So I wrote this blog once, thought it posted and it did not. This is a total bummer and I hope this one actually works. I am using copy and paste and putting this in a word document just in case, though I suppose you would not be able to read this if it didn't work. Hopefully it does.
The education reform webinar really opened my eyes about standardized testing and the detrimental effects they have on our students. This led me to wonder why we still rely on these tests when evaluating schools, students and even concerning college admissions. I've recently had to read in other classes as well about standardized testing and I'm left wondering why we continue to rely on a standardized testing system that seems to prove itself ineffective over and over again. From what I've learned, there are better options even to evaluate the effectiveness of teachers/schools and the progress of students. While the appeal of our content to our students is paramount, especially with the texts/teaching tools that we decide, we still must remember that we have standards we must meet. I think that as long as we are shackled to the current standardized assessments, we will have trouble fully relating content to students on some level, especially concerning history. Basically, we need to switch to a better assessment method, which already exists, so that teachers can focus on reaching their students to a greater extent.
