion,
In turn, teachers and their leaders should take steps to increase the responsibility for managing their schools and assessing the performance of their peers. (1990) The work of Charles Kowalski entitled: "Caring for Teachers in Uncaring Schools" (2002) states that stress in teachers "can be more insidious than in other professions by its "fuzzy" nature: it arises from a vague system of rules and returns; it is often self-inflicted; and
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