Theory and Practice
RaQayya Gilmore
June 16, 2008
CUR 578
Dr. J. Richardson
University of Phoenix
Education is defined as the action or process of educating or of being educated. Mish, Frederick C. (1983) p.396, according to Wikipedia (2007), “education is the application of pedagogy, a body of theoretical and applied research relating to teaching and learning”. It also states “education draws on other disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, sociology and anthropology”. Education is the key to success. Throughout American history, we find its importance growing and evolving in our culture. In today’s society, students are finding it even more important with the job market. As individual countries make advances in areas of science, health care, business, and most importantly education arenas, education is under massive reform to improve its overall efficiency. America is faced with producing top level experts in the mentioned fields as well as others. Moreover, there has been extensive research on the major aspects of education in our school systems across America. Additionally, the main area that demands our attention is assessment practices currently in use. The No Child Left Behind act has been very influential legislature that dramatically impacted the overall production of the school systems. We are now seeing a large incorporation of quizzes, essay, short-answer, multiple choice, true/false, matching, and standardized formatted questions. Of all the mentioned, there is a direct urge to align the course-related assessments to the nationally standardized tests. Under the No Child Left Behind” act, students are expected to be able to meet all the requirements of this evaluation before moving onto the next grade. This act has led to teachers teaching to the exam with the stipulations or ramifications students’ performance has on their evaluations and/or promotions. The implications can be seen on various levels, including district, school, and yes even classroom. In our district, administrators are ensuring the national guidelines are met by providing packets which contain all the necessary documentation. There are also mandatory seminars and meetings where materials are dispersed and explained. The schools are assisting in the process by having additional meetings and providing assistance via facilitators. There is a team of teaching experts that are familiar with the guidelines and review the teachers’ lesson plans to ensure they contain the necessary rules. The leading issue that is highly discussed is forms of assessment and how to incorporate such in the overall classroom scheme. Currently, we incorporate multiple choice, true/false, short-answer and matching in my classroom. This is largely due to the latest research on classroom evaluations. Data reveals we should use various forms of assessment depending on the subject. There is also a study which focuses on the grade level to use various forms of assessment. After review, it can be concluded there is no definitive assessment for the optimal learning experience. However, the most widely used form of assessment is multiple choice. This is largely due in part to the national standardized testing that takes place in order to evaluate students across the globe. This acknowledgement has help to ensure that the district is on the right path for evaluation of our
