Write a 150- to 300-word response to the following letter to the editor:
As a taxpaying citizen of Hohum County, I question the extensive amount of time our schools spend on
testing. I don�t see the reason for these mandated state tests. What good are they, anyway? Does
anyone even look at the test results and do anything about the scores? I doubt it. What a waste of time
and money! I think that teachers should teach more and not waste time testing. I think students would
learn a lot more if they had more instruction and less testing. Whose idea was it to do all this testing
anyway?
In Response:
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to a letter from a concerned tax payer of Hohum
County questioning the amount of time schools spent on assessing students through examination
tests. As the chairman of the assessment task force from Broward county school district, I would
like to hold a contrary opinion and state the benefits of testing during learning.
After conducting a comprehensive study into the matter, my assessment task force has
established that assessments are an integral component of active learning since they are used to
measure a students’ progress in the learning activities. Assessments also enable teachers to gauge
the teaching methods employed in the learning process as well as the grasping and retention
capacity of the students under assessment. This is achieved through analyzing the trends and
patterns of scores obtained from the tests.
Schools use student assessments to gauge if they have attained their particular goals and
objectives in their daily activities of providing quality and sustainable education to the student
population. Schools are funded through tax payers’ money to conduct their activities. They can
only maintain the trust of funding entity through publishing school performance results which
are assessment based. Teachers in the school districts are also evaluated according to the scores
obtained by the students. Assessments help to show areas of weakness in performance and the
need for improvement. Generally, the whole education system is assessment based in order to
measure performance in the sector.
Sincerely,
Broward County Assessment task force.
