Transcript Does our Education System Breed Elitism?

Leong Qi Dong
Jaw Li Wen
Joshua Tan
Foo Guo Wei
Purpose of standardized testing
Raised standards vs grade inflation
 To motivate students to succeed
 A focused approach towards teaching
test contents
 Standardization
 Accurate comparisons

Purpose of standardized testing
Improve accountability
 Have a norm-referenced score
 Raise the standard of education in
schools
 Practicality
 Better gauge of ability

Current situation
Non-instructional factors come to play
 Standardized-test scores often measure
superficial thinking
 Time, energy, and money
 Restricted curriculumn

Flaws
The distribution of resources is very
uneven
 Standardized tests measure the
temporary gaining of facts rather than
understanding
 Testing only on knowledge

Vicious cycle of raised test standards vs
grade inflation
 Teaching to test, drill-and-skill teaching
 Distorts and narrows education
 High stakes

Possible alternatives – In the 21st
century
Introducing performance-based
assessment where students are
evaluated on the basis of real work
 programs where students are
challenged to read, explore, investigate,
think and progress rapidly

Reasons
Gifted
Education
Programme
Streaming
National
Examinations
Reasons
Students
School
Branding
Media
Public
Reasons
Name of School
Picture
Comments
Anglo Chinese
School
(Independent)
Socially adept, wellgroomed, sleek.
Hwa Chong
Institution (High
School)
Mandarin-speaking,
reserved,
hardworking.
Reasons
Name of School
Picture
Comments
Nanyang Girls High
School
Down to earth,
reserved,
studious.
Singapore Chinese
Girls School
Outgoing, classy,
articulate.
Reasons

Programmes Offered

Results
Solutions

Media should take the effort to
understand school’s students before
publishing articles

Introduce some programmes that elite
schools have to the other schools.
Problems in America

There are more than 300 languages
spoken in the United States by people
whose primary language is a language
other than English.
Problems in America

If the United States were to become a
bilingual society, it would spark off a
heated argument among the immigrants
on the choosing of the two official
languages.
Problems in America

If the 2 languages are not properly
learned, a mix-up of the 2 might happen,
creating something similar to singlish.
Pronunciation and spelling of the 2
languages would also be affected.
Problems in America

With the increase in number of Hispanic
population in America, many fear that
Spanish would dominate the language
system.