Matthew Breitman 711
Tests all
over the world, are the same, they both assess students, but some are much more
extreme than others. In an article titled “China’s Crammed Schools”, the author,
Brook Larmer explores the Gaokao, a Chinese test that decides your future.
Students are put under massive pressure, and that makes some commit suicide.
Kids study for years, and some make it and some don’t. The test can decide
whether you become a wealthy business man or a farmer. The SAT’s, ACT’s, and other American
standardized tests are similar but very different to the Gaokao.
The Gaokao
test is incredibly hard, puts kids and teachers under tremendous pressure, and
decides the students’ lives. On page 14, Larmer states, “The boys knew that
manual labor would be their fate too, if they failed to do well on the Gaokao.”
This one test determined their life, it made the decision whether a student
will work in a factory or become a stockbroker. The stakes were so high. If you didn't sleep enough that day and you tanked the test, there may not be another
chance. For someone like Cao Yingsheng, his family could not afford another
year of Maotanchang, so he was forced to go into manual labor. It’s very unfair
how much is riding on this one single test. Is ruins kids’ lives. All they do
is study, so sure they’ll be smart, but they have no social life. On page 15,
the author wrote, “their job security bonuses depend on raising their students’
test scores.” I honestly believe that it’s completely unfair that teachers’ bonuses
depend on their students’ scores. What if they teach a class with kids with disabilities?
Or immigrants that can’t write in English. You can’t base it all on a single
test because some kids have panic attacks when they are about to take a test.
In order to give teacher a bonus, administrators should check on the teachers
at school while they are teaching. The Gaokao tests put too much pressure on
kids and teachers, and decide where you’re going to end up
.
The SAT, ACT,
and other American specialized tests aren’t worth as much as the Gaokao, and
have a big impact on teachers. On page number thirteen, Larmer wrote, “the
gaokao is like the SAT or ACT, but it’s more than twice as long and the stakes
are much higher”. This shows how even though the SAT and ACT are important, the
Gaokao is twice as important. It’s stricter, longer, and if you don’t take it,
you have no chance at having a good job. In America, if you don’t take the SAT’s
and don’t go to college, you still have a shot. Think about Bill Gates, Steve Jobs,
and the boy who created Tumbler, they all dropped out. But look at where they
are/were. Bill Gates is one of the top three richest men in the world. Also, I
believe that if the Gaokao is worth so much more than the SAT’s, then China has
higher expectations. If they have higher expectations on test, they might do so
on many things in life. One thing similar though, is the way the Gaokao, and specialized
tests treat teachers. The teacher’s bonuses depend on their students test
scores, in China. In America, it’s actually stricter. The New York state tests
now says if the teacher will be fired or not. If some of the kids grades drop,
those teachers will most likely be fired. I think this is completely unfair,
teachers should be fired if they are not teaching a class well, not if one of
their student’s grade drop. Therefore, American specialized tests have lower
stakes, compared to the Gaokao, but it has a big impact on teachers.
In
conclusion, both the Gaokao and American specialized tests compare and contrast
in many ways. Although, the Gaokao is a bit crazy. The way people stress those
kids is unbelievable. In the United States, kids still have a chance to succeed
if they do badly on their SAT’s. But in China, your only choice is to retake
them. So I think that we should be lucky, because we live in America. Where
sure, we are under pressure. But not under the same amount of pressure the
Chinese kids are under.
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