In the essay, "A Proposal to Abolish Grading", Paul Goodman writes that tests in schools are mostly a hindrance to the actual value of education that students receive. He explains that tests are good, but should be used for " pedagogic purposes as teachers see fit"(Barnett 16). The idea of this is a great concept, but I do not believe that it is a feasible one.
Goodman opens his essay with somewhat a challenge for a group of Ivy League schools to do away with testing, and the results will be drastic based on how the student studies. Goodman realizes that testing itself is inevitable and makes a good comment stating that after school how graduate schools and corporations would know whom to choose or hire (Barnett 16).
A good point Goodman does do is that he tries to answer any common questions in his essay that the reader might have. He even gives the reader a small history lesson on testing in the past. This is a good example that he uses to show the reader what testing was originally used for to compare to what testing is used for now. Goodman states that testing in the past was used for acceptance purposes. It was given to people to see if they were ready to be accepted by their peers. The problem I have with this is that it is not applicable to today's society. That is outdated. We test today to see if a person is either .
Harmening 2.
qualified to do a particular task, or to see if the person has learned what has been taught (Barnett 16).
Goodman writes that the people who would object to his idea would be the students and the students" parents. As a student I would have to agree with that statement. If I would have gone to school and know that there would be no tests, and that only I was .
responsible for what I would have learned, then I believe I would not have made it very far. Also my parents were always on my case about studying for tests.
A good thing that Goodman does in his essay is that he does give reasons to keep testing and ways to improve testing.