Testing can have many potentially detrimental - Essay Example

Testing Can Have Many Potentially Detrimental Testing is a vital aspect of the learning process as it enables the teachers to gauge the student’s comprehension of what has been taught over the lessons. However, testing can be at times counterproductive as stated in the article depending on how it is done and the underlying circumstances. For instance, testing Somali students who can hardly communicate in English through the convectional ways will give destructive or misleading results, which are not an accurate indication of their capabilities.

Such students should have a system, which considers their circumstances such their limited ability to communicate and exposure to war. Generally, such students will tend to be slow learners as they are learning a new language, adjusting to a new geographical and cultural environment. As such, it is upon the teacher to consider such underlying factors when testing such students. The case of the Somali children is one of the many cases in which the teacher ought to adjust the testing system to generate correct results.

Convectional testing would also be misplaced if employed in the assessment of students with learning disabilities (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997). Evidently, a teacher has to analyse various circumstances carefully and then design an appropriate test for the students. For instance, if the student has a specialized learning programme, the testing should be inline or pertinent to the learning programme undertaken by the student. Therefore, testing of students cannot be generalised, as it will give inaccurate results, which the tutor cannot rely on to make a correct judgment of the students’ progress.

Testing is hence a subjective process especially if the students are encountering different obstacles despite undertaking the same syllabus (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997). Testing without consideration of the students’ circumstances would be unhelpful and detrimental to both the student and the teacher.Work CitedAnastasi, A., & Urbina, S. (1997). Psychological testing (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.