Assessing School Age Children

Life is a test in itself. Without life's obstacles, road blocks and failures, adults wouldn't know what to eliminate, work on to become better or how to measure their strength level. Testing is necessary! I apply this same thought to testing school age children. ALL developmental dimensions should be tested! When the average person thinks of the word, "test", he/she thinks of book knowledge. For example, asking a seven year old to give a summary of the story in his/her own words to test reading comprehension. While reading the quote, "a commitment to the whole child", I think of the child's biosocial, cognitive and psychosocial skills.


Biosocial skills can be assessed through a physical either at school or the child's pediatrician. Some of the things that are assessed during a physical are reflexes, fine and gross motor skills, heart rate, weight and height. These tests and measurements are necessary to discover if a child is physically developing appropriately by age group.


A child's physical nature should be at its best in order for his/her cognitive skills to function properly. Cognitive skills for school age children are measured through standardized testing. The "No Child Left Behind" Act, a U.S. law enacted in 2001 was put in place to increase accountability in education by requiring states to qualify for federal educational funding by administering standardized tests to measure school achievement(Berger, 2009). One of the most popular standardized tests in the state of NC for third through eighth graders is the End of Grade Test, also known as the EOG. This test measures a student's understanding in the following subjects: math, reading comprehension, science and writing. Language development can be assessed through a vocabulary test and a spelling bee. In some schools, it seems as if teachers are "teaching the test" instead of teaching life-long skills. Yes, student's scores ride heavily upon future school funding, therefore it is important for these school age children to score above average. Teachers do not realize that some students are not good test-takers and become even more nervous when learning of the pressure that is upon them. I would suggest as an educator, to let school age children know that it is not about scoring high on a test but making sure they FULLY understand each content area and they are not just memorizing the information. I am interested in my making sure my students progress in their academics however I want to make sure that they are comfortable in doing so. This leads up to assessing psychosocial skills.


Cognitive and Biosocial skills depend heavily upon psychosocial skills. They may include the child's emotions, personality and mortality. Psychosocial skills are assessed through personality questionnaires, interviews, role playing and day-to-day social interaction among children. Although these tests are not required compared to an EOG, acquiring social skills are still very important in today’s time. Communication is the master key to unlocking doors to jobs, opportunities, and life itself. We have to continue to instill in our students that everything that they are going to do in life requires some type of communicating and the better communicator they are, the better off in life they will be!


It is imperative that children are skilled in all three of the developmental domains. Because all three overlap, when one is lacking, it throws off the entire growth process. In the 21st century, educators need to teach more than what is going to be on "the big test". It is about preparing these children for the world outside of the schoolhouse, "THE REAL WORLD".



Reference:

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