New Technology to Assess Student Skills

The only way to evaluate the performance of any educational system is to initiate the development of new technology to assess student skills. In the United States, much emphasis is given to basic education better known as K-12 or the 12-year education of students from Elementary to High School. The 2 years of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten are not counted in the 12 years but are considered as vital preparatory years for the conduct of proper education. There are many methods of evaluating student' skills especially in the case of the country's highly decentralized form of education systems where each state manages its own educational program through local agencies called school boards. The federal government which does not have direct administrative control over public schools can only set standards by which to evaluate the performance of the country's educational institutions and provide assistance in the forms of scholarships and loans especially in the pursuit of College Education after 12 years of Elementary and High School studies.

The standards that the federal government imposes on the educational system must be uniform and measurable, conforming to international norms as much as possible. The common sentiment among educators is that assessment of students' skills should start right in the very classrooms where they are taught and under the supervision of the teachers concerned. Today modern communication facilities like the internet are being tapped to give support to the teachers in the form of assessment tools and packaged programs. Websites in the internet offer various support services to the educational programs of the country. With ample support from the state-run school boards, assessment of students' skills at the classroom level can be done proficiently.

The standards used by which student skills are measured varies from state to state but there are common norms to which all must agree. For example, students are graded according to their performance in school, based mainly in the oral and written examinations conducted by the teachers. Of course, the attitude, interest and consistent attendance may be a part of the grading system for the students. Almost anywhere in the country today, the technology that has the biggest impact on education is the use of the internet as an educational tool. In the case of students' grades, they are easily disseminated and made available to the students and most importantly to the parents, who play an important role in the progress of their children's education. The internet is an efficient tool in the interconnecting the interests of all the stakeholders of the nations' educational program. Teachers, parents, school officials, government officials, and many other personalities can use the computer to gather and process information on the proper education of the students.

It is now an accepted fact that real new technology to assess student skills is the use of computer technology as the implementing vehicle to apply the traditional assessment tools used in determining the skills level of students. Written examinations, whether imposed by local boards, state or national institutes are easier to facilitate when computerized and can be uniformly implemented all over the country. Examination results are immediately known and can be published shortly after the conducted tests given simultaneously in schools nationwide. Computers are really the main tools that have given educational institutions the added edge in implementing the country's educational program. Since they are expensive, many parents who do not own computers may be left out, unable to benefit from the advantages offered by the internet's support programs. Moves to make available computer technology to the poor families are underway as part of the government's overall desire to apply the new technology to assess student skills.

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New Technology to Assess Student Skills

Educational Technology Student Assessment