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This video explains that standardized testing places pressure on students, causes teachers to teach to the test, doesn't allow critical thinking by the student, and it is not a good tool to measure students' actual abilities. After explaining some of the disadvantages in the video, the creator makes some suggestions on how the standardized test can be improved to best meet the needs of the students.

Researchers ask the question if private schools result in better scores than public schools. At first it was found that students in private perform no differently than their public school peers once Socioeconomic Statuses are removed, on test of their achievement. It was later found that students who had attended private schools outperform their public school peers on test of their developmental abilities.

This type of information is actually really important to me as well as interesting because my little girl is fixing to start school in August. This has been a major dilema for me because I didn't know where exaclty to start her at. But with these type of articles I am gaining a lot of interesting information.

Pros and Cons of Standardized Tests!

Web 2.0 Literacy and Secondary Teacher Education Danielle Fahser-Herro and Constance Steinkuehler 2009 http://www.crste.org/images/Herro_Web20_Literacy.pdf Internet use strengthens literacy in students according to this study. In fact sometimes test scores improves in certain cases, not across the board.

This article discusses the role that computers play in the school and in children's social, emotional, and physical development. Technology is on the rise and as the year's progress, computers are being provided for students in the classroom. The question is does using technology in school raise students achievement. For the younger students computers were most effective on student learning when the teacher would use them for high thinking skills. Computers used in 12th grade history reported the more that students used computers outside the classroom their performances were higher on test scores. This study suggests that schools that provide technology applications should provide training for students to use these applications. In conjunction, schools should provide basic computer skills for students so that they can improve in their content areas.

I like the idea of providing technology training to students. It amazes me how many of my students don't have basic computer skills. I usually spend a lot of time just teaching them how to use a program.

According to this article, regular use of computers has an effect on student performance. In this study, they used 986 fourth graders from 55 classrooms in nine Massachusetts school districts. Most of the students only used computers to write their papers. However, they found that students that used their computers for fun and games had a negative effect on students reading scores. As long as students used the computers for writing purposes this had positive effects on their test scores.

Web video created and narrated by educational maverick Sir Ken Robinson. In it, he explains, in a student-centered way, why it is crucial for teachers to embrace technology in the classroom.

I think Sir Ken Robinson's ideas about the curriculum were right! One thing he mentioned that stuck out to me was about the divergent thinking being the essential capacity for creativity. He stated that there were several possible answers instead of just one. He used the example of the ways to use a paper cup to support his ideas. He explained how knowledge deteriorates over time when students become "educated". He says that what is considered as copying or cheating is referred to as collaboration in the environment. I think society is constantly changing and some aspects of the curriculum may need to be modified to meet those needs but not completely. I think with the changing curriculum, students and teachers are so overwhelmed by the emphasis placed on standardized testing that it is difficult for learning to occur in a fun, relaxed environment, except in lower grade levels where the students are still excited about learning. I agree with Sir Ken Robinson in saying that we can meet the future by doing the past, when the stakes weren't so high and so many students weren't being medicated, learning could occur in an environment that wasn't divided!

Joshua, I am so glad you posted this video! I think that all educators need to watch this video simply because it is real. Technology should be essential in the classrooms today's simply because it is what the students see and use when they are not in school. Think about how many students have cell phones, Ipad's, Ipods and video games, we should be taking into consideration these things to strengthn education. I agree with Jessica on the divergent thinking--we sometimes forget that no 2 students are the same so their perspectives on learning and life will be totally different. I think a lot of times we do want the "perfect" classroom but the truth of the matter is we have to consider all learning styles. Students learn best from each other and group work is something that Sir Ken made a point in his presentation. In this course we talk a lot with each other SO that we can learn from each other so why not implement this same learning style into the classrooms?

Adventure learning in a situated context is like a name your own adventure novel for high school and college students in Geography. Its application would work in any field for context-driven learning. Doering, A. et. al. (2007). Adventure learning: situating learning in an authentic context. Innovate 3 (6). Accessed on April 24, 2008. The article is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, The Fischler School of Education and Human Services at Nova Southeastern University. For educational use only.

Great book about situated learning, kind of makes you feel like you are in a Liam Neeson movie and testing theories and such!

This Journal has a special emphasizes on teaching Nonfiction Writing to students in the 3rd Grade. I think it is good to see how Mentor Texts are being used across the country. With the new Staar Test in Texas and 4th grade have to write Expository Essays this would be a good way to get a jump start on teaching Writing.

This article lists all the benefits of attending a private school versus attending a public one.

I really enjoyed this article and definitely agree that students benefit from a private school education. I taught private Kindergarten for two years. The curriculum I taught was on a 1st and 2nd grade level and with the small student-teacher ratio (I had 10 kids max), I was able to work with students one on one and focus on each students weakness area to improve it. Also, at the end of the year, the students had benchmark tests they took and scored well above the percentile compared to other students their same age in the areas of math, reading, social awareness, etc. If financially feasible, I think students especially younger ones greatly benefit from private school. Great selection of article.