Academic Writing Part I

 

The negative indication of school competency test

by : Mauliya Risalaturrohmah (2111004)

Nowadays, school competency test becomes the necessary for students. It is an important skill that needed by the students who want to continue the study’s level. The tests show not only how well the school is doing but also how well that schools caters to the student's needs. Test scores might also be a way that they evaluate the school district. For example; If a mother or father was looking for schools for their children to attend, test scores might be a part of how they assess the school. If the test scores are bad, then they are not likely to send their children to the particular school. Therefore, most of the students have the struggle to get the good score from the test. Nevertheless, test scores only show if the students memorize the information. They only prove what they remember and cannot apply in good way. For example; when taking a vocabulary test, they only remember how to spell the word and the definition of the word and then they pass. The students will not remember how to use the word in its correct context later on. So, the score test is not a good indication of School’s competency, but it has the negative indications.

Firstly, the school competency test does not verify how competent the students are. As a student, my younger brother who studying in Senior High School in Kediri, he feels that he has been placed at an educational disadvantage as a result of social and economic factors beyond the purview of the education system. He has only been taught to select the material most likely to appear on an exam paper, do the home work, hence, if the students fail the tests, they can still have a small hope of a passing grade in the class. In this case, he thinks that its test does not allow the students to show their full potential and intellect. The test often makes the students anxious and makes them feel to be suppressed. And the teachers make the test seem as though it will be the end of the world if the students fail or do not get the good score. Moreover, when taking the test, the students are taken from their normal classes and brought into a quiet room filled with desks and made to sit in solitude which the teachers did not go over and they feel like the students will fail. It shows that the students have not been taught a single thing that can be applied to the real world, but it depends on what grade the students are. So, the students solely focus on their grades not their academic ability.

Secondly, the score test is not the way of a school competency. It is not a fair judge of a schools competency. We can determine how much the students have learned before doing it. "Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid"(Kathryn Hill). It means that just giving the test for the students on what they learned is like closing the barn door after the horse has left. It may or may not help the horses still in the barn but will not bring back the one who left. In fact, when looking at a school as a whole, we will not see individuals. Not everybody is the same level of intelligence. The students may be more knowledgeable on different subjects and no one can learn in the same environment being able to focus long enough to take a standardized test. In Ohio, almost half of the students from families with incomes below $20,000 failed the state exams, while nearly 80 percent of students from families earning more than $30,000 passed those same exams. Thus, the qualified and talented teacher with effective teaching techniques should be evaluated daily, not only focus on the student test.

In Conclusion, the indication of school competency cannot be seen by the score test. The teachers should also be evaluated daily according to how their students learn. Many people would argue that the primary function of a school is to teach the students the material based on the curriculum, and the best method of seeing how well students know this material through tests. So, teacher took achievement test to measure student performance not school performance.