Now the National Science Foundation has caught up with this little problem. In a study released last week, it concluded that standardized tests, as well as those in many math and science textbooks, do more harm than good and that kids wind up knowing less than they might have if the tests had never happened. Then, like a phone number that you stare at, use once and than erase from memory, most of that math and science evaporates. It's not hard to figure out why. But neuroscientists know that information is retained only if it is linked to other concepts and facts, like nodes in a spider web.
Tests encourage the learning of isolated information, which is by necessity temporary.
The conclusion of the study's principle researcher was that about 95 percent of the questions required only low-order thinking such as memorization. Until tests are reformed, reforms in goals, standards and teaching methods won't have much impact. Oh, all right. C2H4 is ethylene. Well, I got a 50 in spelling, a 30 in science, and a 20 in math.