Temporary Archive: Suzanne Brockmann's Message Board

I like the idea of standardized tests (although as a kid I hated writing them). Perhaps tests should not be a measure of the education system's success, but more of a 'check and balance' to make certain schools are performing, teachers are teaching, and students are not being shuffled up to the next grade without learning the skills they need. A minimum requirement test, as it's been called.

In Ontario when I was a student they had standardized testing but it wasn't a part of our grades or a passing requirement - they were to track school/student performance. I hated the things because the writing sections were about the most asinine topics imaginable: "Write your feelings about blueberries." Huh? Having had some bad experiences with standardized writing tests in the past (sarcastic humour being interpreted literally, etc.), I toed the line, wrote a normal, boring response instead of the Monty Python self-defense-against-fresh-fruit bit that I wanted to :) Luckily my teachers had a sense of humour!!