Testing for Intelligence?

As an educator, I have commited myself to looking at "the whole child" and not just one aspect of the child in education. I consider the home environment and social, emotional, and mental aspects of the child in addition to and possibly as indicators of their success, or lack thereof, in school. I am not an advocate of testing children for intelligence unless it is something the parents desire for their child. I witness my preschoolers and kindergartners suffering because of requirements we have put on them to learn and show their learning through standardized testing. This goes against their natural development. I know that it is not standard for preschoolers and kindergarteners to take standardized tests but they do- in the form of local school assessments given at the beginning, middle, and end of the year towards a school improvement goal. They are graded on a rubric that the rest of the school (1st-3rd) uses. It sets them up. As far as testing in the elementary grades period- I don't agree with it. There are curriculums with worksheet after worksheet after worksheet given to the student and then at the end of a unit- an 8-14 page multiple choice unit test! The stresses of it on students, not to mention teachers to cram information down the students throat that they "should" know from previous grades, and for students to recall it all at a moments notice is not realistic. Then to measure the effectiveness of teachers based on the test scores? Ridiculous. I believe that in order to test a child's knowledge of a concept, alternative forms of assessment should be allowed, like book reports, or powerpoint presentations, or an artistic expression, etc. The pressure is too much surrounding standardized tests like Terra Nova for a third grader. 

I lived in South Korea for three years during my high school career and had it not been for the exceptional, supportive teachers and family I had- I would have had a hard time coping with the stress of my AP classes. I went to the military school however. Korean children experience something in school that makes my little nervousness about tests look like small potatoes. I did have the opportunity to visit many public schools through playing sports but I never got to experience how school was for them. I knew it was a serious thing as I walked through the market on Saturday and saw bus loads of children and students in uniform with bookbags walking to and fro. I learned that education is very important and college is even more important. Many Korean children attend public school as well as private school in order to get the skills necessary to score high on an entrance exam. "Higher education is a top priority for many Korean families and the percentage of university graduates is among the highest of any country in the world" (Cramming in Korea, 2011, p.19).  Many Korean children are in expensive private education with 88% of those being in elelmentary. These private establishments are referred to as "cram-schools", where students study and cram information pertinent to scoring high on tests. High test scores are desired and many parents send their children, elementary and high school alike, to study abroad- a very expensive feat which is one of the reasons for the low birth rate in South Korea. "Much of this exodus is driven by parents' desire to have their children become fluent in English, a highly prized ability in a country well aware of its need to compete in a globalized economy. But some seek to free their children of the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the Korean education system with its overwhelming emphasis on acing standardized, multiple choice tests" (Cramming in Korea, 2011, p.20).

If we differentiate instruction and tailor education to each student's needs so they can acheive success on their level, how can we expect them to do well on a standardized test that is just that- standard. We do not teach standard children. These tests do not include tailoring or differentiation. All students take the same test and are scored the same way. The idea and practice of standardized tests contradicts what we are encouraged to do inside the classroom. I understand we want all children to be successful, but when they get out into the real world- no one is going to make concessions for them. So are we setting them up for failure? Are we providing and allowing students to get accustomed to unrealistic expectations of assistance? People (society) will not go out of their way to make accommodations and modifications just so someone can feel successful.

Resources:
South Korean Education http://site.google.com/site/southkoreaneducation/
Branigan, W. ( 2011). Cramming in Korea. Development Asia (April- June p.19-23). Retrieved February 11,2013 from www.developmentasia.com

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development
The stress of a two year old boy that shaped his life forever

 That two year old boy had a mom and a dad who were never married and chose not to be together anymore. He lived with his mom in New York and his dad lived somewhere else. Both of his parents decided they needed to do something with him, as his mother couldn't afford to take care of him and his father didn't want to. So they decided that they would send him to Georgia to live with his father's adoptive parents, his grandparents, from whom his father had run away from because they had abused him. He was well aware of the environment in which he was sending his son into. So they put this two year old boy on a train by himself with his bag and sent him to Georgia. The pullman porter looked after him on the train until they arrived at his destination. Two men greeted the boy at the station, his Grand dad, whom he grew up to know as Dad, and a man named Red. He remembers going with them and them saying he had to go to the doctor. He remembers them putting him up on a metal table and struggling to get down. He heard them saying, "you've got to hold him down." and "he's strong." He remembers a doctor coming at him with what looked like a big long rounded syringe, then he felt pain. Twenty years later, this boy, now a man, asked his Grand dad about that day. His Grand dad was surprised the boy even remembered it. Grand dad explained that when they got him off the train the pullman porter told them that he could not go to the bathroom and his stomach was hurting. So they took him to the doctor for an enima.
To this day this little boy, now a man, is afraid to go the doctor. He will treat himself rather than risk going into the doctor's office. This boy, now a man, does not easily trust anyone. This happened in 1961, and the little boy is my father. The years of fear and abuse my father endured were nothing short of horrendous and as my father explained, he never dealt with it until he came to know Jesus Christ. A healing process had to take place of forgiving those who wronged you and telling them so- even if they never acknowledged the wrong they did. Growing up my father had a issue with trust and with self-esteem stemming from many more things that happened in his childhood. But the stress and trauma of being two and sent on a train by himself to an unknown place in unknown company and the stress of being held down against your will and  then feeling pain, was severe enough for him to remember even at the age of two.

Children in Sri Lanka, affected by war, violence, and abuse coupled with the recent natural disaster (Asian tsunami) has resulted in predictors of PTSD in children. This website shows evidence of the effects of cumulative stress on children's mental health with an article titled Family violence, war, and natural disasters: A study of the effect of extreme stress on children's mental health in Sri Lanka  http://www.biomedcentral.com
My best friend recently went on a mission trip to Sri Lanka. At the time she arrived the 25 year (1983-2009) civil war had only been declared over for about two years. There were armed guards walking around all over the place and it was scary and intimidating. She went with a medical team from Hand of Hope Mission to bring medical and dental care to the families of Sri Lanka. The children were malnutritioned and diseased, they had no clean water to drink and no access to healthcare or school. The families they helped lived in high rise buildings issued by the government with one room apartments. Down the middle of the building was a huge trash chute where all the trash went, but that is where it stayed. There were flies in the homes and the stench was tremendous. Disease was rampant. Most of the families and children beginning at age one or two worked in brick making plants to make a very small paycheck. The most alarming thing to my friend, who is also an early childhood educator, was that no one smiled- not even the children. And when she smiled at them they looked at her with the most puzzling look as if they had never seen a smile before. Maybe they hadn't.