Standardized
Testing: Learn to Reason it Out
Better Test Scores, May, 2005, by The Critical Thinking Co.™ Staff
It is an unavoidable fact that public
education in the United States is
neither what it should be nor what
it once was. As funding has fallen
and student assessments have become
tied to standardized testing, the
public school system has been streamlined
into preparations for those tests.
Since the bulk of such tests are multiple
choice (to facilitate automated grading)
students have been taught to memorize
the answers rather than to reason
them out, and student learning has
suffered as a result.
It is quite possible to score very
well on a standardized test and retain
little to none of the information
covered. This is not true education
and it should not be acceptable. However,
there is little chance that such testing
will cease, or that the format will
change significantly, or that school
funding will be divorced from the
test results. Therefore, a method
is needed that will ensure better
test scores while also ensuring a
proper education.
The Critical Thinking Co. has concerned
itself with just that for the last
30 years. Critical thinking entails
the use of reason and logic to evaluate
subject materials to foster true comprehension
and develop conclusions based upon
that comprehension. At its most basic,
critical thinking guides students
to the correct answers rather than
giving them the answers and requiring
memorization.
Both methods may result in better
test scores, but usually only one
results in increased understanding
and educational development. Critical
Thinking products have been used by
a large majority of the highest-performing
high schools in the U.S. (as compiled
by Newsweek) and that is no
coincidence. We promise better test
scores through the use of our products
or you can have your money back.
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