Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Blog Post #5- Response to the Seattle Boycott Article

Assignment:
Post a response to the article on your Academic Journal (normal guidelines apply) and then leave a properly formatted message with the link in a comment under the article. Due date: Friday, 8 February. 


Response:

         According to both the article and the video on Mr. Tolley's blog, Garfield High and a growing number of other schools are boycotting the standard testing program. They feel these mandatory tests do not reflect the content taught in class and that, although the results don't affect the academic life of students (not directly anyways) , they do affect the teachers and lead to the misjudging of their teaching skills. Another unique characteristic of this event, is the fact teachers, parents and students share the same opinion on the topic and agree on discontinuing the test. This is a quite rare phenomenon and proves that it is an issue not only viewed by a specific group of people, but the entire school community.






          In my opinion, the boycott does make sense and the mandatory test they refer to is truly not the most accurate method  of analyzing student academic capability. If anything, students should have tests proportional to the pace of their own individual class and that involve examples and situations they can relate to. Not only would this significantly increase scores, but it would also positively affect  a student's learning and help them understand the applicability of what they learn in school. However, in my opinion, even though the mandatory standard tests teachers are rebelling against seem like an unorthodox  and outdated method of testing academic ability, tests like the SAT's and the ACT's are a completely different story and should not be disposed the same way. These tests, unlike the MAP test, are a method of determining wether you learned everything you had to in school and wether or not you are prepared to move to the college you desire. These two very important tests, have the objective of testing an individual student and its results affect solemnly that specific student. Unlike the MAP test, the SAT's and the ACT's are not designed to test the qualification of a school or its teachers, but the merit of the one taking the test. This boycott is a very important process in changing the way the educational system works, though it should not go as far as demolishing functional and effective sections of it until a better solution is presented.





Video: