Environment is a factor that I feel should be taking in consideration when assessing children. Sometime children may be identified as being a slow learner. When in fact this is not the case, they are merely products of their environment. They could possibly have parents who are not educated and therefore sees no need to educate them. Sadly many people still today feel that they made without education whatever and simply feel like it isn’t necessary. I know a little boy who has exceptional potential he has being labeled a slow. He is a grade or so behind. However after talking with some of his teacher and his parents we found he was put in a situation to be slow. Over the years his parents fail to make sure he attended school regularly. Meaning if it was raining, cold and too hot that day he didn’t come to school. Not mention if they had being up all night partying or something. In this situation this child had the physical and mental capability to learn he just wasn’t given the opportunity because his parent did not feel it necessary. Eventually, this child was removed from his parents for child neglect but the damage was already done. I wish someone would have identified his situation sooner which would have given him a better opportunity in life. I became in contact with this young man because I was the officer that responded to his residence to investigate child abuse.
Japanese Concept of Education and Tests
According to a report by the U.S. Department of Education: "Japanese society is education-minded to an extraordinary degree. Success in formal education is considered largely synonymous with success in life and is, for most students, almost the only path to social and economic status.” In Japan Tokyo
References:
Hays, J. (2009). Education system in Japan
Kyonya,
ReplyDeleteI agree that standardized tests do not accurately measure intelligence or ability. In some cases, they simply measure how well a student can take a test. I also agree that many other factors, inculding home life, can greatly impact student learning and make students appear to be learning disabled when, in fact, they are not. I had the experience of teaching an 8th grade special ed English class where I had several students who I did not believe had learning disabilities. Instead, they had truancy issues, emotional impairments, and other outside stressors that hindered their learning long enough that, eventually, their test scores showed enough discrepency that they appeared to have learning disabilities. These students will most likely get limited opportunities to succeed because they were put into classrooms that were not necessarily geared to best meet their needs.
Also, I am familiar with much of Japan's testing culture, but was unable to find any national standardized test for elementary school students. Did you find anything like that?