No. 2 Pencils Required

     As a teenager, I was the poster child for the pro-standardized testing movement. In fact, I've lost count over the years how many times I have said, "I would much rather take a multiple choice test than have to write a paper." This was a good thing since my graduating class (the class of 2009) was the first class required by the state of Maryland to pass the High School Assessments (HSAs) in order to graduate. The HSAs were a series of four standardized tests in the subject areas of algebra, English, government, and biology. Interestingly enough, the HSAs didn't last too long and were replaced less than a decade later with the new, more difficult Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment tests based on the Common Core Content Standards (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, 2015).
     Because I just couldn't get enough of standardized testing, I took Advanced Placement (AP) tests every spring during high school from 2006-2009. In 2009, I finished out my high school career by taking four AP tests, bringing my final AP test count to eight. Sprinkled in amongst the HSAs and AP tests were also the PSAT and SAT tests. When I started college, I had taken over a dozen standardized tests in the past 5 years and would’ve considered myself a seasoned professional. This number is incredibly low, however, if you compare it to students today who may take around 112 standardized test between the ages of 5 and 18 (Layton, 2015).
    My high achievement on the tests that I took led me to believe that I had mastered every subject that I was tested on. After receiving a high score on my AP US History test, I touted my score as proof that my education was successful. However, it seemed as though the test demonstrated that I was able to store facts for a short amount of time rather than that I had derived meaning from what I had learned about the history of the country that I lived in. I have difficulty identifying any of the tests that I took which truly demonstrated that I had learned the content that I was being tested on to the level that my scores reflected. Part of my achievement on these test certainly had to do with having learned some concepts but an equal part was a result of my knack for memorizing facts and interpreting test questions correctly. In retrospect, it does not feel as though standardized testing was the correct way to assess whether or not I had mastered course content.
     Despite the many downfalls of standardized testing, the reasoning behind them does seem to make some sense. Originally, standardized testing was created to ensure that all students, especially those from regions of low socioeconomic status, were receiving an adequate education (Popham, 2014). In some ways, these tests were a way for the government and public to hold school systems accountable for the quality of learning that they were providing by creating a standard to which student achievement could be compared and ranked. (Gallagher, 2003; Popham, 2014). Somewhere along the line, however, a disconnect has occurred between what is being learned in the classroom and what is being assessed. This disconnect negatively impacts both students and teachers, who often sacrifice meaningful learning in hopes of attaining higher test scores. It is my hope that, in the future, we will be able to develop more effective ways to measure educational quality without diminishing it in the process.

References 

Gallagher, C. J. (2003). Reconciling a tradition of testing with a new learning paradigm. Educational Psychology Review, 15(1), 83-99.
Layton, L. (2015). Study says standardized testing is overwhelming nation's public schools. Retrieved January 31, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/study-says-standardized-testing-is-overwhelming-nations-public-schools/2015/10/24/8a22092c-79ae-11e5-a958-d889faf561dc_story.html
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. The PARCC Tests. Retrieved January 31, 2016, from http://www.parcconline.org/
Popham, W. James. (2014). Classroom assessment: what teachers need to know. Pearson Education, Inc.

Introduction

Hello.

I am an aspiring teacher named Abi. At this point in my life, I am working my way through a Master of Arts in Teaching degree (MAT) in order to become certified to teach in the state of Maryland.

We were asked to create a blog as part of one of my classes, but I think it will be an excellent opportunity to discuss things that I am learning about education as I move forward with the program and into my career.

However, before we get into the educational topics, I'd like to take the opportunity to introduce myself and provide some background...

At the time of this post, I am a 24-year-old graduate student at Stevenson Univerisity. In the next few days, I will be moving from the Eastern Shore of Maryland (where I was born and raised) to Baltimore in order to be closer to the university, where I have just accepted a position as a graduate assistant. I began the Master's program in the fall of 2015 and intend to graduate in the spring of 2017.

I earned two Bachelor of Science degrees from University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) in 2013, one in Biological Sciences and the other in Psychology. After graduating, I began working as a biologist at a private ecotoxicology lab. There, I learned the realities of working in the scientific research industry.

This was not the typical path that a teacher takes. While I have had a knack for teaching and explaining things since I was young, I was hesitant to pursue teaching for a very long time. I had flirted with the idea multiple times throughout my undergraduate experience but never committed. The call of research was too alluring because it was something new. However, after spending time actually doing research, I began to realize that it was not for me. I found myself spending my free time trying to learn as much as I could and became the coworker that people came to when they had questions. I began training employees and creating instructional videos for work. Finally, I started a YouTube channel (Learn Something Together) in an attempt to find an outlet for my teaching passion that was growing daily.

Around this time is when it became clear to me that I had been avoiding teaching for long enough. It was clearly something that I enjoyed doing and would allow me to learn new things while being able to do what I am good at. I found the MAT program at SU and knew that this was the next step that I needed to take.

Since starting the program, my knowledge about teaching and my desire to teach have grown exponentially. With every assignment, I encounter new philosophies and strategies of which I wasn't aware. I have found so many activities and teaching styles that I can not wait to employ in the classroom.

Hopefully, as this blog continues, I will be able to share my journey as I continue to learn and gain experience in the classroom.

For now, I will leave you with one of my new favorite quotes that was derived from the writings of Xun Kuang:

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn."