Monday, December 17, 2012
Thanks
I want to thank all my colleagues for the comments you have left on my blog and discussion board posts. You have been wonderful people to work with and I hope that I can continue to work with all of you!
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Assessing Children
I believe that to be able to understand the "whole child", one must observe every level of the child. Children act different at home than they do at school, so they must be able to observe them at home and school to see the difference in behavior. The child cannot just be tested on knowledge by achievement tests because some children are just not good test takers, even though they may know the material. At school, we assess the child in a one on one setting and quiz them over their letters, numbers, shapes, colors.. etc. Sometimes when we have these special ed. children, the couselor and the special ed teacher will come and observe them at times during their "testing". Most of the time when these people are in the room, these kids act fine, and aren't going crazy. It's all the other times when they do things that aren't "normal". I have a child in my class who is very smart, but overreacts about everything and when we do our gross motor activities he goes crazy fast and out of control. When we do our paperwork everything has to be in detail and if he messes up, he will cry. I'm seeing a little autism in this child, but when the people come to observe him, he's acting fine. I think observations should last all day and even get the parents feed back on what goes on at home. Or even observe them at home. I believe every child learns differently and that every child should be observed putting their knowledge to use instead of just "tested" on their knowledge.
Assessments in France
France is known for having the worlds best education system. "A third of all pupils repeat a year at sometime during their school career in France. In fact, to repeat a school year in France is so common, there is even a phrase to describe it: "redoubler la classe"".
"These huge increases in the number of successful students must not mask the persistence of a "hard core" of children who fail at school, with the failure often coming to light within the first few years of schooling. Under France's education system, such children have traditionally been "punished" by making them repeat classes and labeling them "slow learners"; so far no way has been found to remedy the situation. These early difficulties were highlighted during a detailed investigation carried out in 1997 with children in the first year of collège: 15% were bad readers and 4% were nearly illiterate. Most of these children will find it difficult to overcome such a handicap. A few years later they will be among the cohorts of young people leaving school without any qualifications, and will still — around the age of 17 or 18 — reveal serious gaps in their education in the tests they take during the day of introduction to defense and the French armed forces (JAPD - Journées d'appel de préparation à la défense (5)).
National tests which assess the progress in French and mathematics of all children in CE2 (8 years) and the first year of collège (11 years) — introduced over ten years ago — are designed precisely to identify pupils struggling in school. To ensure not only genuine equality of access to collèges and lycées, but also an equal chance of achieving success at each level, requires giving more support to children experiencing learning difficulties, so as not to let them "fall by the wayside"".
I read that the French President said no more homework for their students. This was so they could get all their work done in school for those who didn't have the support at home. I read that France's test scores are above the European average. They go to school from 8 am until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. They usually only get one day a week off from school because they have to go on saturday mornings. From the readings, I found nothing about observations of the children, just the standardized testing. They sound to be very harsh on the children. They are punished by making them repeat classes and label them as "slow learners," how mean is that? Here in the US when children repeat a grade that is an advantage to them, in france they make it sound like a disadvantage, even though I did read that it actually helps them work harder and get the extra help they need.
Resources
http://www.frenchpropertylinks.com/essential/schools-france.html
http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Education/DF_education4.shtml
http://www.france24.com/en/20121010-hollande-promises-school-children-no-more-homework-education-reform-france
Assessments in France
France is known for having the worlds best education system. "A third of all pupils repeat a year at sometime during their school career in France. In fact, to repeat a school year in France is so common, there is even a phrase to describe it: "redoubler la classe"".
"These huge increases in the number of successful students must not mask the persistence of a "hard core" of children who fail at school, with the failure often coming to light within the first few years of schooling. Under France's education system, such children have traditionally been "punished" by making them repeat classes and labeling them "slow learners"; so far no way has been found to remedy the situation. These early difficulties were highlighted during a detailed investigation carried out in 1997 with children in the first year of collège: 15% were bad readers and 4% were nearly illiterate. Most of these children will find it difficult to overcome such a handicap. A few years later they will be among the cohorts of young people leaving school without any qualifications, and will still — around the age of 17 or 18 — reveal serious gaps in their education in the tests they take during the day of introduction to defense and the French armed forces (JAPD - Journées d'appel de préparation à la défense (5)).
National tests which assess the progress in French and mathematics of all children in CE2 (8 years) and the first year of collège (11 years) — introduced over ten years ago — are designed precisely to identify pupils struggling in school. To ensure not only genuine equality of access to collèges and lycées, but also an equal chance of achieving success at each level, requires giving more support to children experiencing learning difficulties, so as not to let them "fall by the wayside"".
I read that the French President said no more homework for their students. This was so they could get all their work done in school for those who didn't have the support at home. I read that France's test scores are above the European average. They go to school from 8 am until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. They usually only get one day a week off from school because they have to go on saturday mornings. From the readings, I found nothing about observations of the children, just the standardized testing. They sound to be very harsh on the children. They are punished by making them repeat classes and label them as "slow learners," how mean is that? Here in the US when children repeat a grade that is an advantage to them, in france they make it sound like a disadvantage, even though I did read that it actually helps them work harder and get the extra help they need.
Resources
http://www.frenchpropertylinks.com/essential/schools-france.html
http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Education/DF_education4.shtml
http://www.france24.com/en/20121010-hollande-promises-school-children-no-more-homework-education-reform-france
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