Testing is hot topic in education. The questions is should we do testing or should we not do testing. I believe testing needs to be done. I do not believe in standardized testing though. When I was in elementary, high school and even college I always hated standardized testing. I do not feel it leads to the correct intelligence of the person taking it. For example when I was testing for college entry exams I always did poorly. I was placed in a lower class because of the testing. One professor even moved me to a higher class because I was to advance for the class. Many students, myself included, have test anxiety, especially when it is timed.
I believe testing should be natural. In my classroom we do anecdotal note taking to "score" the children. I know this can not be done as the children get older but testing can be different in the classroom. First off, I think they should go away with timing the test. I believe if the timer is gone children will have less anxiety and do better on the test. Also teachers should look at other documentation for scoring then test. Children learn differently and teachers need to keep that in mind.
The country I picked to see how they asses their students was Germany. The reason I picked Germany is because I have a lot of German in me. I searched so many websites I could not find a lot of information on assessments in Germany. The information that I found was that they do assessments based on what are the children's needs. "In grades one and two, the focus is on direct observation of the pupils. In grade three pupils also begin to be familiarized with written class test and certain subjects"(BRIGITTE LOHMAR, 2013). In the first two years children get their reports at the end of each year. After that they get them at the end of the first half of year and then again at the end of year.
Resources
BRIGITTE LOHMAR, T. E. (2013). The Education System
in the Federal Republic of Germany 2011/2012 . Secretariat of the Standing
Conference of the Ministers of Education .
