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For this activity the students have been tasked with writing a comparative blog on High stakes testing. Specifically, the students were asked to analyze the implications of high stakes assessments on students and teachers in two different schools, one must be the school we currently or intend to teach at. Also we need to explore the effects on different student groups and teacher perceptions on how high stakes assessments impact teaching.

Before I begin, let’s take a look at the definition of high stakes assessments. As defined by edglossary.org  A high-stakes test is any test used to make important decisions about students, educators, schools, or districts, most commonly for the purpose of accountability—i.e., the attempt by federal, state, or local government agencies and school administrators to ensure that students are enrolled in effective schools and being taught by effective teachers.

This definition seems pretty reasonable, educators and places of education need to have some type of accountability and verification that money and time spent there were worth it. In practice though high stakes testing can be so much more than just maintaining accountability. High-stakes testing if used properly as a tool can be a fantastic and legitimate gauge of actual ability, if used improperly it can utterly destroy students. I intend to focus this blog post on ACT (American College Test) in the U.S. and CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test) in Korea.

ACT: The ACT (American College Test) is a 3-3.5 hour long test that scores students on Math, Reading, Science, English, and an optional essay. While there’s no exact amount of time to study for the ACT, many websites suggest “a few hours a week”.  This test along with the SAT determine part of a student’s eligibility to get into college.

Students

During my senior  year of high school I remember my peers talking about an upcoming test, the ACT and asking me if I had been studying for it and where I planned to go to college, taking the test had never occurred to me, and thinking back I wasn’t really worried. I took the test, and for the life of me I can’t remember how well or badly I did, but had no problems getting into the local branch of Kent State University. Thinking back only a few of my peers even bothered to re-take it, (ha! overachievers) with most of them scoring high enough to move on to universities of their choice. The only real impact I can remember was a few conversations here or there about the test itself in passing while the few overachievers I knew had some mild concerns.

Fast forward to today and I’m struggling to find much in the way of impact on students for this test. Googleing ACT test with different variations on impact, importance, issues, problems, or a few others generally lead to the similar unhelpful results: a story about how difficult it was, students struggling to raise their score a few points, the odd story of one student taking the test eighteen times?! , and loads of offers of tutors, books, and study materials. The ACT is supposed to be a High-stakes test, what I’m finding and what I’ve experienced are far from that however.

Teachers

Teachers and the ACT test met with the same results, little in the way of impact or meaningful content, that’s not to say there isn’t any impact on the teacher, merely less obtainable. This test is important for college entrance but the teachers aren’t the ones who are overly impacted by it. From what I’m gathering most teachers stress the importance of the ACT but not much in the way of class prep or focus teaching it.

CSAT: The (College Scholastic Ability Test) is an 9 hour long behemoth taken in one sitting that scores students on Korean language, a Foreign language, Math, History, Social Studies, Science, and Vocational education. Most Koreans begin studying for this test up to a year before. This score makes or breaks a student’s ability to get into a good college. It is so important that the entire country works around it: Planes are temporarly delayed or rerouted, traffic is monitored, the stock market opens later, no parking within 200 yards of a testing venue, most places of employment delay opening until after the test begins as to reduce congestion, heck even the military ceases all activities on this day. This is

Students

In stark contrast to the ACT, the Korean peer CSAT is considered a do or die test that can cement or ruin a student’s plans for the future. Many students spend their entire junior year focusing on nothing but this test. To further elaborate on how important this test is, here’s a quote from a student who went through it.

Sina Kim, “ The exam is seen as  the final goal and final determinant of our lives. We thought that if we successfully finish the test, then the bright future would automatically follow.”

Ouch, that’s a lot of pressure, but can it be as bad as she’s making it out to be? Here’s another student’s take on the time leading up to the test

Flora Lee, “The exam location was at Moohak Girl’s High School (students take the test at a different school than the one they attend) and a bunch of 1st and 2nd graders from our high school—probably twenty—were waiting for us test takers at the front gate—they sang songs, cried out encouragements and gave everyone a little box of chocolates. There were also five teachers from our school who gave me a hug and said I’d do well. “

This test is so stressful and demanding that it’s even been linked as a cause of Korea’s high youth suicide rate, which comes in 2nd of all 70 OECD countries.

Teachers

Teachers are also impacted by this test, but in different ways than the students. For some teachers it can be a heart wrenching experience to see their students put through such an arduous task, but for many others it’s time to cash in. As stated earlier the CSAT is a make or break for students and they’ll spend every last cent studying for this test, here is where Korean academies called hog wons come in. After school academies make a fortune selling education to students especially for those taking the CSAT. Competition is fierce as these academies vie for student fees so there’s a constant push for any edge. Top notch teachers are recruited to teach and create test questions giving them a bit of extra cash. Some teachers are so good or highly recommended for this they can command high salaries or make it big by going online. Some students spend so much on these online academies that one  math tutor reportedly made 8 million USD while others can rake in hundreds of thousands. With all this money being thrown around it’s easy for some to get caught up in crossing a line and engage in illegal activities. One such scandal saw multiple academies, lecturers and teachers being fined, arrested, going to jail, with some losing their licenses amid a corruption case that saw test administrators leaking private CSAT questions.

For some countries High stakes testing is exactly that, High-stakes, where as in other countries they’re merely touted as such. This comparative look at the ACT and CSAT has been interesting to say the least. I now have a better understanding of what High-stakes can mean.

References:

High-Stakes Test Definition. (2014, August 18). Retrieved January, 2017, from http://edglossary.org/high-stakes-testing/

Lindsay, S. (n.d.). Exactly How Long Should You Study for the ACT? A 6 Step Guide. Retrieved January, 2017, from http://blog.prepscholar.com/exactly-how-long-should-you-study-for-the-act-a-6-step-guide

How Long Should I Study for the ACT? (2015, July 31). Retrieved January, 2017, from https://magoosh.com/hs/act/about-the-act/2015/how-long-should-i-study-for-the-act/

Chad Cargill’s Test Prep. (n.d.). Retrieved January, 2017, from http://www.chadcargill.com/story.html

College Scholastic Ability Test (South Korea). (n.d.). Retrieved January, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Scholastic_Ability_Test_(South_Korea)

Your Life Depends on It: Taking Korea’s CSAT (A Student’s Story). (2015, November 12). Retrieved January, 2017, from http://thethreewisemonkeys.com/2011/11/09/your-life-depends-on-it-taking-koreas-csat-a-students-story/

Diamond, A. (2016, November). Retrieved January 28, 2017, from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/11/south-korean-seniors-have-been-preparing-for-today-since-kindergarten/508031/

College Entrance Exam. (2015, May). Retrieved January 28, 2017, from http://www.korea4expats.com/article-csat-korea.html

Point me at the SKY. (2013, November 23). Retrieved January, 2017, from http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2013/11/test-taking-south-korea

Kale, M. (2015, May). Eight uncomfortable truths about teaching English in South Korea. Retrieved January, 2017, from https://matadornetwork.com/notebook/8-uncomfortable-truths-teaching-english-south-korea/

(n.d.). Hagwon lecturers paid for CSAT prep questions. Retrieved January, 2017, from http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=3020738

3 Formative Assessments

 

This week for TEACH- NOW Module 5 Unit 2 Activity 2, the class has been asked to incorporate 3 formative assessments while teaching one learning objective. The learning objective in question is that students should be able to:

Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text summarize complex concepts processes or information presented in a text by paraphrasing them in simpler but still accurate terms.

This objective will be taught to 11^th and 12^th grade social studies students, who are learning about World War 2

The 3 types of formative assessments covered will include The Popsicle Stick, The whiteboard, and a formal test. All of these assessments were created with what I’ve learned from the required reading and reference material.

• Good assessments are frequent assessment.
• Any assessment is designed to provide a snapshot of student understanding
• Summative assessments can be formative assessments
• Assessments are simple to grade
• Learning is social

 

Assessment 1:  Combination Popsicle stick and New Clothes. The teacher will use Popsicle sticks to randomly team up 2-3 students and have them explain a few things about themselves by paraphrasing. Students will be taught and practice the mnemonic PARAphrase in which a second student needs to relay back this information in the form of a paraphrase.

P.A.R.A.phrase stands for:

1. Put the information in your own words.
2. Avoid copying the information
3. Rearrange similar words
4. Ask yourself if you’ve included all the points.

 

Each group will be awarded a certain number of points depending on how well the students relate the information to the teacher or a third person in the group. There are a number of “rounds” that will take place before finally declaring one team the winner. Utilizing this activity for social studies can be done by changing the paraphrasing subject. For example each student needs to talk about a specific situation in WW2 that they found interesting. Each student explains their specific event to another and he/she should be able to relate this to the teacher.

Rationale 1: At the beginning of class there are few things that can get students motivated to learn if it’s a subject they have little or no interest in.  The Popsicle stick assessment puts students on the spot in a fun-ish way and builds a bit of suspense, everyone has to be ready at the same time due to the uncertainty of order. New clothes is utilized here as the subject will change each round. This assessment provides the teacher with concept check responses where the teacher will be accurately able to ascertain each students understanding and how accurately they are learning the standard. Here the assessments are simple top grade as the teacher can give students a pass or fail for their explanation. It provides a snapshot of what students have learned through their explanation. and a social activity which can enhance learning.

 

Assessment 2:  Group whiteboard. Here students will break up into groups of 3 + and take turns reading brief passages that recount various events throughout WW2. Those not reading will have a whiteboard in which they will write down the central points of what was read. The reader will be in charge of declaring the winner with disputes being settled by the teacher.

Rationale 2: I consider the whiteboard on par with a “soft” quiz, the students will be more focused on the game aspect of it while the teacher can attain a comprehensive understanding of the student’s ability to summarize the main ideas of a piece. During this activity the teacher will be free to view some of the answers being written on the whiteboards, this provides the teacher with snapshots of student understanding. This is a frequent assessment as each group will do this activity multiple times. It is a group activity and therefore social, and it is simple to grade as the teacher will have a list of events and be able to see the students’ answers.

 

Assessment 3: Final test

Here the students will take a final “test” to guess the correct conclusions.  Similar to the previous group activities there will be 3 + per group. Each student will receive a paragraph which they will have to read and then choose between 4 different conclusions presented. The students will be given ample time to work together in effort to determine the correct conclusion, afterward each individual will give their answer and a rationale as to why they think this conclusion is correct.

Rationale 3:  While not normally utilized as a formative assessments, summative assessments like tests can be utilized as formative assessments. The word test is used here loosely, as they will be “tested” in front of their peers yet not given a test grade. Some students require a little pressure to perform up to their potential, knowing that they will have to give an answer in front of class may push them as much as necessary. This assessment includes a social aspect as students will collaborate to find the correct answer. It provides a snapshot of student understanding as he or she will give their answer and rationale. It is a formative assessment used as a summative assessment would be used. This assessment is also simple to grade as it requires no written component.

 

 

 

 

 

References:

 

1. (2010). Rick Wormeli: Formative and Summative Assessment. Retrieved January 03, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJxFXjfB_B4

 

Dyer, K. (multiple dates). Classroom Techniques: Formative Assessment Ideas. Retrieved December, 2016, from https://www.nwea.org/blog/2012/

 

TeachThought Staff. (2014, March 14). 10 assessments you can do in 90 seconds. Retrieved December, 2016, from http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/assessment/10-assessments-you-can-perform-in-90-seconds/

 

Neff, L. S. (unknown). Lev Vygotsky and Social Learning Theories. Retrieved December, 2016, from Lev Vygotsky and Social Learning Theories

Lynette, R. (2014, February 27). Teaching Kids to Paraphrase. Retrieved December, 2016, from http://minds-in-bloom.com/teaching-kids-to-paraphrase-step-by-step/