Wow... I'm seriously amazed at what you guys are saying. The sad thing is that I believe every word. I'd heard the education system in America was bad but I had no idea it was THAT bad.
Over here (I'm in South Australia, by the way), people complain about the education system being rubbish but it seems wonderful by comparison! I mean, sure, the education system is geared for the 'average' and the 'average' is gradually slipping to include 'struggling', but at least most of the time, most kids are learning something, and they're quite happy to move gifted children into a higher grade or give them extension work most of the time.
But all this testing... that doesn't happen here!
We have national standardised testing every year, called the NAP-LAN tests ("National Assessment Programme - Literacy And Numeracy". It used to just be called "LAN tests"), which every student across the country in years 3, 5, 7, and 9, must participate in. That takes anywhere between a day and a half (year 3) to three days (year 9). There are also other 'competition' tests which students can choose to participate in - the WESTPAC maths tests or the UNSW tests in just about any subject you can think of. They're not compulsory and happen only once a year - most kids sit them just to brag about the mark they get. Again, it's scored against everyone who enters across the state so getting a Distinction (top 1 percent) or a High Distinction (top 0.5 percent) is considered a great achievement, given that only the 'brain-boxes' tend to sit the tests.
Some schools will give other tests, too. I know that a lot of high schools will give the children a test in each of the compulsory subjects (English, Maths, Science) at the beginning and end of each semester, often so that they can be streamed into the appropriate class. Primary schools often give quick spelling or maths tests at the end of a unit of study in the classroom, just to check that the class has learnt it, but they aren't standardised, they're just for the teacher's reference.
I can't speak for the other state, but I do know that in South Australia, our high school certificate (SACE) has been re-jigged over the past few years to involve less tests. While I don't know about most of the other subjects, I do know that for languages, only two of the five assessment tasks for each semester of Year 11 and Year 12 are written tasks (text production and text analysis). The other assessment tasks are speaking, conversation, and observatinos from the teacher. The system here seems to be leaning very much to giving marks on 'Units of Competency' rather than tests, especially in high school -- that means that the teacher observes what the student has learnt, and sometimes the student must prove that they know it by handing in an assignment, taking photos of them doing what they've been taught, or having a conversation about it with the teacher; rather than sitting a test. Of course, some subject still require exams at the end!
I'm glad that my country seems to be getting away from the tests and assessments... I can see that what you're all describing could quite easily happen when the education system gets too hooked on tests. It's happening here - publishing the results from the NAP-LAN and ranking schools and students and all sorts - but it's nowhere near as bad!
from Rachel.
Over here (I'm in South Australia, by the way), people complain about the education system being rubbish but it seems wonderful by comparison! I mean, sure, the education system is geared for the 'average' and the 'average' is gradually slipping to include 'struggling', but at least most of the time, most kids are learning something, and they're quite happy to move gifted children into a higher grade or give them extension work most of the time.
But all this testing... that doesn't happen here!
We have national standardised testing every year, called the NAP-LAN tests ("National Assessment Programme - Literacy And Numeracy". It used to just be called "LAN tests"), which every student across the country in years 3, 5, 7, and 9, must participate in. That takes anywhere between a day and a half (year 3) to three days (year 9). There are also other 'competition' tests which students can choose to participate in - the WESTPAC maths tests or the UNSW tests in just about any subject you can think of. They're not compulsory and happen only once a year - most kids sit them just to brag about the mark they get. Again, it's scored against everyone who enters across the state so getting a Distinction (top 1 percent) or a High Distinction (top 0.5 percent) is considered a great achievement, given that only the 'brain-boxes' tend to sit the tests.
Some schools will give other tests, too. I know that a lot of high schools will give the children a test in each of the compulsory subjects (English, Maths, Science) at the beginning and end of each semester, often so that they can be streamed into the appropriate class. Primary schools often give quick spelling or maths tests at the end of a unit of study in the classroom, just to check that the class has learnt it, but they aren't standardised, they're just for the teacher's reference.
I can't speak for the other state, but I do know that in South Australia, our high school certificate (SACE) has been re-jigged over the past few years to involve less tests. While I don't know about most of the other subjects, I do know that for languages, only two of the five assessment tasks for each semester of Year 11 and Year 12 are written tasks (text production and text analysis). The other assessment tasks are speaking, conversation, and observatinos from the teacher. The system here seems to be leaning very much to giving marks on 'Units of Competency' rather than tests, especially in high school -- that means that the teacher observes what the student has learnt, and sometimes the student must prove that they know it by handing in an assignment, taking photos of them doing what they've been taught, or having a conversation about it with the teacher; rather than sitting a test. Of course, some subject still require exams at the end!
I'm glad that my country seems to be getting away from the tests and assessments... I can see that what you're all describing could quite easily happen when the education system gets too hooked on tests. It's happening here - publishing the results from the NAP-LAN and ranking schools and students and all sorts - but it's nowhere near as bad!
from Rachel.
