ENGL 101 Section 6

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ENGL 101 Section 6

Forum for students in ENGL 101 Section 6, Spring 2012, Washington State University


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    Terez Hubble-Brownfield

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    terezhubble


    Posts : 5
    Join date : 2012-02-24

    Terez Hubble-Brownfield Empty Terez Hubble-Brownfield

    Post  terezhubble Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:14 pm

    Standardized testing is an inaccurate form of testing that many students across the country are subject to. Many times these standardized tests main objectives are to determine which schools are given more money, tell students where they can and can’t go academically, as well as allowing politicians means to show concern about education. Standardized testing needs to be altered in order for students to display what knowledge they truly know.


    In the article written by Alfie Kohn, The case against standardized testing: raising the scores, ruining the schools, Kohn exploits the faults of the standardized testing system. “Test scores offer a quick-and-easy…by no means accurate---way to chart progress,” (Kohn 2000, 2). Kohn focuses on how tests are just a very simple way to track where a student it academically, but the method is far from perfect. One thing the Kohn points out is that tests do not validly measure school effectiveness.


    The standardized tests are not evaluating each student accurately within the test subjects. For example, Kohn explains how the reading comprehension portion is less of text interpretation and more of quick finding of the answers. Having short or long passages on random topics where students answer a series of multiple-choice questions sets up the reading portion of the test. The math portion is roughly the same. A series of multiple-choice questions that just measure whether the students have a memorized series of procedures. Typically these students do not know what they are doing rather than answer what they memorized.


    Kohn states in his article, “the corporations that manufacture and score the exams, thereby reaping enormous profits…then turn around and sell teaching materials designed to raise scores on their own tests.” Since education systems are paying so much for these standardized tests, the test corporations should supply accurate evaluating tests. Either way the standardized testing corporations are benefiting from the billions of test taken across the country.


    “Norm-referenced tests are not about assessing excellence; they are about sorting students in winners and losers” (Kohn 2000, 9). Kohn makes a valid point by emphasizing the truth of what these standardized tests are actually doing. Separating students into intelligent and non-intelligent groups on a inaccurate scale doesn’t give any of them a fair chance for success.


    In Kohn’s article, he states, there are many instances where “superficially” thinking students score higher than “actively” thinking students. This happens because “superficially” thinking students guess, memorize, and skip questions on the test, which is the way there are taught to take it. Now the “actively” thinking students are at a disadvantage because if they do not follow certain criteria (i.e. essays) then students will get marked down which will negatively affect their scores.
    Kohn also explains the inconvenience of timed test in his article. He says, “beware of tests that are timed…this means that a premium is placed on speed as opposed to thoughtfulness or even thoroughness.



    What are some topics that I can use to lengthen my essay to meet the page requirements?
    Is the way I reference the authors quotes in my paper effective?
    How can I strengthen my thesis statement?
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    cmbevier3


    Posts : 5
    Join date : 2012-02-24

    Terez Hubble-Brownfield Empty Re: Terez Hubble-Brownfield

    Post  cmbevier3 Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:55 pm

    1.) You could talk about how the tests affect the students in terms of anxiety.
    2.) Yes it was very effective.
    3.) Shorten it up a bit, to me it seemed like a run-on-sentence.

    Your first sentence is very strong and immediately tells the reader what they will be reading about.
    Shorten up the thesis or combine the information in the sentences to make a strong thesis.

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