TEACHERS UNABLE TO BALANCE THE DEMANDS OF INSTRUCTION

Teachers unable to balance the Demands of Instruction

Teachers unable to balance the Demands of Instruction

Introduction

Teachers are faced with more and more challenges as time progresses. The job of the teacher used to just be to impart knowledge to your students, but now the teacher must be a moral guide for their pupils as well. In addition to all the normal problems a teacher runs in to in a coarse of their year they now are faced with more and more state mandated standardized tests. These test have become the indicators for whether a teacher is a suitable educator as well as whether a students is "smart". The tests are becoming greater and number and more specific in material as the years go bye.

Teachers unable to balance the Demands of Instruction

Teachers are faced with a bit of a dilemma. Do they teach the students all the knowledge they are supposed to learn in that specific grade or do they teach to the exams. Do these standardized tests really prove anything? How usefully are they to the state, the teacher or the parent? This paper will look at what exactly these tests are, whether teachers are teaching to the exams, do's and don't for teachers who need to teach these exams, as well as what we learn from these exams.

"A standardize test is any examination that's administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. There are two major kinds of standardized tests: aptitude tests and achievement tests (Educational Leadership, March 1999)". The first kind of exam mentioned was aptitude tests. Aptitude tests are tests that are supposed to predict how well students are likely to achieve in some later educational setting. Some examples of these exams are the SAT's and the ACT's. Achievement tests are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the schools and their teachers. The school board, superintendents, and principles look at these exams. An example of an achievement test it Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS tests). These exams are designed to create a tool that educational professionals can use to make valid inferences about students general knowledge or knowledge in a specific subject area.

Although teaching to the test is not a new concern, today's greater emphasis on teacher accountability can make this practice more likely to occur. Depending on how it is done, teaching to the test can be either productive ...