|
Homeschool Australia
Teach your children at home!
|
|
|
Save time and simplify your homeschooling life... |
|||||
| "Thank you... The information you supply is real and generous - fantastic reading. I am so inspired... Your honesty is rare. Most books do not really explain 'how' as well as you do." Tracy "I cannot seem to get enough of your writings on the whole home ed subject! You portray a lot of wisdom, knowledge and experience..." Marie "A fabulous source of information and inspiration. I am very pleased to have some of your titles on my bookshelf... providing me with wonderful, detailed information and resources." Faye |
"Every time I read your writing it feels like a pat on the shoulder, and that feels really good...Thanks!" Maaike
|
||||
   
|
The Case Against Standardised Testing
© Beverley Paine Over the years I have had lots of conversations with friends who are teachers about the pros and cons of standardised testing. While they generally find little positive about the educational benefits of testing, only one refused to test the children in their classrooms, and that was because this one teacher belonged to a small alternative school that did their best to use natural learning techniques. This annoys me, but nowhere near as much as teachers' absolute opposition to standardised testing or similar evaluation practices used to grade their performance as teachers. It seems to me that if standardised testing is good enough for the children in their care then it should be good enough for them! Universally teachers oppose the use of standardized tests as a means to evaluate staff or schools or to decide how money is allocated to schools. Here in Australia we've even seen teachers go on strike or conduct 'go slow' or 'stop work' campaigns to protest at any hint that such practices will be put in place. They also loudly protest at any movement toward using the results of standardised tests to compare schools, just in case their school 'does badly' and parents begin to move children to 'better performing' schools. Yet comparative testing of children is endorsed as a useful tool for measuring children's educational and developmental performance. My question is how effective is standardised testing at evaluating learning? Standardised testing is used to judge the growth of knowledge and skills by measuring performance on one test in one moment of time. It is a snapshot. What can we tell about a person from a photograph? Few of us would be keen to pronounce judgements about a persons character - particularly if we had to write them down in a report that would last several years and quite possibly having a lasting impact on that person's future, based on snapshot image. Yet this is what happens to children as a result of testing and exams. Even a series of tests, given over time, will only capture snapshots of performance. At best they are an aid to the evaluation process. At worst they can be used to undermine the educational process. Too much emphasis on the results of standardized testing usually translates into the practice of teachers "teaching to the test". Instead of building life long learning skills and ability they stuff children with a set menu of disconnected bits of information that can memorised and regurgitated on the day of the test. The aim of this exercise is to make the teacher look successful and the curriculum effective. Good grades keep politicians happy - arming them with ammunition to further cut the education budget. The children of our nation deserve better than these petty cost cutting measures. The use and reliance on standardised testing erodes the quality of education. True learning is interest-driven and highly individualised. This makes it very difficult to measure. Portfolios and continuous assessment will do the job but these take time and when classrooms are full of up to thirty children teachers don't have that time. Furthermore, tests test test-taking ability. It doesn't take bright students long to work out how to ace test, or write formulaic essays or reports that are easy for teachers to mark. Tests erode the capacity for creativity, innovation and imagination. Many tests are poorly written. Often the answers are incorrect. Apart from making a mockery of the educational process, errors in tests and answers erodes students' confidence in the education process. In addition, many tests are culturally and educationally biased. Worst of all, tests are used as blunt instruments to label children, and fit them into social hierarchies that have a lasting effect, well beyond their schooling years into adult life. The political reality for educational administrators is that the public will support school systems only when they see demonstrable results. But it has nothing to do with learning. When will we stop harming our kids with such misguided bureaucratic practices?
After 20 years of being a contact and support person Beverley no longer takes phone call or email inquiries. Please join one of her yahoo groups if you want to know more about homeschooling or have a question.
|
SEARCH this site: If you like what you read here, you can order Beverley's books!
Be the first to find out about new books, ebooks and booklets by Beverley! Interested in homeschooling, Looking for educational resources?
Questions about homeschooling? Wondering what to teach? See What's new on
Homeschool Australia? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Travelling and homeschooling? Home education is a legal alternative
to school education in Australia.
Text & Images on this site  |
Please note:
The information on this website is of a general nature only and is not intended as personal or professional advice.  Grab a copy of the
|
Pioneering members of the home education movement in Australia, Beverley and Robin Paine are passionate advocates of true educational choice for families. They began homeschooling their children in 1986 and three years later started the South Australian Home Based Learners network.Beverley wrote Getting Started with Homeschooling in 1995-97 and since then continues to write books and booklets on home education. She balances spending time helping home educators with working in her garden and renovating her home, as well as continuing to build her collection of writing on a variety of homeschooling subjects. Beverley maintains an extensive collection of websites as well as several Yahoo groups supporting families teaching their children at home. In 2007 Beverley joined the HEA and became a committee member in 2008: she also edits and produce the HEA Newsletter, HEA magazine, Stepping Stones for Home Educators, annual Resource Directory and other HEA publications. If you'd like to keep in touch with what Beverley is up to her in her life, sign up for the Homeschool Australia Newsletter or visit her Facebook page.