Testing for Intelligence

Considering a commitment to viewing young children holistically (i.e., a commitment to “the whole child”) what, if anything, do you believe should be measured or assessed?  Explain your reasoning.

Every child born into this world has the potential to succeed in whatever they do and certainly with great expectations from his/her parents.  But there is a fine line between what they are capable to do physically as well as academically.  Every child learns at different pace, some faster than others.  But if we can get a good understanding how each child learns and at rate each child develops we can understand the whole child.  I believe a child’s ability should be measured individually.  Once each child is individually measured then at that point a comparison can be done with the whole group to see where improvements are needed. 

In what ways are school-age children assessed in other parts of the world?  (Choose a country or region of the world for which you have a personal affinity.)

Standardized testing of school-age children is used across Canada to measure the performance of students from province to province.  They are concern that students are performing on basic things like reading, writing, and math (Global News, 2012).

What additional ideas, comments, suggestions, examples, and/or concerns related to assessing young children would you like to share with your colleagues?

I don’t feel standardized testing should be totally done away with.  I believe we have to monitor a child’s progress in order to make sure children are developing on point.  I also believe in order to see a child’s full potential we must move outside the classroom into a more kid-friendly environment.  It is important to evaluate the whole child and not only look for and report back on the areas that don’t meet certain levels but look for those areas that exceed beyond the norm.  I think other ways for monies being granted from the results of testing should be sought.  Overall, concentration should be on the whole child if standardized testing is going to continue.

References

Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2012.

Read it on Global News: Global News | Canadians worried about kids’ grasp of math, literacy: poll