Jasmine Jones Lucy Steele English 1102 29 April 2014 Determining Intelligence Intelligence is something that changes depending

on who you ask to define the word. Merriam-Websters defines intelligence as the ability to learn or understand things or to deal with new or difficult situations. A few of my classmates defined intelligence as how smart someone is, the efficiency to handle situations, people who are well versed and seem to know what theyre talking about, knowing a lot, being well-read, and experienced, and someone who is smart and makes the right choices. Due to the subjectivity of the word, something as simple as a test should not be the main tool for determining how intelligent students are. People are more than a test score and their ability to memorize and recite information should not be indicative of whether or not they can pass a class. There are many students in high school and college who have barely passed their classes and even failed them because they are unable to prove that they have mastered the concepts that they have learned over the course of a semester. There should be other alternatives to tests, such as projects after every unit that demonstrate a persons mastery of learned concepts. Unit based projects would give the students a way to show what theyve learned in their own way, without feeling pressured to study hours for a test that they may or may not pass. Robert E. Stakes is a professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Hes the director for the Center for Instructional Research and Curriculum Education (CIRCE), which focuses on researching program evaluations. He teaches courses on

program evaluation, case study research, qualitative data analysis and the evaluation of curriculum. Concordia is a Christian university that prepares students for societal transformations. It currently has ten campuses located throughout the US, which offer online degrees in the Doctorate of Education and the Masters of Education. ProCon.org is a nonprofit public charity that seeks to provide resources for critical thinking and education without bias that are controversial and important. Stake would argue that students are different and that centrally mandated tests are not the answer to determining an individual students intelligence (Stake 23). Concordia would believe that tests are a good indicator of how well prepared a student is for college and life after (Concordia 1). ProCon would cite how between 2002 and 2008 annual state spending on test rose from $423 million to $1.1 billion, which is a 160% increase compared to just a 19.22% increase in inflation (Vu 1). Tests are a problem that teachers and administrators should work together on to solve, because tests are not an appropriate way to gauge a students intelligence. Intelligence should be measured by how well students can demonstrate the knowledge theyve acquired and not by how well they can recite information theyve memorized. Students are more than what their test scores indicate and they should be able to prove that without having to bubble in answers on an opscan. Many teachers teach students in a way that will help them pass a test, instead of teaching them in a way that will help them understand the material. We live in a society that places too much emphasis on standardized tests, students are pressured into believing that if they dont do well on a high stakes test such as the SAT then they are not as intelligent as their peers. We should be teaching children that they are smart despite what their test scores reveal.

Works Cited "Do Standardized Tests Show an Accurate View of Students' Abilities?" Concordia University's Online Education Degrees. Concordia University, n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2014. <http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/news/do-standardized-test-showan-accurate-view-of-students-abilities/>. "Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in America?" Standardized Tests. ProCon.org, 1 Nov. 2013. Web. 2 Apr. 2014. <Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in America?>. Stake, Robert E. "The Teacher, Standardized Testing, and Prospects of Revolution." 2013. The Phi Delta Kappan. 3rd ed. Vol. 73. N.p.: Phi Delta Kappa International, 1991. 243-47. Print.