Thursday, October 20, 2011
Dan Spatcher/ "The Spectator" Precis
In “The Spectator” (Oct 12, 2011), a New York Times Education Blog Essay in response to the article, “Pressure and Lack of Repercussions Are Cited in SAT Cheating”, high school student Olivia Fountain asserts that today’s educational school systems have an “obsession with tests and numbers” that drives students to cheat and value test-taking more than knowledge. She cites College Board policy and the nature of the SATs as a “high-stakes exam” as tell tale signs that cheating on the test is a viable option and that such actions can go unpunished. Fountain describes the intense pressure that high school students are under in order to impart her idea upon the audience that schools are only interested in test scores, and hence students are only concerned with test scores – not actually knowing the material. Fountain aims to reach educators and concerned or disillusioned parents of high school students by systematically addressing each aspect of the issue from the perspective of a college-paranoid (“everything I do will be scrutinized”) high school junior in a competitive school.
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I agree with the author - schools put more emphasis on standardized tests than the purpose of the curriculum (often because the results of standardized tests dictate regional funding). The pressure that students are put under to do well is driving them to what is often their last resort - cheating. Failure is not a option, especially in today's world. It is as if standardized tests dictate the course to college, and from there, a career and life.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. Particularly now that us seniors are all going through the college application process, we are seeing the pressure numbers can put on us. It seems that schools are much more concerned with numbers and grants than what the students actually are learning, as you had mentioned. To be quite honest, I think it's stupid, this is not what education should be about. Education should be about the growth of the students not the numerical status of a school or district. These hours spent preparing for, and taking tests such as the CMT and CAPT will get us absolutely nowhere in life.
ReplyDeleteI agree entirely. Way to much emphasis is put on standardized test scores. I am disgusted at how important a five hour test is when it comes to getting into college. I believe that the SAT scores that you get should have minimal impact on whether the college accepts you or not. They should look more at how well you have handled yourself during your four years of high school rather than how you did on a test one Saturday morning at 8 am. There is absolutely no way they can judge you as a person by just looking at your test scores. So much emphasis is put on the tests that if you didn't know any better, you would think that the rest of your life would be bubbling in a, b, c, d, or e for every question that comes up.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you all and the author. SAT scores and other standardized testing should not make or break whether you get into a particular college or not. Colleges stress the importance of this way too much and it should be more focused on having the applicant be a well rounded student. It would be more effective to have someone who is an athlete, participates in clubs, etc. but may have a little lower test scores than one student who doesn't have any extracurricular activities. Standardized testing is way too important on college acceptance and I am absolutely against that.
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