Assessment in this clip is portrayed as a way for students' future social status to be determined and if pretty reflective of the ways that students experience school now. In schools now though, testing is much more discrete and though tracking is no longer as emphasized as it used to be, students are still aware of what classes are better to be in, the kids of students who get to take AP classes, and whether or not they will make it to college.
On another note, students' capacity to actually understand concepts and problems is highly undermined when we give them test such as the multiple choice questions like the one seen in this clip. As teachers we must understand that there are always wheels turning inside our students head and gaining access to how they think is one of our most valuable resources.
From student thinking we can then develop strategies to help our students learn. Some students have an easier time when things are worded in terms of money, while others need to visualize the problems like seen in this clip. Giving them the structure in which they will take these strengths and succeed is one of the most important roles of a teacher. One that I hope I will be able to master when I have my own classroom
Jackie it is great that you recognize that students come into the classroom with a wealth of different experiences, prior knowledge, backgrounds etc. Knowing this you really can plan instruction to maximize learning for all rather than looking at instruction as a "one size fit all" approach.
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