Intelligence testing is an old fashioned idea. There are many other ways to determine whether or not a child is progressing normally. Using standardized test only puts unnecessary stress on a child. Most teachers teach to the test anyway, so we are really not getting the correct date from these test. Observation is important is assessing a child's development. Children should be assessed on every level of their development, socially, physically, emotionally and intellectually. Only testing one way does not give a clear understanding of the child as a whole. Assessing children needs to be done early to help diagnose and problems and help address them. I say this with a little reserve, sometimes we over analyze situations and children are unfairly diagnosed with delays that they do not have. Their development is just a little slower than the "norm". If we assess the child as a whole we will have a better understanding of where they are.
Education in Italy
In Italy there education system is not that different than in the United States.
From 3 to 5 there is optional education offered for all children. Children enter primary school at 5 years old and this last 5 years. From 11 to 14 they attend lover secondary school, a national curriculum is followed, which is mandated by the Ministry of Public Education.
Each term every student receives a teachers report outlining their aptitude, behavior and achievement. students do take a standard exam consisting of a written exam, and a oral exam. Students may not move into upper secondary school if they do not pass this exam. Upper secondary school is split between an obligatory 2 years of general studies and an optional 3 years of a specialised education. Either for college or a vocational trade. there is a state mandated curriculum and specialised courses begin the third year of upper primary school. For students to receive an upper secondary school diploma the mus pass a written and oral exam. There are 6 teachers that administer the exam.
Italys assessment of their students involves both written and oral exams. This helps the students who may not be good written test takers. By being able to communicate with teachers that are giving the exam a student has more opportunities to express there thoughts without having them be written.
I liked the idea of being able to express my understanding of a certain subject verbally instead of writing, sometimes your main idea gets lost in a word maze.
Reference
Angloinfo: Italian Education and Schooling in Italy:
Retrieved from: http://angloinfo.com/f3hx5c
IQ testing is old fashion and I agree 100% that children need to be tested on the whole child and not just their IQ. My son was very intelligent in the first grade but lack maturity in alot of ways. I decided to hold him back because of his lack of maturity and how it was affecting his social skills. He is now doing remarkable well as the whole child and I do not regret my decision I cannot imagine what second grade would haven been like or the years now with his lack of seriousness for anything. We should evaluate the children in all content areas including their social-emotional skills. It is funny we evaluate preschoolers based on Teaching Strategy Goals but once they enter kindergarten their social skills are not factor the rest of their 12 years of school.
ReplyDeleteThat;s so true. I agree with Michele that these tests do not account for a child's holistic development, and therefore should not even be used as a determinant for progression, or to judge a child's progress.
ReplyDeleteWe stress the importance of play t a child's childhood development since it encourages natural exploration and creativity. Standardized tests severely limit what a child learns since teachers are almost forced to structure the learning activities strictly to pass these tests. There is little room for children to explore and get a personal understand concepts for themselves, instead there learning is restricted.
I agree with yall about the tests should not be use to determine children progression. The IQ test is and old one to use now these days. Children should be asses on all level to see what they know.
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