| Teachers are all at sea: despite a great deal | | | | their achievements of specific learning |
| of effort over the past 20 years, academic | | | | goals. |
| achievement among high school students | | | | |
| continues to lag behind. In their attempt to | | | | Needless to say, such attitude creates a |
| improve school results, the educators are | | | | fearful attitude of students towards |
| trying to find roots of poor academic | | | | assessment. They are learning not for |
| achievement of high school students. | | | | acquiring some knew exciting facts, but for |
| | | | getting a "pass." Education comes to grades |
| Some point the finger at the outrageous | | | | rather than knowledge. |
| homework loads students are snowed under. | | | | |
| Supporters of this idea argue that students | | | | 3. Incoherent Assessment Tasks |
| are overburdened with academic demands of | | | | |
| questionable value and, as a result, end up | | | | It is deplorable that the everyday practice |
| indifferent to studies, exhausted, and worn | | | | of most teachers is to set numerous, |
| out. Probably, there is some grain of truth | | | | time-consuming and unrelated tasks that ask |
| in this claim. However, recent investigations | | | | for a great deal of work to be done in the |
| have rebutted these suggestions... | | | | shortest time period. Consequently, this |
| | | | approach makes students adopt surface |
| The recent Pew Research Centre poll has | | | | approaches to learning by clutching at facts |
| produced unprecedented results: it's not high | | | | and memorising them as best as they can in |
| pressure, but low expectations that are | | | | order to pass. |
| bringing the American students down! | | | | |
| | | | Things would have changed, if teachers built |
| This claim was corroborated by Denise Clark | | | | the unrelated assessment tasks into a |
| Pope, a Stanford University lecturer who has | | | | coherent whole. This way, students would be |
| written about the effects of stress on | | | | able to work on coherent projects, gain |
| students. The research she conducted in | | | | systematic and profound knowledge in the |
| comfortable San Francisco Bay Area | | | | subject area. Moreover, they would be more |
| communities proves that the reason of poor | | | | challenged to do their own research, show |
| level of knowledge is not the heavy workload | | | | initiative, and be proactive. |
| students are exposed to but the lack of | | | | |
| challenge in the school environment. | | | | 4. Lack of Personal Approach |
| | | | |
| Thus, it gets straight that the problem of | | | | With mass classes consisting of more than 20 |
| low academic proficiency lies with what - | | | | children, many students feel deprived of the |
| rather than how much - students are asked to | | | | due attention on their teacher's part. They |
| do. And now, the main contributing factors | | | | are placed among the great lot of students |
| that lead to low learning proficiency of high | | | | without their personal interests, and |
| school students are wrong approach to | | | | problems with studying being taken into |
| assessments, incoherent assessment tasks, | | | | account. |
| teachers' and parents' indifference. | | | | |
| Unfortunately, this list is rather long... | | | | As a result, students don't feel cared about, |
| | | | lose their identity, become indifferent to |
| 1. Incomprehension of the Studying Purpose | | | | studies and lose faith in the brighter |
| | | | future. It is a problem of a great lot of |
| The main reason why so many students don't | | | | students. |
| feel interested in what they are doing at | | | | |
| school is the incomprehension of their | | | | 5. Parents' Attitude |
| studying routine. In fact, a vast majority of | | | | |
| teachers are even not bothered to explain to | | | | Unfortunately, a great number of parents also |
| their students what the learning outcomes | | | | contribute to the problem of low interest in |
| are, why they need to achieve them and how | | | | studies. Many of them have a "performance |
| they will be assessed. | | | | orientation," which emphasises results such |
| | | | as students' grades, rather than whether they |
| Thus, students read stacks of books, write | | | | master the material. On top of that, they are |
| hundreds of essays having no idea of the | | | | reluctant to weigh-in and help their children |
| initial purpose of all this hassle and | | | | with home tasks for the fear of being unable |
| bustle. They accomplish their tasks by | | | | to answer a question and lose children's |
| command which needs to be bluntly carried | | | | respect. |
| out. Studies become a real must, a dreadful | | | | |
| duty, which results in lack of interest, | | | | However, these fears are unjustified. This |
| reluctance to study and show initiative. | | | | way parents mislead their confused children, |
| | | | refuse to give them a helping hand with |
| 2. Wrong Assessment Approach | | | | studies and aggravate the existing problems. |
| | | | |
| Another contributing factor to the downward | | | | Thus, it gets clear that children are wrongly |
| knowledge proficiency is the wrong approach | | | | aimed at quantity of knowledge rather than |
| of assessment. The matter is that assessment | | | | quality. As Denise Clark Pope has put it, |
| is often wrongly intended by teachers as | | | | "There is too much content-and-coverage |
| punishment for students, or traps to catch | | | | stress. It should be about challenging and |
| them out. Grades seem to exist in order to | | | | engaging students on multiple levels." And if |
| show students' errors, mistakes and drawbacks | | | | radical steps aren't taken in the nearest |
| in the study area, rather than to give | | | | future, the situation is likely to be |
| students reasonable chance of demonstrating | | | | aggravated. |