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