Thursday, February 7, 2013

Seattle Boycott Article


 

    Teachers, students and parents from Garfield High School boycotted the MAP tests to show how they are against standardizing test and to prove that the tests don't improve student's knowledge. The community demonstrated that parents, students and teachers can be involved, and together, decide what is better and more efficient for their sons and students. The article and Jesse Hagopian, the spokesperson of the boycott, made it very clear that they aren't against assessing students to see what they are learning in the classrooms, but their don't believe that standardized test are the best and only way of doing it. Hagopian said that their goal is to discover another way of assessment that makes the students be active and successful in different communities. The group of teachers of Garfield High School is also against the idea that the pressure coming from the market will improve education, as teachers, students, parents and a government that are committed to improving education is not a good solution.
     After Hagopian shared that with on of his classes, even the students formed their opinion about it and also tried to demonstrate other option beyond standardizing test, "Our kids will need both traditional academic abilities and innovative critical-thinking skills to solve these real problems. If we inundate our students with standardized testing year-round, these larger lessons are lost." Therefore, as well as teachers, students are not totally against the fact that they are assessed and are required during their educational process, but they believe that there must be a balance between traditional forms of assessments and other different ways to gain knowledge,  specially with the help of technology.
     Often times we students only commit ourselves to the contents learned in the classroom because we will be assessed later on, and this should not be our main concern, we must seek to understand the contents because we know that in the future it will help us and make us better students, people and professionals. The way we students are evaluated imposes too much pressure on us, many students think that if they do not pass the test, they will not be able to be good professionals and successful in life. Maybe for some reason, that day the person was not feeling well and the pressure was big that it was difficult to concentrate and the person ended up failing the test, it means that the person is not able to go to college, be successful, or think that during all the past years that person has learned nothing? That is not how it works, and we shouldn't feel that way. We need to strike a balance between traditional, and modern and bold, because if we don't, students will continue to be prepared for the standardized tests only, and not for life itself.

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