Marilyn Gardner's presentation about the implications of Standardized Testing on young creative minds.

1. Classroom Creativity is Dying
Marilyn Gardner Milton

2. There is no denying that one of the
most hated educational practices is
that of standardized tests

3. While they are certainly an
important tool to help differentiate
between students, there is also
something incredibly depressing
about a test that is so uninteresting

4. Teachers around the country have
recently begun to notice how
little students seem to care about
these supposedly important tests

5. Normally ambitious and hardworking students
are increasingly disillusioned with the tests that
will help them get into the school of their
choice and teachers are beginning to wonder if
having these tests is worth sapping the creativity
and will to learn that students used to feel, all in
the name of going a higher-ranking college

6. One of the ways that teachers have
gauged the interest of students in tests
and other academic pursuits is how often
they try to cheat for higher grades

7. By walking around a classroom when
students are taking these tests, teachers
use proximity to both catch students who
are cheating as well as to oversee the class

8. However some teachers have noticed
that students don’t even care enough
about these standardized tests to
cheat, and that is slightly worrisome

9. While the level of student care and
interest in the tests have fallen, the
level of resentment towards the tests
has drastically risen

10. An incredibly worrisome trend when
you look at how the USA is falling
behind in terms of education

11. To many students, the situations that they
deal with currently in their every day lives
(such as poverty, bullying, and abuse of all
sorts) are infinitely more important than
some test that is supposed to help rank
them against their peers and friends

12. The only people who care about these tests
are those who judge the schools (such as
politicians), the administration, and the
teachers who need good results on these
tests to justify the importance of their jobs

13. Instead of actively trying to interest the
students in learning and education, we have
been feeding them pre-set cookie cutter
plans that have taken the joy out of learning
and replaced it with a bland and uninteresting
educational landscape that is failing to grab
the attention of our future generations

14. The desires of politicians and businesses to
turn schools into money-making ventures
are damaging those who need the schools
to work well, the students themselves

15. To read more, visit:
!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-turner/
the-death-of-creativity-standardized-tests_
b_5316147.html