Published in South China Morning Post, Feb. 19, 2016
http://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1914115/letters-editor-february-19-2016
Doubts over standardised tests are valid
Lovelyn Wong (“Assessment serves
useful purpose”, February 16) advises parents not to be too hasty in calling
for an end to the Primary Three Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA).
Ms Wong argues that tests help
reveal students’ weaknesses and helps teachers improve their instruction.
This argument has been used to
justify increased testing in the US as well.
There is no evidence that it is
true; in fact, studies done at the secondary school level comparing grades
teachers give students and standardised tests show that grades are an excellent
predictor of future academic success, and standardised tests do not add
additional information.
There are, in addition, plausible
reasons to think that teacher evaluation of students is better than
standardised tests.
The repeated judgments of
professionals who are with students every day is probably more valid than a
test created by distant strangers and given only once.
Moreover, teacher evaluations of
students are “multiple measures”, done by different teachers in different
years, are closely aligned to the curriculum, and cover all subjects.
Arguments for giving students a
standardised test must be accompanied by evidence showing that they do a
better job than grades alone.
Stephen
Krashen, professor emeritus, University of Southern California
Students put under a lot of pressure in HK
Students at local primary and
secondary schools all have an enormous amount of homework to do and often have
to stay up till late at night to finish it.
Those secondary school students
who have to study so late will often turn up to school feeling tired and will
have difficulty concentrating on what their teacher is saying in class.
Many also have to attend tutorial
classes and extracurricular activities which put them under pressure.
Also, with such a heavy workload,
many of them do not have time to relax. They have to deal with this exhaustive schedule
because they want to get a coveted place at a local university.
They see this as the means to
having a good career, which will earn them a good salary and enable them to
buy a home and take care of their parents.
Our youngsters are not robots.
They should be allowed to spend more time relaxing.
I hope in future generations in
Hong Kong, children will be allowed to grow up in a happier environment.
Jocelyn
Fung, Tai Po
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