The Common Core

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I honestly don’t believe I have been given the “best” educational experiences so far. If I did not grow up staying ahead and fighting for my own accomplishments and education, I would not be here at Penn State today. I attended a Catholic school for 11 years, Pre-K 3 to 8th grade, and I do not believe I got a very good education. The teachers were not, in my opinion very educated in teaching young kids and encouraging accomplishments. I graduated valedictorian but getting good grades was not seen as a good thing, I was determined to get them none-the-less. Transitioning to high school, my educational experience got much better, but when I hear stories of my friends and classmates here at Penn State, I think of how much I missed or never got to experience. Yes, I pushed myself to take AP classes and try to understand all the material. However, when taking the AP exams, I was only successful in passing one of them, AP Music Theory with a 3. Looking back, I’ve realized I did not have the best teachers. They all taught the same ways with not much influence on me. So far, I’m enjoying the diversity in the classes and assessments in my classes at Penn State but continue to find the same experiences I did not enjoy from grade and high school.

I do not believe I have seen many efforts to resist high-stakes testing. This could possibly be just because of where I grew up in Connecticut, but even here at Penn State. Most exams are the same; multiple choice, true false, and fill in the blanks. Occasionally we are challenged with short answers and essay questions which scare students and they really shouldn’t, however because we have not been exposed to enough questions like this, we are not prepared. All AP exams are focused largely multiple choice questions. How can you evaluate a student’s knowledge by tricking them with answers that are so similar? Again, there is a large importance on high-stakes tests, also can be known as standardized tests, through the SAT’s. Every junior or senior high school student feels the pressure of taking the SAT’s. They are mandatory for every college application and truly do not measure a person’s intelligence. Compared to many of my friends here, I did not do well on SAT’s but I consider myself smart.

I believe one of the main reasons for no true discussion or movement forward in a new testing system is the difficulty it would take to begin. It all begins with teachers who they have their set ways of teaching classes. It would be very difficult to change their many different ways to one set standard. Also there may be negative feedback from students. If these new testing strategies focus on more writing and forming ideas, students will not enjoy it. They do not realize these are the skills they will need for the future. Hopefully by making small steps toward a new system, these high-stakes tests will start to disappear and students will be confident in the education they are receiving.

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