Are test really fair?

Ive noticed that sometimes a student can do everything in their power to learn, but due to nerves or other occurances they can still fail a test. Should schools base grades purely off student involvment and teachers opinions or are test a fair way to judge what a student has learned?

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Permalink Reply by Lauren on December 7, 2010 at 8:54pm

I sympathize with this topic because I feel that I get text anxiety at times - especially when the bulk of my grade is reliant on solely test grades. I have always felt stressed by standardized tests in grade school. I always felt that I could do better when receiving results of some things like tests.

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Permalink Reply by Danielle Cripe on December 8, 2010 at 6:18am

I'm not sure how we can handle the standardized test problem since we all have to follow those guidelines. But, as for testing in the classroom, I think there are many more assessment strategies that show our students' knowledge in a better way including creating a portfolio, presentations, blogs, discussion threads, projects. If we can get our students more into taking charge of their learning and putting the effort into these pieces (without us promoting that they are the 'test' of the material), I think we could see a difference.

Luckily, in my school, adminstration is quite understanding and supportive of how we assess our students. I think for some schools using these alternative methods may still be a bit strange. But, I do think the push needs to move that way. Not just for those who have test anxiety; but also for their future. How many times are we asked to take a test in our jobs? Not often.... we have to create things to show what we've done to further our professional careers, or create a project or portfolio to show off in a job interview or at a job conference or meeting.