wrote in message
...
On Wed, 5 May 2010 17:46:17 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

Unfortunately they are a fact of life and the sooner kids learn how to
take a test the sooner they will succeed in the 21st century society.
In Florida you can't even cut hair or do fingernails without passing a
standardized test. Obviously, as you pointed out, all "professions"
use tests for a benchmark. It is also the key to getting into a decent
college, getting a decent job in the military or even things as
mundane as a driver's license.
Without test skills your only paths to success are as a rock star,
athlete or drug dealer.


Well... there are certainly other choices, but I get your point. So, the
question is to what should teachers teach? If they teach for knowledge,
then
there'll be some who can't cut it on tests. If they teach for test taking,
then the kids aren't necessarily learning. Seems like a combination is
what
I had and what should be done. I think that's mostly happening, but far
too
many teachers are teaching test passing. There's got to be a coherent way
to
evaluate teachers, based on knowledge.


The kids who are likely to actually want to learn concepts will take
the effort to do so. The ones who just want to get by will at least
have to learn what is on the test. You also are demonstrating a
degree of reading comprehension skill. That is a valuable asset.
Then the onus is really on the test writer to be sure the bullet
points from the lesson plan is on the test.
In the end, teaching the "at risk" kids how to take tests and not fear
them may be the best thing we can do for them.
I know lots of guys in the trades who would be a lot farther ahead if
they could pass a fairly simple test on things they really know.


And, another element is teacher expectations for students. The greater the
expectation, the better the student tends to do, apparently.