So, apparently my brain thinks this post is important enough that it pushed me to get out of bed, go downstairs, and grab my laptop. That doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but since I've gotten a grand total of about 6 hours of sleep over the last 36 hours, my brain should want sleep far more than it wants blogging. However, about an hour and a half ago, some POS ghetto white trash van in front of our condo started attempting to fart itself to life in a manner that was so effing loud that it woke both me and Hubby up, and I have since been unable to get to sleep. Hubby has already left to get groceries because he has tonight off and it's not as important for him to sleep, while I have to work tonight and have class tomorrow. So as I've been lying here awake, my brain starts spinning its hamster wheels and forming a blog post about standardized testing.
Why am I thinking about standardized testing? Well, it's kind of at the front of my mind right now because I have to take one this Saturday morning. As previously mentioned, I'm on my quest to become a teacher which means I have to pass the Praxis exam to a) get into my graduate program and b) get a teaching license. Thinking about this sent me into a tailspin of internal bitching about my plight, but even moreso, the plight of many others who have to do this. Why? Because I am actually very good at taking tests. Others are not so lucky, and this is why I think standardized testing is a sham. More on this later.
This is the first standardized test I've taken in 9 years. There are a lot of differences between this test and the previous. The previous one was my second shot at the ACT trying to improve upon my already high score and therefore, was completely unnecessary. As I already said, I am REQUIRED to pass this exam to get into my grad program. The other big difference is cost. The ACT was about $30 and my parents paid it. The particular flavor of Praxis that I have to take is $130. That's one hundred. Thirty. Dollars. From my own pocket that I'm paying to subject myself to the torture of taking a freakin test. This is a crock. It stinks of conspiracy, but I'm not about to try and figure that out. Now, I'm not actually complaining so much for myself. I'm fairly confident that I'll pass it the first time around, that will be it. It still sucks that I had to sink an iPod nano cost into taking it, but life goes on. What I think really sucks about this set-up is that there are people who are perfectly capable and intelligent that just stink at taking tests.
There is already one person who has been in a few classes with me that is certainly intelligent enough and a wonderful person who I know will make a great teacher that has failed the exam once. She passed it the second time around. This means she spent $260 trying to pass this test. I've actually heard of much worse. There was one person who had to take it 6 times before she passed. Do the math. $130 x 6 = $780. That's more than the cost of a 32 Gb iPad with Wi-Fi AND 3G. I'm willing to wager that this person passed all of her classes just fine, but just sucked at taking tests, and with this particular test, it's not surprising she failed 5 times. I already took a practice exam, and there are a lot of questions that are tricky tricky. They're the kind that have 4 correct answers, but you have to choose the BEST one. Seriously? "Best" is often relative. Especially when it comes to analyzing and evaluating literature.
What annoys me the most about all of this is that our entire education system is pretty much based on standardized exams. I hate this. I know for a fact that there are intelligent kids who fall by the wayside, perhaps get stuck in classes that are not nearly challenging enough for them, simply because they are not stellar test-takers. Unfortunately, I don't know of any way around this. As of right now, exams are the best way to measure a student's progress and/or flat-out knowledge on a large scale. Within the context of a single class, there are a lot of options that are far better than tests. The problem is, not all classes and/or teachers are created equally. What might get you an A with one teacher might be a C with another. Hence the need for standardized testing. It's quite the conundrum, and I hate it. If I ever think of a solution, you can bet that I'll make it known, until then, I must submit to the conspiracy and take the $130 test.
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