Assessments

·         When most people in the United States think of assessing children in middle childhood, achievement and standardized tests come to mind. Achievement tests are designed to evaluate what a person knows and their level of skill at the given moment about a specific topic such as a test covering a recent chapter in math or a comprehensive final exam. . Standardized achievement tests are also to determine if students have met specific learning goals. Each grade level has certain educational expectations, testing is used to determine if schools, teachers, and students are meeting those standards (Cherry, 2015). Children in middle childhood undergo tremendous physical growth, cognitive, and emotional development. The graded structure of the schools attempt to provide learning environments and tasks appropriate to the children's developmental levels. However, the match is often less than perfect because knowledge of developmental advancements fragmented, and developmental progress itself is not static. Just as in other institutions, education systems are slow to change (Collins, 1984).

There are advantages to standardized tests such as Criterion Referenced Tests and others that are  related to No Child Left Behind. These tests hold teachers and schools accountable. They are usually objective in nature and accompanied by a set of established standards or instructional framework which provide teachers with guidance for what and when something needs to be taught.  Standardized testing allows students located in various schools, districts, and even states to be compared.  Standardized testing gives parents and schools a good idea of how children are doing as compared to students across the country and locally.  Standardized tests provide accurate comparisons between sub-groups. These sub-groups can include data on ethnicity, socioeconomic status, special needs, etc. This provides schools with data to develop programs and services directed at improving scores. Teaching, and learning. In contrast, there are also disadvantages. Standardized testing evaluates a student’s performance on one particular day and does not take into account external factors. These tests cause many teachers to only “teach to the tests”; thus, hinder a student’s overall learning potential. Standardized testing only evaluates the individual performance of the student at the time of testing instead of the overall growth of that student over the course of the year. While the answers are checked by computers, however, there is potential for bias as in that a test at inception may be made by a teacher who may be from a white or black population and according to the teaching styles of a particular state?  The success of the schools is dependent on the performance of their students and federal funds are distributed accordingly. These tests tend to  reduce group activities among students. Because the students spend a great deal of time in preparing for standardized tests, they often skip the daily routines of playing, exercising and schools reduce or eliminate recess negatively impacting children psychosocially and academically. As one can see, there is much controversy regarding standardized testing (Columbia University, 2013) However, some form of testing or assessing is essential in evaluating children’s learning and cognitive development. But their biosocial and psychosocial development is important also. If a child is not physically, socially, and emotionally healthy, learning suffers. Not all children learn in the same way.  For this reason, it is important to assess the whole child, which is often overlooked.  Far too little attention has been paid to outcomes of education other than academic achievement. More focus on psychosocial development including attitudes and values of children in middle childhood is necessary to gaining a better perspective on the holistic development of children (Collins, 1984).

Testing practices are found throughout the World.  For example, Brazil, England, and Japan, conduct national-level tests, but each does so for different reasons: Brazil conducts them for state-by-state comparisons and program evaluation.  England uses them for  school accountability, and Japan for college entry.  Unlike the United States, which relies heavily on multiple-choice tests, six countries have written examinations (sometimes along with other kinds).   The Czech Republic is unique among the eight countries in using only oral examinations. In the United States, we tend to hear the phrase “teach the test.”  In the Czech Republic, England, Canada, Japan, and Australia, teaching to the test means teaching the curriculum.  The same agency that develops the test also develops the curriculum. In fact, The test is often seen as a mechanism to promote the curriculum (Levinson, 2000).

References

Cherry, K. (2015). What is an achievement test. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/ od/aindex/a/achievement-test.html

Collins W.A,, editor. Panel to Review the Status of Basic Research on School-Age Children; Committee on Child Development Research and Public Policy; Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (1984).  Chapter 7: School and children: the middle childhood years.  In Development During Middle Childhood: The Years From Six to Twelve. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US). Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK216779/

Columbia University. 92013). Pros and cons of standardized testing. Retrieved from http://worklife.columbia.edu/files_worklife/public/ Pros_and_Cons_of_Standardized_Testing_1.pdf

Levinson, C. (2000). Student Assessment in Eight Countries. In Educational Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el200002_levinson.pdfn.pdf