The Basis of Education by Rebecca

The Basis of Education by Rebecca - July 2022 Scholarship Essay

When I was in high school I struggled a great deal with tests. I was never an outstanding test taker, whenever the test came I always struggled to remember the material or formulas we learned. This was especially true for me in math class. I would understand all the materials we were learning, yet when it came test time I could not remember the formulas for most equations. This caused me to know how to memorize everything that was taught, however, after the test was taken I did not retain any of what I had learned. I hope that in these next ten years education becomes less based on test-taking.
Education is extremely test-based and bases a student's ability and worth on how well they score. It is extremely hard to achieve high grades in classes if you can not pass a test. You must be able to score high on the ACT or SAT to get into some colleges and even gain scholarships from them. I understand that there is a certain importance in being able to take a test and being able to pass. However, quite a few are not exceptional at taking tests and do not score well, this does not mean they do not know the material that was taught. Not scoring well on a test could mean many things: not having long enough to learn the material, not being able to memorize what was taught, and even the infamous not studying. However, even those students who score well on the test may not have retained the materials that were taught similar to those who did not score well. I believe this is due to how fast-paced school is, it feels as though at points in time in education it is not about teaching the students the information they need to know, but more about getting to the next lesson as soon as possible to keep up with the set curriculum. This style of teaching makes it hard for students to keep up and causes others to memorize but then discard what was taught as soon as the test was taken.
In the future, I hope teaching will start to lean more toward helping students learn and retain what is taught to them, instead of just preparing them to take a test. I want to see learning take on a little slower teaching process which will help those who have trouble in an extremely fast-paced classroom. I hope that learning new information will make+ students feel empowered because they know more than they did before taking the class. I do not want students to feel they are not smart enough just because they struggled to take a test or exam. They should be able to feel that they are more than just their test scores when it comes to their education. Overall, my hope for education over the next ten years is that it will stop basing a student's smarts and worth on their test scores.