“Relevant is having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand. It implies a traceable, significant, logical connection with something.” (Merriam Webster online dictionary). In the context of student test performances, relevant information is the data, facts or details about the student which have a direct or indirect connection with the students’ academic performance in tests. There are many aspects of a student’s academic performance which are affected by different factors thus bringing about the dilemma of what kind of relevant information about the students should be recorded or discarded.
Some of the relevant information which can be identified from test results is the students’ abilities in different areas like speed, accuracy, level of understanding of concepts. These results if accumulated can also show the students mean performance over time. In addition to test results information that should be provided is on disabled students, English-language learning students, students who are a minority in the classes and other groups. These are factors which have a bearing on students’ performance and they differentiate these particular students from the larger majority.
There are some situations whereby a test can be limited in covering the adopted standards on which students’ expectations lie and only its results are employed in making judgments of the students. In this case the results can be misleading. (Quality counts, 2002). This is because the exam may only test one aspect of a student’s capability. This will therefore favor only some students. It is also important to note that when less parameters are used for evaluation, the chances of errors also increase and vis-à -vis.
In support of providing all the relevant and appropriate information of a student is that the results of a students test performance can be vital in making a decision especially when they are supported with relevant data from district evaluations, classroom evaluations and remarks. These can be further fortified by the socio-educational aspects which may not be directly academically related like students attendance of lessons, sluggishness, and also the grade point average.
When all these information is considered, one can be better placed to decide on courses of action for the students as the different aspects of the students portrayed by this information can either be support or dispelled by the same information. (Gulek C. 2003)
In a classroom setting, there are some students who are capable in many domains and there are those who have specific strengths and weaknesses which can only be brought out by performance in a community setting but not by the school environment. As a student grows, he/she goes through various developmental stages in which they exhibit capabilities and interests in varying degrees in different fields. (Van Tassel, Baska J., 1998) These lead to the conclusion that almost all information about a student that may have an impact on his/her performance should be reported and considered when evaluating them.
Further more it is worthy to take into account that the performance of students in almost all aspects of learning are influenced by the genes which do not change over time and the environment which is variable. The variable nature of the environmental factors therefore makes students also have different capabilities depending on the prevailing environmental conditions. This is because humans generally have the capacity to adjust though there are limits beyond which we can not go. This fact of preconditioned capabilities in our genes means that it is not fair to limit the information or benchmarks on which students should be evaluated.
To conclude, in light of the above factors, it is recommended that all the information about a students that may in any way have an impact on his/her performance should be recorded comprehensively to help towards analyzing the students’ performance.
Works Cited
Cengiz Gulek (2003). Preparing for High-Stakes Testing. Theory into Practice 42.1 42-50. The College of Education, The Ohio State University. Web.
Quality counts 2002: Building blocks for success [Special Report]. Bethesda, MD: Education Week.
“Relevant.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2008. Merriam-Webster Online. Web.
VanTassel-Baska, J. (1998). The on-going dilemma of effective identification practices in gifted education. Davidson Institute’s GT-Cybersource. Web.