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... 8). I would say that academic success along with intelligence is one of the hardest things to calculate. Perhaps it is because there are so many underlying factors that greatly influence the scholastic achievements of a student. Whether it be the sociological detriments, such as social economic status, gender differences, age, religious background, or geographic location or the psychological aspects which may include evaluating the conditions that make students achieve; there are a number of factors that need to be considered when discussing academic success. As an upcoming teacher I am constantly boggling my mind to try and come up with a way to bridge the gap between the scholastic achievements of my students.
I know that it would be an extremely ideal statement to say that I would like to have all of my students receive equal opportunities to achieve in my classroom, but this is what I would like. As a compromise to myself I came up with some ideas that may in fact increase the academic success in my classroom and do so on an equal level for all students. I will try to create assessments that value the ability to apply knowledge by reasoning. I also want to come up with assessments and instructions that positively affect my students achievements. I want my students to be involved in developing their goals, self-evaluations, and ways for them to show me what they have been learning.
Finally, I hope to have the support of my administrators in strengthen the academic success of my students. Overall academic success is determined and influenced by a number of factors and is many times associated with high and low levels of intelligence. Although in the past intelligence has been the number one predictor in the scholastic achievements of a student I believe that I have supplied you with enough evidence to acknowledge that academic success is influenced and determined by a number of other factors besides intelligence. Not only is academic success related to intelligence, but it is also related to standardization in public schools.
In general the higher level of academic success in a school leads to higher standards in that school. According to Grant Wiggens in an article titled, Standards, not Standardization, a school that has standards is considered to have standards when it has high and consistent expectations of all learners in all courses (Standards, not Standardization 1). I happen to disagree with two parts of this definition. For one, I do not believe that standards are consistent.
Instead I would suggest that standards change as the level of measured or assumed academic success increases and decreases and as the curriculum of public education changes. Along with this I would also like to say that I do not agree that the standards are consistent for all students. I believe that standards favor those who are categorized as highly intelligent. Therefore, the standards are changed to meet their needs and in turn leave those who are labeled low intellects further and further behind the others. So the question may be are standards appropriate and needed to guide the education of our students? My answer to this question is yes.
As long as there are some revisions done to the existing standards in many public schools. I would like to offer my definition of what a standard may be considered. A standard is a level of excellence placed on something that we value. Standards are sustained by the demand for quality and consistency in areas that we perceive to be important. I think that the reason we need standards is because we need something concrete to compare students work to, to see if the results are satisfactory and if they are unsatisfactory then we need something there to stress improvement. The one thing that I do see as a downfall to revised standards is that it may discourage overachievers in raising their own personal standards.
If I were to evaluate the way standardization in public schools exist today I would have to say that they are lacking and need some revision and improvement. I believe that right now we have a high level of standardization as far as what is put on the test, but I do believe that we have no standardization when considering the results of the test. We have scores that are considered pass or fail, but we have nothing to ensure that those scores are representative of a student's performance. I strongly agree with the comment made by grant Wiggens when he states that, our students are the most tested but the least examined, (Standards, not standardization 2). Now days students are simply presented with a score but are not supplied with any information as to how they can reach or exceed the standard. I also would like to suggest that currently the standards really dont allow students to improve or raise their own standards because they are always being compared to the original work or performance that set the standard in the first place.
Therefore, I am convinced that it is time for standardization in public schools to be examined. I agree with the idea that standards are a good way of evaluating students and supplying students with an idea of what they need to achieve, but only if the standards are equal, just, and offer opportunity. As Grant Wiggens states, A standard offers an objective ideal, serving as a worthy and tangible goal for everyone- even if at this point in time, for whatever reason, some cannot yet reach it, (Standards not Standardization 2). The final controversy of standardization in public schools may be who or what should be the standard.
This is a question that even I can not correctly answer at this time. However, I do have some ideas that I would like to offer. I would like to suggest that one way to approach the creation of a standard would be to suggest that a standard does not just mean to meet the pre determined quotas, but to produce work that the individual is proud of. As teachers we need to develop the concept that the quality of work matters and that work needs to and will be rejected until it meets the standards. We need to let students know that we as teachers strive for excellence and we need to encourage every student to do so also. Today, the standards have allowed students to be happy with satisfactory work and what the revised standards need to include and what teachers need to promote is the fact that satisfactory work is not okay for anyone and that meeting or exceeding the standard is acceptable, attainable, and encouraged by everyone.
The next idea that I would like to suggest is that we need to create a sense of pride in the work that students exhibit. Now days it appears that students who have been labeled as low intellects are put on lower tracks and in turn are assigned low level courses that do not include high standards. It is rare that in low-level courses the students are given quality assignments to complete. Isnt the goal of education, tracking, and standardization to maximize the expectations of students to increase the quality of their work?
If this is the goal then standards need to be equal for everyone so that the work and expectations for students allow them to produce work of high quality and gain a sense of pride in their accomplishments. Together I think that quality and pride need to be taken into consideration when trying to decide who or what the standard should be. In conclusion, I want to reemphasize that intelligence, academic success, and standardization in public schools is three very controversial areas in our school system. I encourage you to go out and do research as I have done. You will discover millions of different views and suggestions to improve our education system. I am confident that after developing my own views and becoming aware of the controversies that surround public education I have widened my horizons and better prepared myself to become a future teacher.
I believe that intelligence, academic success, and the challenge of standardization in public schools all go hand in hand and I think throughout this paper that concept has been greatly illustrated. If I could devise one individual goal that has risen out of this paper it would be that as a teacher I want to have the ability to teach to all levels and styles of intelligence, to encourage academic success and create an atmosphere where success is achievable, and to allow and encourage my students to exceed in every standard. Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Sense Of Pride Academic Success
