The New York Times – Annie Murphy Paul
“Arguments in favor of standardized testing in schools usually cite the need to hold teachers and administrators accountable. But there is another reason to embrace tests, both standardized and in the classroom: They can help students to learn and grow. Used correctly, tests can help students achieve three crucial aims: supporting student recall (tests force students to pull information from their own heads, enhancing retention); enhancing their awareness of their own mental processes (in the process of being tested and getting feedback, students fine-tune their sense of what they know and don’t know); and nurturing the noncognitive skills students develop from facing challenges (tests represent a kind of controlled adversity, an ideal arena for honing skills like resilience and perseverance)…Here are some strategies for getting the most out of the testing process.”(more)