Testing, the Chinese Way

[elleng]

When my children were 6 and 8, taking tests was as much a part of the rhythm of their school day as tag at recess or listening to stories at circle time. There were the “mad minute” math quizzes twice each week, with the results elaborately graphed. There were regular spelling quizzes. Even today I have my daughter’s minutely graded third-grade science exams, with grades like 23/25 or A minus.

We were living in China . . .

When we moved back to New York City, my children, then 9 and 11, started at a progressive school with no real tests, no grades, not even auditions for the annual school musical. They didn’t last long. It turned out they had come to like the feedback of testing.

“How do I know if I get what’s going on in math class?” my daughter asked with obvious discomfort after a month. Primed with Beijing test-taking experience, they each soon tested into New York City’s academic public schools — where they have had tests aplenty and (probably not surprisingly) a high proportion of Asian classmates.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/weekinreview/12rosenthal.html?pagewanted=1&hpw

[Hannah Bell]

1. that article already debunked for ignorance. her kids went to an international school

following the us education model, not a chinese school following the "chinese way".

and american teachers regularly have "little tests" in class. that's not standardized testing. china's model is high stakes, no second chances. if you don't make the grade in 5th grade (or whatever the first cutoff is) -- you'll work in a factory.

and that's the secret goal of ed deform.


it's stupid bullshit.