ASSESSMENTS

Giving an assessment is a way to record a child's progess overtime and provide feedback to a child's parent. Assessments can also be utilized to detect disabilities, measure readiness, and to evaluate the effectiveness of a lesson or program. Standardized tests are given state wide and nationally to school age children. These tests results can be used to compare children based on developmental norms. A disadvantage of a standarized test is how to interpret the information or data that is gathered. Many believe that the test is considered to have a cultural bias to a particular group of children which makes the accuracy of the results difficult to achieve. Other informal tests and techniques may be used for assessments such as teacher observations, teacher made checklists, portfolios, or open-ended questions. As stated earlier, research indicats that assessments both standardized and informal can be used to screen for disabilities, assess readiness, and to help develop curriculum and daily activities along with providing feedback to parents which makes them useful tools.

Students in Singapore and other Asian Countries continue to score higher in than students in the United States in both Math and Science. According to the Trends in Math and Science Study (TIMSS), which is a national test given to 4th and 8th graders, an average ten year old is 5% ahead of US Students in Math. Fourth graders in Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan also do better than students in the US. This trend usually continues through high school. It is suggested that the US focuses heavily on literacy and reading and not enough on the sciences. Education in Asian Cultures is considered to be the single most important means for social mobility. Access to quality education is very competitve and many families spend approximately 20% of their monthly income on their children's education.
If the United States plans to compete with Global America,than the educational system must better prepare students in all areas of learning.

References:
Berger, K. (2009). The developing person through childhood. (5th ed). New York,NY: Worth Publishers.

Retrieved from www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychild/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=210.

Retrieved from www.usnews.com/education/blogs/on-education/2008/12/09/study-us-trials-asian-countries-in-math-and-science.