The Achievement Test

 

 One of the issues discussed in Amy Tan's Mother Tongue is that of Achievement Tests. The author points out their inaccuracies by showing that they made her younger self out to be better in math and science - when she in fact went on to become a (very successful) writer. This example alone should suffice to show how horribly inaccurate these tests can be.

An achievement test is defined as any kind of test that measures a student’s abilities.  These tests are very popular at schools, with them being the primary way in which students are tested and (usually) ranked or sorted into classes. Their appeal is understandable – they are easy to carry out and correct, as there is usually only one right answer. As such, written tests/exams are a big part of education all around the world.

But these tests, as Tan pointed out, are flawed. Many studies have shown that achievement tests don’t assess all students fairly, with findings stating that the difference between the results of poor and rich students has increased by 60% since the 1960s (Rooks, 2012.). This is due to the fact that a good portion of the questions on standardized tests are based on out of school learning. For example, the following question, “A plant’s fruit always contains seeds. State which one of these is not a fruit: tomato, pumpkin, celery or orange?”, although seemingly quite simple, may confound children who have not been exposed to vegetables like celery. That does not make them any less intelligent, as they have not learned this yet. As such, standardized tests can give certain (celery-loving) students unfair advantages. Adding this to the fact that these tests are targeted at English speakers (thereby wrongly guiding many non-native English speakers down the Math and Science path), we can see why achievement tests are not such a good idea.

I have always believed achievement tests were too restrictive and relied mainly on rote memorization to determine the intelligence of a child. This is especially a problem in Singapore, where kids start having exams from Grade 1. Children as young as seven start attending tuition classes on a medley of subjects, where they usually learn about topics before the school even begins covering them. This has become so widespread that it is becoming a problem for non-tuition going children, who have to suffer since the majority of children have already covered the in-class material and the teacher is obliged to move on.  

In spite of all these problems we find with standardized tests, it’s hard to find another substitute for them that is as efficient and easy to carry out. Personally, I have had my fair share of bad experiences with them, having failed many math tests while in primary school. I also had many teachers tell me to “avoid maths” (which I am currently doing at HL). On this note, I believe that achievement tests can be very inaccurate (or maybe they were right about maths after all…), and that the questions in them should be moderated to test all children fairly.

Athena T.

 

Sources:

 Cherry, Kendra. "What Is an Achievement Test?." About. About, n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://psychology.about.com/od/aindex/a/achievement-test.htm>.

Rooks, Noliwee M. . "Why It's Time to Get Rid of Standardized Tests." Time. Time, 11 Oct. 2012. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/11/why-its-time-to-get-rid-of-standardized-tests/>.

Popham, W. James. "Why Standardized Tests Don't Measure Educational Quality." Educational Leadership 56.6 (1999): 8-15. ASCD. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.