09-01-2017, 11:12 AM
(09-01-2017, 11:04 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: What do you think on the subject of aptitude testing, for all students, as they get ready to enter HS?
I disagree with it on its own. The reason is become some students just won't test well, some tests can introduce bias (the IQ test, for example, was heavily biased in favor of the white population for a long time and so erroneously scored minorities lower), etc. There are systems where elementary/middle school is all together, and during that entire time the students are evaluated by their teachers. As they move on to high school, they go to the school that fits their academic path more.
I know I like to use Germany a lot, but I know a fair amount about them. Their system isn't perfect, but this is how they operate. As they move into their equivalent of high school, they get "sorted" in this way into one of three (in some regions, four) types of schools. One is geared more towards a trade school environment, one is more of a professional school (think business, law, etc.), and one is more for the academic track, to go on to university.
Again, their system isn't perfect, but I think a longer term evaluation over the course of their lower level school years, or that in conjunction with an aptitude test, would be a better approach as it would have a higher degree of accuracy in the assessment of the student's capabilities.
