The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing - 1302 Words

Standardized Testing is a regulation of rigorous dialogue and debate. Both sides of this subject impose arguments based upon moral and financial justifications, and span from the local to national level of legislation. The policy of standardized testing as a means to identify schools who are lacking in successful educational processes neither harm school districts through unequal distribution of power, nor negatively affect students’ learning; rather, it benefits students, faculty, and districts by encouraging student success and aiding in improvements for school curriculums. Standardized Testing assists schools by yielding results that illustrate the academic strengths and weaknesses of students within that school, which may be used†¦show more content†¦When this is the case, schools often embrace the standardized test as a positive outlet to gain new and important information about how they can help their students thrive in the academic realm. Whitby, a private s chool, states on their website, â€Å"We gain a valuable metric [from testing] we can use to check the quality of our curriculum† (2016). As standardized tests become embraced more in academic communities, children and schools will gain better perspectives and knowledge on how to perform well in the classroom. Testing can also show the inequality gaps in schools and various demographics of students. Although it is believed by some that standardized tests are discriminatory for specific groups of students, the tests are uniform in order to ensure that there is an equal baseline present for test scores. One organization, ProCon.org, stated in a recent article responding to the idea that standardized tests are biased: â€Å"standardized tests are inclusive and non-discriminatory because they ensure content is equivalent for all students† (2017). Alternate tests would be unfair to students because there would be an unequal system of accountability and expression of dat a based upon national baselines. It is if such schools lose even more funding that the practice of standardized testing would becomeShow MoreRelatedPros And Cons Of Standardized Testing801 Words   |  4 Pagescontroversial topic Since Middle School, I was not opposed to standardized testing. I thought of it as a way of testing us of what we have learned. Although, after reading some articles about standardized testing I am re-thinking the pros and cons. From personal experience, I thought of it as a challenge to pass them. But now that reminisce about it, I noticed some of the cons of standardized testing. I remember having a week or two dedicated for testing, and in case of students failing they had to take timeRead MorePros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1400 Words   |  6 PagesEven though there are many downsides to standardized testing there are still viable reasons why they are still being used today. One of the main reasons includes the easy and quick access of testing students. Standardized testing allows schools to quickly access a large amount of students at one time. This is also one of the cheapest ways to tests such a large crowd due to machinery that grades which results in low tests costs f or students. These tests also help by setting a national curriculum forRead MoreThe Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing1050 Words   |  5 Pageseducational world is standardized tests. All fifty states have their own standards following the common core curriculum. There are many positives and negatives that go with the standardized tests. A standardized test is any type of â€Å"examination thats administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner† (Popham, 1999). These standardized tests are either aptitude tests or achievement tests. Schools use achievement tests to compare students. There are pros to standardized examinations as toolsRead MorePros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1025 Words   |  5 PagesWhat are standardized tests? Standardized tests are exams that are administered, scored, and interpreted in the same way for all students. Now there are many pros and cons of standardized testing however, I believe that public and private schools should just abolish standardized testing all together. These tests determine a student’s academic performance and each student is given the same test with the same questions and answers. These tests are designed to measure the students learning capabilitiesRead MorePros and Cons of Standardized Testing583 Words   |  2 PagesStandardized testing has its pros and cons I do not believe in it but I will give you proof for and against the testing. We will cover some the history and where the testing came from and why we do it. I will talk a little bit of how I feel about testing and how much we should focus on ho w the students do on the test. I have interviewed a few teachers that I had when I went to school and some personal friends that are teachers now and how it effects how they teach. Most historians trace the beginningRead MoreThe Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing Essay674 Words   |  3 PagesStandardized testing is a down fall to many students but also an opportunity for many others. Standardized testing has its pros and its cons. It can be the make it or break it factor into getting into colleges you are hoping to attend or the scholarships you want to earn. Some people may have their opinions about the test, whether they hate it or not but the fact is that it’s here to stay. What exactly is standardized testing you may ask, it is a test which measures the knowledge among differentRead MoreThe Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1491 Words   |  6 PagesStandardized testing was introduced by French psychologist Alfred Binet in 1905. The test originated because Binet was commissioned by the French government to create a tool to identify which students needed remedial studies. Over time, the standardized tests evolved into multiple different tests in multiple subjects for varying age groups of students. The tests were initially seen as a way to test a large sum of people with the same general questions to see an individual’s knowledge. Some peopleRead MoreThe Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1511 Words   |  7 PagesOver the years the educational system has faced various controversial issues, but the most recent one making a negative impact on students, is standardized testing. Standardized testing is a type of testing used to evaluate stud ents academic abilities . It is a way to measure if standards are being met but does not provide a variation in the type of administration based on the students needs (Sacks, 2000). In other words, all children are provided these test to track their learning progress basedRead MoreThe Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1100 Words   |  5 Pagesscience, history, and science. Then, every year, students typically take one big standardized test, or even more. These tests are claimed to give educators an objective that’s unbiased. Standardized testing supposedly helps identify the natural tendency of individual students, identifying skill development and progress. However, are these things what standardized testing really do for students? Standardized testing only measures a small portion of what makes education substantial. This means thatRead MorePros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1201 Words   |  5 Pages Standardized testing is all based on your performance as a student on a specific day, time and place. What it doesn’t show is how you perform on a day to day basis. These types of test can be given in any type of form that requires test takers to answer the same questions, and is then scored in a â€Å"standard† or consistent manner. Students should not have to take standardized test because of many reasons. As a human I have days where I’m tired and didn’t get enough sleep the night before or it is

Essay the Tao Of Pooh Book Review - 2340 Words

THE TAO OF POOH Philosophy is a complicated subject. Since the beginning of human existence, many tried to come up with theories about life, happiness, reality and knowledge. From philosophical ideas different beliefs sprung, and existence of different religions followed. Every theory raised by a philosopher attracted different followers. In todays modern society aside from major religions, there are thousands of others that suggest that their explanations to universal questions are the only accurate ones, and all of these religions seek to gain more followers to join their quot;wayquot;. One of these religions is the religion/philosophy of Taoism. Taoism has it roots in China, where the founder of Taoism Lao-Tse was searching for a†¦show more content†¦The second principle of Taoism that is presented in this novel is the belief that quot;The wise are not learned; the learned are not wisequot;. This principle can be simply explained by the fact that although intellect may be useful for rati onalizing and analyzing certain things, deeper spiritual matters are beyond intellects grasp. Every day people try to use knowledge and come up with ideas that interrupt with the natural order of things. They fail to recognize the fact that everything has its own place and function. Everyone have their limitations that they need to accept and be aware of, which if ignored will only cause them to fail. Pooh illustrates this principle, by the fact that he never tries hard to be something that he is not. He recognizes the fact that he cant fly or live under water, therefore instead of trying to ignore his natural abilities and recognize his weaknesses he enjoys his every day life as a bear in the forest, eating honey exactly how nature intended him to be. The third principle of Taoism described in this novel is the principle of Wu-Wei, in other words -3- Taoism in action. This principle states that actions should evolve from inner sensitivity and be a part of the natural rhythm of things. In order to practice Wu-Wei one must learn to work with his inner nature and the surrounding natural laws operating around him or

Social Media in our life free essay sample

?How Strongly Can Social Media Influence and Control People’s Lives? What comes to your mind when you hear the term â€Å"Social Media? Perhaps some people thinking about the media that makes them able to meet and communicate with people around the world. While some others think about that, social media is the channel that gives them the chance to send and receive many information. Others think that social media is about the way we get many updates from people who we follow and maybe someone out there thinks social media is a part of a new marketing strategy. Nowadays, social media seems like a big part of our life. When your friends didn’t reply to your text, you can greet them on Facebook. When you want to listen to music or see a music video from your favorite singer – go to YouTube. When you just wake up and open your eyes, you don’t have to walk outside to get the newspaper, just take your phone and scroll your Twitter timeline then you’ll get the information. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Media in our life or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Blog and Forum are also types of social media because they allow you to share â€Å"what you think† about articles, pictures, videos and so on. There is social media which allows the users not only to share about their profession, major of study, works and company, addresses, political views and religion, but also allow them to find a job and allow the company to find the employees. Everything looks and feels easier to do with social media. But from the examples above, I have a question on my mind â€Å"If everything looks and feels easier to do with social media, isnt something strange if society is extremely dependent on social media. How strong can social media influence and control people’s lives? † This question leads me to recall a case that happened about 5 years ago. Let me tell you a very interesting case from Indonesia about social media. In August 2008, there was a women who has known by Indonesian people as Prita Mulyasari. Her case begun when she wrote about her disappointment of the services of a Hospital in Jakarta. She told and wrote everything about the hospital and the bad services that she got from the doctors, nurses and administration staff. Then, she sent a message to her friends on the mailing list. Actually, she just tried to remind her friends to be more selective in choosing the hospital and to be more careful in accepting many kinds of services. But, her message became a big problem after her friend shared it to a website (the people’s forum) with so many read and commented about the issue. In September 2008, the management of the hospital reported Prita Mulyasari for the bad news about the hospital that she has spread. The management of the hospital demanded her to pay a material loss of about Rp. 161 million as a replacement for clarification in national newspapers and Rp. 100 million for immaterial losses. She wasn’t only to pay for the hospital losses but she was also detained in May 2009. After 8 months she went through the inspection and verification process and was convicted by the court for violating the law about using the ICT (Information and Communication Technology). This case rapidly spread among Indonesian people. As common issues, there are always pros and cons. Although the Indonesian people weren’t justified what Prita has done against the hospital, but most of people in Indonesia really cared about her life and Prita’s condition and tried to help her, at least to pay the amercement. The first Facebook account which made by some people is (https://www. facebook. com/KoinPeduliPrita). They were spreading â€Å"Bantu Bebaskan Prita† or â€Å"Help Free Prita† to Indonesian People and approached them to help Prita by collecting the coins. It didn’t take a long time. Many volunteers, social workers, activists, students and even artists came together to help her. They were collecting many coins from people on the street, office, and even an entertainment center. Some singers also held a charity concert to help her (http://koinkeadilan. com/). In December 2009, the campaign to help Prita was finished and they succeed by collecting the coins to help Prita raise about Rp. 825 Million. The money was extremely worth it for Prita, although she still had to go through the period of detainees. However, the money was very helpful for her not only to pay the amercement but also for her life, considering she has two kids. I’m not trying to spread bad news about my country or discredit someone or some institutions. I am just trying to make you believe that social media has the strength to influence and control people’s lives. Prita’s case clearly explains to us that social media were able to make people’s life get worse or get better. But, we don’t need to stay away or being anti-social media. People are stronger than social media because we can easily think before we act and think before we speak. There is nothing to be worried about if we are wise when we share something on social media. Sources: http://hukum. kompasiana. com/2009/06/03/kronologi-kasus-prita-mulyasari-13940. h tml http://www. hukumonline. com/berita/baca/lt4b3ac59e39184/pn-tangerang-vonis-bebas-prita-buka-perdamaian-dengan-rs-omni http://outthinkgroup. com/tips/the-6-types-of-social-media http://news. okezone. com/read/2009/12/21/338/286733/redirect How social media is affecting our daily lives: Have you ever had one of those moments when you’re working on completing an important assignment that’s due the next day, and then you think, â€Å"I wonder what’s happening on Twitter right now? † Three hours later, you’ve scrolled through hundreds of tweets, and your assignment is left terrible and unfinished. It’s safe to say that social media is a big part of my life. In fact, I would go so far as saying that it has taken over my life. I’ve got nothing to do, so I’ll see what people are doing on Facebook. When I’m bored, I tweet about it. Chances are all of you do, too. But just how much are we tweeting? NBC News published an article in 2012 that said the United States spent 121 billion minutes on social media in July 2012 alone. That’s 230,060 years right there. According to NBC, that’s 6. 5 hours per person if everyone in the U. S. used social media. I believe that in this way social media poses as more than a simple distraction. As fun as commenting on your grandmother’s cat photos can be, there is no real value to the string of 10- to 15-second comments or updates are generally meaningless. Unless you are getting involved in a meaningful substantive dialogue (as opposed to pokes and likes), the time spent on a social network doesn’t add to your life. Social media is supposed to bring people together online to share information. In practice, it does neither of these things in a meaningful way. What is nefarious and subtle is what use of social networks takes away. Time that could be spent working on far more important things is wasted on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Tumblr. Think of what you could do with an extra 6. 5 hours of studying, time with family, and time with friends in person. Think of the sleep and the money you could make working. Sadly, cutting down on â€Å"Internet time,† as it has been frequently dubbed, is easier said than done. Social networking has gotten so big because of the ease with which it facilitates communication, allows people to connect with others who have similar interests, and provides businesses with opportunities to reach out to consumers. People can miss real life important events because they didn’t see the Facebook invitation. My intent is not to criticize, but to enlighten. Social media has been key in helping me keep in touch with friends and family, and it is a wonderful tool for communication as well. The issue at hand is the excessive amounts of time being spent on social media and how it has unwittingly become a priority in our lives. It simultaneously enables and replaces socialization. On the other hand, recent studies conducted by researchers from Miriam Hospital have found a correlation between lower GPAs and higher social media use in female college students. This further reinforces the idea that while social media may be the norm and is currently popular, I don’t believe it’s bettering society. So next time you’re bored on the bus on your way home from school, try talking to the person sitting next to you on the shuttle instead of spending the ride scrolling through Instagram. If you’re sitting in a lecture hall, forget about tweeting throughout the class and actually pay attention. If there’s one thing social media isn’t doing for you, it’s helping you be social. Social networking sites and our lives: Questions have been raised about the social impact of widespread use of social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter. Do these technologies isolate people and truncate their relationships? Or are there benefits associated with being connected to others in this way? The Pew Research Center’s Internet American Life Project decided to examine SNS in a survey that explored people’s overall social networks and how use of these technologies is related to trust, tolerance, social support, and community and political engagement. The findings presented here paint a rich and complex picture of the role that digital technology plays in people’s social worlds. Wherever possible, we seek to disentangle whether people’s varying social behaviors and attitudes are related to the different ways they use social networking sites, or to other relevant demographic characteristics, such as age, gender and social class. The number of those using social networking sites has nearly doubled since 2008 and the population of SNS users has gotten older. In this Pew Internet sample, 79% of American adults said they used the internet and nearly half of adults (47%), or 59% of internet users, say they use at least one of SNS. This is close to double the 26% of adults (34% of internet users) who used a SNS in 2008. Among other things, this means the average age of adult-SNS users has shifted from 33 in 2008 to 38 in 2010. Over half of all adult SNS users are now over the age of 35. Some 56% of SNS users now are female. Facebook dominates the SNS space in this survey: 92% of SNS users are on Facebook; 29% use MySpace, 18% used LinkedIn and 13% use Twitter. There is considerable variance in the way people use various social networking sites: 52% of Facebook users and 33% of Twitter users engage with the platform daily, while only 7% of MySpace and 6% of LinkedIn users do the same. On Facebook on an average day: 15% of Facebook users update their own status. 22% comment on another’s post or status. 20% comment on another user’s photos. 26% â€Å"Like† another user’s content. 10% send another user a private message Facebook users are more trusting than others. We asked people if they felt â€Å"that most people can be trusted. † When we used regression analysis to control for demographic factors, we found that the typical internet user is more than twice as likely as others to feel that people can be trusted. Further, we found that Facebook users are even more likely to be trusting. We used regression analysis to control for other factors and found that a Facebook user who uses the site multiple times per day is 43% more likely than other internet users and more than three times as likely as non-internet users to feel that most people can be trusted. Facebook users have more close relationships. The average American has just over two discussion confidants (2. 16) – that is, people with whom they discuss important matters. This is a modest, but significantly larger number than the average of 1. 93 core ties reported when we asked this same question in 2008. Controlling for other factors we found that someone who uses Facebook several times per day averages 9% more close, core ties in their overall social network compared with other internet users. Facebook users get more social support than other people. We looked at how much total support, emotional support, companionship, and instrumental aid adults receive. On a scale of 100, the average American scored 75/100 on a scale of total support, 75/100 on emotional support (such as receiving advice), 76/100 in companionship (such as having people to spend time with), and 75/100 in instrumental aid (such as having someone to help if they are sick in bed). Internet users in general score 3 points higher in total support, 6 points higher in companionship, and 4 points higher in instrumental support. A Facebook user who uses the site multiple times per day tends to score an additional 5 points higher in total support, 5 points higher in emotional support, and 5 points higher in companionship, than internet users of similar demographic characteristics. For Facebook users, the additional boost is equivalent to about half the total support that the average American receives as a result of being married or cohabitating with a partner. Facebook users are much more politically engaged than most people. Our survey was conducted over the November 2010 elections. At that time, 10% of Americans reported that they had attended a political rally, 23% reported that they had tried to convince someone to vote for a specific candidate, and 66% reported that they had or intended to vote. Internet users in general were over twice as likely to attend a political meeting, 78% more likely to try and influence someone’s vote, and 53% more likely to have voted or intended to vote. Compared with other internet users, and users of other SNS platforms, a Facebook user who uses the site multiple times per day was an additional two and half times more likely to attend a political rally or meeting, 57% more likely to persuade someone on their vote, and an additional 43% more likely to have said they would vote. Facebook revives â€Å"dormant† relationships. In our sample, the average Facebook user has 229 Facebook friends. They reported that their friends list contains: 22% people from high school 12% extended family 10% coworkers 9% college friends 8% immediate family 7% people from voluntary groups 2% neighbors Over 31% of Facebook friends cannot be classified into these categories. However, only 7% of Facebook friends are people users have never met in person, and only 3% are people who have met only one time. The remainder is friends-of-friends and social ties that are not currently active relationships, but â€Å"dormant† ties that may, at some point in time, become an important source of information. Social networking sites are increasingly used to keep up with close social ties. Looking only at those people that SNS users report as their core discussion confidants, 40% of users have friended all of their closest confidants. This is a substantial increase from the 29% of users who reported in our 2008 survey that they had friended all of their core confidants. MySpace users are more likely to be open to opposing points of view. We measured â€Å"perspective taking,† or the ability of people to consider multiple points of view. There is no evidence that SNS users, including those who use Facebook, are any more likely than others to cocoon themselves in social networks of like-minded and similar people, as some have feared. Moreover, regression analysis found that those who use MySpace have significantly higher levels of perspective taking. The average adult scored 64/100 on a scale of perspective taking, using regression analysis to control for demographic factors, a MySpace user who uses the site a half dozen times per month tends to score about 8 points higher on the scale.