Tests are overthrowing learning by Esther Animalu, contributing reporter
“I feel that it’s not just the test that are becoming more important than learning, it’s the focus on the test that becomes more crucial for students as well as teachers, and the school itself. Tests results, is how the school is graded. The accountability is becoming harder and harder to get everyone and everything meeting these expectations,” Principal, Mrs.Schneider, said.
“Test are very often the only way for a student to actually go back, and study what they’ve learned in class. Also, it will help the student know what they need to work on, in order to improve,” said Dr. Baribault.
According to recent studies conducted by, http://theuniversityblog.co.uk/2010/08/23/
learning-experience-is-greater-than-end-results/, in one study, a handful of teachers were told to help pupils learn while others were told to concentrate on ensuring that their pupils performed well. The students under pressure to perform well, obtained lower grades than those who were encouraged to learn.
“Unfortunately, tests do seem more important than learning. In our society, people care more about the test scores of students, and teachers. As a result, learning itself, is being overlooked,” said Mr. Nisonoff.
“I agree that tests are becoming more important than learning. I think a lot more weight is being put on test, to a teacher’s scores, to a student going to college,” said Mr.Tesler.
Another study by, http://www.quora.com/Are-grades-becoming-more-important- than-actually-learning concluded that, when teachers focus on their students’ learning, the students became more analytical than when the teachers concentrate in their pupil exam results. A further study, of 4,203 students, showed classroom behaviour improved when teachers focused on learning rather than grades. Parents and teachers play a big role in a child’s learning experience. A more positive approach will make a whole lot of difference, regardless of whether or not the student will excel.
“I think tests do seem more important than learning, however, in order to pass the test students need to learn the actual material to be able to pass it,” said May Vo, 6th grader.
“I don’t think tests are becoming more important than learning because if a student doesn’t learn anything, they won’t be able to do the test itself,” said Lira Kang, 6th grader.
“To an extent, tests do seem more important than learning because, the result of a test can affect what certain colleges may think of us as a student,” said Jessye Progen, senior.
In most cases, various students and parents will unjustly concluded that a test has no impact on the learning aspects of a student’s education. However, education systems worldwide focus too much on standardized testing scores. In today’s society, decisions on funding, resources, positions, and more, depend on the outcome of students’ scores on tests.
For students it often means more devastating impacts, such as not receiving money to attend college, not being able to attend certain colleges, being held back a grade level, and much more. Students who see a below standard or failing score on a test often do not feel motivated to pass the next test. As a result, they overlook the importance of learning. Often, the student feels defeated.
“I think there’s a great emphasis on test, as a result, it puts a lot of stress on teachers to make the student understand what’s being taught in order to pass the test successfully. However, I try not to let that take my creativity of teaching away,” said Ms. Song.
“Of course tests are becoming more important than actually learning. I think that, there’s so much pressure to pass a test that students are slowly giving up the urge to learn because they have too much pressure on themselves,” said Portia Vargas, 6th grader.
“I disagree that test are becoming more important than learning. I feel that your everyday learning skills fulfill into your academic life, such as mathematics, science, history, these are skills that students gain everyday by learning. Whether you’re taking a test or not,” said Mrs.Fong.
“There has to be some correlation that the test relates to what’s actually being taught in class. Also, the standards must relate to the learning criteria that students are expected to meet,” said Mrs.Poulos.
In a battle of wits, the valuable learning material prevails. However, education is not a single encounter. It is a series of experiments in succession, each building upon the last. Learning requires knowing what a student doesn’t know, and taking the steps to learn what a student is required to know. If teachers as well as parents, proceed to make tests seem more important than learning, learning would simply be overshadowed by tests, instead of being encouraged.
Above all, as changes in today’s society take effect, tests slowly begin to play a huge role in the future of education. However, a focus on the learning allows the end result to develop favourably, whereas a focus on the tests results would simply cloud the process.