Assessment testing

Education in the United States is transforming to a more holistic approach through standardized assessment testing. The Department of Labor determined that several competencies are needed to today’s workforce:

-       Creative thinking

-       Decision making

-       Problem solving

-       Learning how to learn

-       Collaboration

-       Self-management (Marzano, Pickering, & McTighe, 2013).

The goals of school districts is to adapt curriculum and teaching methods to satisfy these competencies. To properly assess that these competencies are met, educators are moving towards a system of standardized testing. Students quickly learn to only pay attention to what is going to be tested on due to the weight of standardized testing to measure a student’s intelligence.

My view on the holistic approach to standardized testing is that it does not properly assess the needs or education aspirations of a student. Having finished high school prior to the push of standardized testing, I believe that I have learned more by having to know everything the teacher is teaching opposed to the subjects on the test. Also, many students have different learning styles that are not addressed by standardized testing. In my opinion, holistic teaching should take in account the different learning styles and be able to adapt to the needs of the each student. Holistic teaching needs to take in account how the child learns and what the child learns not just teaching to satisfy the teaching standards listed in a standardized test.

Assessments in Afghanistan

Prior to 2009, the educational system in Afghanistan is going through drastic changes. The current means for assessing children is based on national and school-based exams. Unfortunately, the current educational system does not offer frequent assessments throughout the school years. The lack of frequent assessment forces the students into examination driven-teaching (

There are several disadvantages of the current means of assessments:

-       High drop-out rates during the upper grade of primary school and during the transition from primary to secondary schools

-       Visual impaired children do not have access to standardized tests in Braille

-       Hearing impaired children do not have an opportunity to prepare due to the Sign language dictionary consisting of over 40,000 words

UNESCO and the Coordination Working Group on Inclusive Education worked with the Curriculum Development Directorate (MOE) to establish better assessment and curriculum between 2009-2010 and a better sign language dictionary for visually impaired students (UNESCO, 2009). In addition, the groups created curriculum for students beyond 4^th grade that help them identify with the local communities such as farming, culture, traditions, and environmental protection (UNESCO, 2009), Finally, the groups assisted the Ministry of Education in developing a better form of child-friendly assessment for primary and secondary education (UNESCO, 2009).

Reference

Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D., & McTighe, J. (2013). The changing face of educational assessment. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/61193179/chapters/The-Changing-Face-of-Educational-Assessment.aspx

UNESCO. (2009). Needs and rights assessment inclusive education in Afghanistan. Retrieved from http://www.idp-europe.org/docs/Needs__rev3plus.pdf