Schools test in need of improvement<\/p>\n
Simon Marcus Gower, Director, Research and Development,
\nHarapan Bangsa School Tangerang, Banten<\/p>\n
The end of the academic year for schools in Indonesia is
\neffectively upon us and so teachers and students have been
\nhurriedly preparing themselves for the end of year final tests.
\nThe goal of graduating to the next grade or even graduating from
\nschool means that serious and even stressful cramming has been
\ngoing on in an attempt to maximize success. Unfortunately,
\nIndonesian schools are still prone to a period of drilling at the
\nend of an academic year, in which the students are aggressively
\nand intensively driven to be ready for their final tests.<\/p>\n
In these intense times within schools the students'
\nopportunities to learn have effectively ended, all that really
\nremains ahead for them is a robotic and dull preparation for
\nfinal tests which may or may not be of a good quality. But what
\nis going on here? Students remaining passive in aggressive and
\nintense drilled, memorization does not seem to be in line with
\nprogressive and developmental education; and yet the government
\nhas been reforming the testing procedure for schools. With
\napparent reform it seems odd that old-fashioned and heavy-handed
\ninstruction techniques are still required.<\/p>\n
Inevitably, it becomes necessary to consider the nature of the
\nreforms of testing that are going on. Are the reforms realistic?
\nAre they effective? Are they solving problems or are they in fact
\ncompounding problems? Evidently the government has begun to go
\ndown a path that seems to be conducive with educational reform.
\nThe manner in which schools have been given greater autonomy in
\nthe production of their own tests clearly indicates that schools
\nare being given greater trust to fulfill the education promise.<\/p>\n
However, in giving schools the autonomy to implement and score
\ntheir own tests the government may have only gone half-way in
\nbringing about the necessary reform of the testing procedure.
\nGiven greater autonomy it is a sad reality that many schools and
\nteachers will simply follow the formats and procedures that they
\nhave been exposed to and used in previous years.<\/p>\n
So even though schools have the autonomy to produce tests that
\nshould be more focused on what the students have studied in
\nschool and so valid, many schools are effectively incapable of
\nexercising and capitalizing on this autonomy.<\/p>\n
Consequently, even though the system has been restructured,
\nthe implementation of tests is mostly the same. In this kind of
\nsituation it is understandable that the experiences for the
\nstudents will also remain mostly the same, and so the end of
\nlearning occurs and undesirable drilling begins. This is
\nobviously a bad situation but there are remedies that can be
\napplied. The autonomy that schools now have should be managed and
\nfully capitalized on. It becomes critical that principals and
\ncurriculum coordinators become active in promoting positive and
\nactive use of this autonomy through more focused and learner-
\ncentered testing formats and procedures.<\/p>\n
There is, then, scope for schools to achieve better tests but
\nthe government is retaining its overall control over three key
\nschool subjects -- namely mathematics, English and Bahasa
\nIndonesia. This means that, although schools can enjoy freedom
\nacross the other subjects that they teach, they are still
\nrequired to conform to the government's methods and procedures
\nfor these three critical subjects. The government will still
\nissue the test materials for these subjects and score the
\nstudents' efforts.<\/p>\n
This clearly reflects the fact that the government wishes to
\nretain some control over the education system being applied in
\nschools but this control should be about applying and maintaining
\nstandards. Unfortunately, however, it does not seem likely that
\nstandards are really being set and maintained by the kinds of
\ntests the government is putting forward.<\/p>\n
One mathematics teacher highlights the problem when he states
\nthat "the government tests are really too easy for my students.
\nWe have achieved good results with our students but some remain
\nweak and the government tests will not show this because all of
\nthe students will surely pass the tests." This indicates that the
\nschool that this teacher is working in will face the problem of
\nhaving to apply a test that is not really appropriate or accurate
\nin determining the students' mathematical abilities. The test
\nsimply will not reflect the teaching and learning that has gone
\non at that school.<\/p>\n
A similar predicament can been seen if we examine the kinds of
\nmaterial put forward for the tests of English in schools here.
\nFor example, a teacher of English for a junior high school
\nrecently did a short review of English tests supplied to national
\nschools over recent years. He found that each of the tests was
\nliterally filled with mistakes. Some of the mistakes were little
\nmore than typing errors but nonetheless it would be reasonable to
\nexpect that such tests would be well proofread.<\/p>\n
Other mistakes that can be found in such tests cannot,
\nhowever, so easily be set aside. For example, basic grammatical
\nmistakes can be seen in these tests which are, in fact, the kinds
\nof mistakes that teachers of English consistently work to correct
\nin their students' use of the language. These tests are
\neffectively reinforcing the mistakes that the students can easily
\nmake, but really should not be making.<\/p>\n
Similarly, quite embarrassing spelling mistakes can be found
\nin such tests which leave doubt as to the competence of the test
\nwriters. One recent test featured the use of the word "manequeen"
\nin two of its questions. There is no such word in the English
\nlanguage. What the test writer was attempting to spell was
\nmannequin, but no test writer should be attempting to spell
\nwords. Surely the use of a dictionary is a skill we can expect
\nfrom educators as well as students.<\/p>\n
The government is clearly attempting to bring about reform of
\nthe education system and is, specifically, targeting the
\nprovision of test procedures. However, it is equally clear that
\nsuch reform is not easy but through proper consultations a better
\nand smoother path to reformation should be made possible. Reform
\nshould be condoned and promoted but sharing the process of reform
\nis very important, if not essential to making reform effective
\nand lasting.<\/p>",
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