Blog Stage 8

On Monday, August 10, 2015, my classmate posted an article "Testing Reform Needed" to blog Musing of a Sassy Texas Skeptic. In this post, my classmate states that "We need to find a testing system that works for all children, something that will build confidence in them nor something that overwhelms and breaks them down." To support this claim, my classmate says in the post that "Today in Texas education is all about learning how to pass these tests and memorizing the things they can." Therefore, school is no longer exciting and fun to most students. Students lost their passion in studying. And everything they do is pretty much just for passing the tests. There is another fact to support the claim which the author mentions in the article that the testing system can destroy some children's self confidence. And all these facts make the children dislike school. Another reason the author used to support the claim is that "The variety in learning abilities of children is so wide yet they are all focused to complete the same tests. They have accommodations for some students but that barely touches on the different learning abilities of all children." Because the students spend most of their time in studying for the tests, so they can't improve the abilities of learning variety things.

This article also says that even House Bill 742 shows attention from the legislature, but it is still can't be enough a change due to the ignorance of social studies. Because social studies can be very important, it helps the students to learn about histories and cultures. I agree with my classmate's argument. Students spend so much time in school that school's environment is very important to their mental health while growing up. As we all know, there have been more and more students becoming depress due to the heavy tests in school. More and more students start to drop school. So to create a more fun and exciting learning environment will increase the children's interests of learning. There would be more and more students continue to finish their education and earn certain degree. This is not only good for the students themselves but also good to the country's development.