Lincoln Douglas debate, topic will be standardized exit exams (September/October topic)

AFF "Standardized tests can't measure initiative, creativity, imagination, conceptual thinking, curiosity, effort, irony, judgment, commitment, nuance, good will, ethical reflection, or a host of other valuable dispositions and attributes. What they can measure and count are isolated skills, specific facts and function, content knowledge, the least interesting and least significant aspects of learning." Bill Ayers. It is because I agree with Bill Ayers that I affirm the resolution; Resolved: Public high school students in the United States ought not be required to pass standardized exit exams to graduate. Observations: All claims by the negative about standardized tests being adjusted to compensate for the qualifications I have listed to constitute a successful education must be taken in stride, While standardized tests can be altered to include more areas of testing they are unable to be changed to the point that the test a student on all the qualifications it takes to be a contributing member to society. This is because the some of the skills needed for success can not be tested. VP: Individuality Individuality is defined as the particular character, or aggregate of qualities, that distinguishes one person or thing from others. If we take away the fact that we all have different ideas, means of doing things, and ways of living life, we are equivalently taking away the human factor out of human beings. This resolution is clearly portraying the struggle between testing every student as if they all learned the same to using more specific and accurate means of determining whether or not a student has successfully has gathered enough knowledge to become a functioning citizen in society. Due to the fact that Individuality, is unique for everyone of us the means to test individuals for personal success are different, this leads me to my Value Criterion. VC: Promoting more specific means of determining whether or not a student ought to graduate. No matter any attempt from the Negative to claim that exit exams are capable of testing to a wider variety of areas than they historically have and pragmatically will, no standardized test will ever be able to cater to the certain aspects that make us all who we are. We have to realize for education to be considered successful it must enlighten a student in a wide variety of areas, and with more specific means of determing whether or not a student ought to graduate we are able to recognize which students have successfully learned and those that haven't. And more specific means of determine whether or not a student ought to graduate, can constitute a wide variety of things be it individual assessments, project based grading, culmative reviews, or portfolios. Dan Rudhyar speaks about how a person gains intelligence through individuality and therefore how we might test it, Intelligence is released as natural powers are used in a human way by the individualized human being in his effort to achieve victory over his life-environment. When, at a later stage of his growth, man has faced the tests of mutuality and responsibility, the integrative power of thought gives birth to a new phase of intelligence.". This meaning once an individual shows motivation and an interest in learning they have grown and are ready for success, and using individual assessments etc we are and deciding who is ready to face the world. Definitions: Standardized: 1. To evaluate by comparing with a standard. Exam: 1. The act or process of testing pupils, candidates, etc. as by questions. Pass: 1. To undergo or complete successfully. Graduate: 1. To advance to a new level of skill/ acheivment C1) Affirmative stance allows individualized education which doesn't teach to the test. SUB A) Teachers need to teach in order for students to learn.Louis Volante says, "The job of any teacher is first and foremost to promote learning in their students. Student learning should emphasize applied learning and thinking skills, not just declarative knowledge and basic skills (Jones, 2004). Ideally, students are able to develop the skills necessary to take what they have learned and apply this knowledge in a novel situation. In sum this is my value criterion, we need teachers to teach students what they need to know for future success and in order to do that we need to highlight individuality. When the student is given the ability to apply knowledge, and use their thinking skills they are being individuals. Rather than being dictated what they need to know they are taking the curricula and taking away the things they need now and storing things they possibly will need later, which shows that students are assessing, learning, maturing, and growing to be successful in the future. SUB B) However standardized tests detract from a teacher's ability to promote individuality and allow students to succeed. Louis Volante later goes on to write, "Emphasizing standardized testing also skews educators and the public's attention from what we want children to learn rather than what we can easily measure. For example, most experts agree that a balanced literacy curriculum should include components related to reading, writing, as well as speaking and listening Unfortunately, only reading and writing are typically measured by standardized school tests. Does this mean that speaking and listening are not valuable or worthy of attention within the curriculum? Obviously students need to utilize their speaking and listening skills to be successful in schools and higher education settings.." SUB C) Actually standardized tests have a negative effect on students rather then simply preventing proper learning to occur they can almost completely ruin a child's schooling, Louis Volante comments, "Teaching to the test also has a "dumbing" effect on teaching and learning as worksheets, drills, practice tests and similar rote practices consume greater amounts of classroom time (Sacks, 2000). Insofar as standardized tests assess only part of the curriculum, time spent on test taking often overemphasizes basic-skill subjects and neglects high-order thinking skills. Research suggests that while students' scores will rise when teachers teach closely to a test, learning often does not change for standardized tests, provide their students with a solid foundation for future success." This shows that not only does a standardized test detract from the child's learning it is also detrimental. We are harming children giving them these tests, voting in favor of the affirmative allows for proper education and successful learning, something the negative fails to achieve. C2) Graduation shouldn't be measured by one point in time rather by a collection of grades and experiences. It is extremely inaccurate for one day in a student's life to determine his course in history, whether it be graduation or a repeat of that grade. A student's testing experience can be impacted by events out of his or her control such as the recent passing of a family member, sickness, bad luck, etc. But using the sum of the student's grades and teacher's reviews, which aren't affected by these events to the extent that standardized exit exams are, proves to be more accurate. As a matter of fact, Standardized tests are bias, no matter the amount the negative can try to persuade you your race, social status, or economic background do matter. Roy O. Freedle a psychologist for the Educational Testing Service talks about the bias of standardized tests "often [Standardized Tests] have many more semantic senses than rare words," so there's more of a chance that people's cultural and socio-economic backgrounds will affect their interpretations of those words. Thus words that are frequently used in the middle-class neighborhoods of the test makers may have a different meaning in underprivileged minority neighborhoods. thus I stand in Affirmation over the NFL's septembe