Assessments

I think in today’s society too much pressure is being put on the children when it comes to the assessments they are being given. Some of the assessments being used are not a true measure of what a child knows. Think about standardized test and the questions you may see on those. Most of the questions are based on how well you can memorize information instead of being about how well a child’s problem solving skills are. I think assessments should show growth and not just measure what a child knows at a certain time. Think about when you use to study for test, how often did you remember the information after finishing the test? Also consider that some people are not good test takers. Some people panic when taking a test and in the end do not do their best.  I think when measuring or assessing a child’s knowledge we could look at everything the child has done as a whole.

Assessments in England

I decided to take a look at how children in England are assessed. When talking about how children are assessed in England, I must first discuss how the education system works.  The basic curriculum includes something known as the national curriculum. These are subject and standards taught so that children in primary and secondary schools can learn the same thing. Under the national curriculum, children are required to reach a certain standard in each subject. The national curriculum is divided into blocks of years called Key Stages.  At the end of each key stage, a child’s teacher will formally assess their performance to measure the child’s progress. For each subject there’s something known as a ‘program of study, which describes what children should learn. There is also an ‘attainment target’ - usually split into 8 levels for each subject.  Between the ages of 7 and 11, a child will complete 3 assessments.  They complete a teacher assessment over English, math, and science and have to be in their second year in all subjects by the age of 7.This occurs during Key Stage 1(KS1). Between the ages of 10 and 11, a child will take a national test and a teacher assessment also in English, math and science. At this time the child should be at a level 4. All of this occurs during Key Stage 2(KS2).

Now we get to the actual assessment. During Key Stage 1, children will complete tasks and test over several subjects. These subjects are reading, writing, speaking and listening, math, and science. The teacher will use a child’s work to determine what level the child is at in each subject. The teacher will also consider the child’s spoken work and homework when determining the level. During Key Stage 2, the child will take a test that covers English reading, English grammar, punctuation, spelling, and math. It also includes mental arithmetic. If a child demonstrates higher achievement the head teacher may decide to have them take extra test to determine true level. At the end of key stage 2, the teacher will give a report on a child’s progression in English, math, and science.

Reference:

The National Curriculum. (2013). Retrieved February 16, 2013. https://www.gov.uk/national-curriculum/overview

Stressors

For this week’s blog, I talked with Ms. Lauren, a co-worker of mine, about the stressors she encountered as a child. She grew up during the time when blacks and whites were treated different and attended different schools. During her middle school years, the area in which she lived decided to combine the black and white schools. Children from the black neighborhoods began being bused to the white schools, which were 45 minutes away. Her first week of school was hectic; teachers did not show up just because they did not want to teach black children. Ms. Lauren remembers their being constant fighting not only between the whites and blacks but among rival black neighborhoods. This time was hard for her growing up, she could not understand why the teachers did not want to teach her and the children like her.  Going into high school, things did not get better. There was a constant battle between the white students and the black students.  Mrs. Lauren coped with the situation by joining school organizations and tired to make a difference. She found people that held the same beliefs as she did.  Even though it was a tough time in her life, she still managed to stay strong and pursue the things she wanted not matter what others had to say.

I decided to look at the stressor(s) that impact the development of children in India. The situation in India is fairly dismal and sometimes over looked. The immediate causes of underdevelopment in India relate to inadequate feeding practices, poor prevention and management of illness, and inadequate care. The stressors are primarily caused by the low status of Indian women, poverty, and a vicious cycle of low-weight moms having too many children too early and too close together. More than one in five babies in India (22%) is born with low birth weight, putting them at risk of under nutrition and illness even before birth (Blake, Chand, & Gupta) . More than half of under-threes are deprived of full immunization. Infants do not receive the social and emotional care they need.  A high number of parents work full time from soon after birth, and young siblings often end up looking after children. These are just some of the stressors that children in India encounter and not all children experience these stressors. There are now ECE programs that aid in fighting against these issues and fighting to provide children with the right conditions in which they grow in. Ensuring children get the proper care need to lay down the foundations for a good life. There are even well-established interventions that can help improve child development—from breastfeeding counseling to community based health services to the fortification of staple foods. Early Childhood Development programs have be started to address several components of the problem, typically through a combination of daycare and community-based services.

Reference

Blake, S., Chand, T., & Gupta, G. (2009) Starting Strong: Early childhood development in India.    

New Philanthropy Capital. Retrieved from http://www.forces.org.in/publications/Startingstrongfinal.pdf