Quote

A quote that I felt would fit with what we have explored during our observations with young children.

"We cannot know the consequences of suppressing a chil's spontaneity when he is just beginning to be active.  We may even suffocate life itself.  that humanity which is revealed in all its intellectual splendor during the sweet and tender age of childhood should be respected with a kind of religious veneration.  It islke the sun which appears at dawn or a flower just beginning to bloom.  Education cannot be effective unless it helps a child to open up himself to life."
Marie Montessori

Assessing

Different disabilities require different assessments.  Working with special needs students I use an assessment tool called Brigance.  This assessment comes in levels from toddler to adulthood.  When using this assessment I look at daily living, independent hygiene, and life skills versus the reading, writing/language, math skills that are assessed in the general education population.  As for standardized  testing I do an alternate assessment on my students based on their ability levels and they are not compared to a national norm.  Students in the general education populations are required to take the Terra Nova stndardized test that compares them to national norms.  Children should be assessed to see what they are learning across all academic areas.  If they are not able to pass these assessments then the teacher may need to reevaluate the way they are teaching to the children.  Assessments are also good in the fact that child who are having difficulty can be identified and receive the necessary support to be successful in school.  The negative side of standardize assessments is that there is so much weight placed on the test for students to pass.  This can be harmful stress.  I have seen children that become sick during the week of standardized testing, from worrying about whether they will pass or fail the test.  Teachers are also teaching more to the test than teaching the curriculum.

The assessment used in South Korea is the National Assessment of Educational Achievement (NAEA) (NCEE, 2011). Korean children are tested twice a year in two subject areas in grades six, nine and ten (NCEE, 2011).  Student school records or student activity records are keep on file and used as part of a child’s admission into senior secondary and university level of education.   South Korean students have to take an exam demonstration what they learn in junior high school as well as an admission exam to process in the senior high school (NCEE, 2011).  Students who want to continue into college must take a College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), which does have an impact on their higher education prospects (NCEE, 2011). Before this exam students will engage in some form of rigorous study.  The culture refers to this time “examination hell” as there is an incredible amount of pressure about their performance on this exam.

Center on international education benchmarking. 2011. South Korea - instructional systems.  Retrived from http://www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/south-korea-overview/south-korea-instructional-systems/

Other Links:

“Korean Youth Study Longest Hours in OECD,” The Chosunilbo, Aug. 10, 2009.
Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. (2008). Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. (2006). Rules on the General Education Development Test for Qualifications to Enter High School.
Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation.  (n.d.) The PISA Results and the Education System in Korea. (PDF)