Well, this isn't all that original, but I've been thinking about it lately for reasons that will become apparent in about, oh, three seconds.
I took my placement tests this morning. The English Test was extraordinarily easy and I finished it with about a half-hour, forty minutes to spare. Okay, fine. The Math Test, however left me flabbergasted. It took me the entire hour and a half to mostly guess my way through it. I knew the material, hell, if I'd stopped to think about it, I may have even be able to remember how to do it. I could pretty much only do simple algebra and a little bit of trig. And when I say a little bit, I mean a very little bit. Anyway, let me get to my point- is testing really indicative of how intelligent you are or what classes you should take?
I'm probably going to get put in a remedial math class because of my placement testing. Lord knows I did crappy on the ACT; I got a 23 on the math portion, which was my lowest score. The rest I had 30's and a 33. So, I'm relatively intelligent. I'm not mensa or anything, but I can hold my own in a discussion on history, literature, religion, philosophy, science (more theory than details here, especially if they pertain to math) and ethics. And you know what? It's not like I didn't know the material of the test. I have had every one of those problems in a math class at some point. Now, I'll probably have to retake all those classes in college. Is that fair if I've taken the classes, passed them, and with minimal explanation remember how to do the problems? That's always been my problem, I understand what the math is doing, and the majority of the time I can do the steps and the correct algebra, etc, but I can't make it work. I can't get the right answer. We're doing stuff in my math class right now that I've done since Sophomore year, and I can't get the correct answer!
Some people are bad at taking tests all around. They either do better orally or in essays or whatever. Am I just a bad math test taker? I'm really disappointed because I don't need math for anything I want to do, beyond the basic math levels, I mean, but I'm going to end up dealing with it for almost all four years, unless I miss my guess. I don't understand why standardized tests are how we judge capability. Most of the time I do above average on them and I can write a mean essay if I want, but I can't do math. If you sat me down with a series of problems I could explain them step by step (given that they're rather recent. Geometry's pretty much gone by now) and despite being able to explain the purpose of all that crap, my numbers would still be wrong. So, I understand math, I just can't do it. Does this mean that I'm unintelligent?
Everyone has their niche. That's evident in the theory of multiple intelligences. For one thing someone is bad at, there's something they're great at. For instance, you have people who go through school thinking they're bad at everything because they don't do well. However, they can take apart and put an engine back together blindfolded or something equally as impressive. I don't think that they should force kids to take these tests and then they're told that there below average when there are so many things within human capabilities that they may be fantastic at... there just happens to be no test for it.
I don't know. I'm barely scratching at the surface and I haven't said all that's floating through my mind. However, time is limited and I have to leave now.
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What you say is very true, i think that schools make us take tests not to test our knowledge, but to see how much (unnecessary) effort and time a student is willing to put in to do what some choose not to. Does that make sense? they just want to know if we have the perseverance to make it all the way through, maybe that is more important than how much we know, it's how much we're willing to do do learn it to get to our goal.
~Bookworm62591♥
Bad test takers are screwed time after time by the system :-/
+mspin
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/weezyf
It's true that this kind of testing can't truly measure how much you know about the subject and is not oriented towards these other areas of intelligence. It's pretty much testing you more so on how well you can take a test, a TIMED test.
Then again, if they did an oral or essay version of these tests or any other kind of alternative, the graders would still have to set conditions on them in order to make the grading process quicker. Think about it. SAT, ACT, AP exams, etc. are nationwide tests. Think of the number of tests they'd have to grade. So in the end, it's going to be a cursory review to see if people are capable for these classes or not even with the alternatives. :/
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". . . it is error upon error, clout upon clout, and our best virtue has for its occasion a superfluous and evitable wretchedness. Our life is frittered away by detail."
-from "Walden" by Henry Thoreau
I understand why the system is the way it is, and it's probably the most practical and logical method. It's just not very indicative of where a person should be placed 100% of the time. Basically, I'm just whining because I'm going to end up retaking every math class I've been in.
I'm the complete opposite. Though I suffer from test anxiety, I'm actually a good test taker.
But at the same time, I guess half of tha answers. Standardized tests also create problems for those who are good at guessing the right answer. I can state for a fact that when I took the SAT, I did not recall half of the material, though I have learned it, and yet I still got good scores. Also throw in being half-asleep through the whole thing and not really paying attention to the questions. Does that sound like an effort that deserves above average scores? I think not.
And now everyone is impressed with me, thinking I'm some sort of highly intelligent person, when in reality, I'm just your average under-achieving procrastinator who fudges assignments and doesn't do homework. I don't like it when people get the wrong impresson of me because I manage to guess correctly on tests, because I'm constantly dissapointing people.
And with math...I'm the opposite. I can get the right answer, but I have no understanding of it whatsoever. And so people assume I know what I'm doing and always expect me to help them. I landed in AP Calc through chance, and though I'm doing well, I couldn't explain why you do this or what the purpose of that is. Sometimes, I honestly feel like a computer programmed to spit out answers...
And really, that applies to just about everything in school. With the exception of Spanish, I don't understand why anything is the way it is, and no one bothers to explain it to me beause I instinctively get the right answers, and they assume I know it all. Especially teachers...that is the worst thing that can happen with a teacher...
The way you are with math is the way I am with Language Arts. I don't really understand grammar whatsoever, but I know how a sentence should sound so I manage to figure it out.
I agree with what you say about people often mistaking others for intelligent because of their test scores. AP US History, for example. I really didn't know what was going on for most of the year. I didn't understand anything that happened from right after the Revolution to WWI. But I got a five on the exam. Hell, I didn't even start studying until a week before. I guess I just got a feel for each era or something.
My French teacher is a bitch about assuming I know everything. I'm decent at French, but not great. It was when we were working on the French Revolution that she got bitchy. I know a lot about the revolution and she was asking us to analyze the symbolism of a movie about it. I'm great at that shit. Anyway, she starting making some snarky comments because I happened to be one of the only ones trying. I think it's ridiculous when a teacher expects you not to try or assumes you know everything. My math teacher also expects us just to instinctively know how to do the math he's teaching us. Unfortunately, my brain is not wired that way. So, despite the fact I've learned all of this, I can't remember it come test time because it's not relevant to me. It sucks.
Hehe, my AP English teacher gets so frustrated with me because my grammar is completely instictive. When we take practice tests, I almost always get the grammar ones right when everyone else doesn't, and when she starts asking me to explain why the answer I got is the right one, I'm always like, "Uh...because it is?"
Last year, my US History teacher seemed to think I knew everything because I had the higest grade in the class despite sleeping through it every other day. It bothered me immensely because honestly, I guessed at all the answers, and what I did know is only because of my Honors World History class...and I probably wouldn't have had the highest grade if we'd been taught something. *rolls eyes*
And that's why I like getting teachers more than once. They've taught me before, and they know how much I really know. For the most part...
My grammar's completely instinctive as well. People try to get me to help them and when I tutor and stuff, I just say " 'Kay, read the sentence out loud with all the pauses, etc. and just put the right thing in." "But how do I know what the right thing is?" "Erm...I dunno..."
I LOVE having the same teacher more than once. My AP US History teacher from last year is my AP Euro. teacher this year, and he pretty much just gives us full points on all of our essays, even if we suck. He admits to it too: "Yeah, my grading gets really subjective if I've had you before... what can I say, you guys warm my little heart with your thesis paragraphs..." It's so nice. I've had an A all year!
argg... i hate testing. it seriously feels like weve been doing it everyday of our lives
I am TERRIBLE at math portions of tests. I did badly on them on both my ACTs and my SATs. But I did great on the English and Science parts. I think that SOLs too are the devil and need to be phased out.
There is a time to live, and a time to die. But now it the time to break it down!
I think I actually got a BETTER score because of it. Math has never been my friend.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Holy crap... that's HYSTERICAL!!! I should try that sometime! Although, I've done it in school before.
My favorite story: we were working on story problems one Friday in my College Math class. I HATE story problems. So I slept. Ends up we had a test on it on Monday. Oops. I suck at any test that takes place on a Monday anyway, because I'm not the type to study. So I decided it to just wing it. I was the first one done, and I just assumed I failed it. I got my test back the next day and I got 100% on it.
I find it ironic that when I try in class I get crap grades and when I sleep I get a 100%. School's ridiculous.
Cuz I sure didn't ace the SAT!
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman