pen & paper tests cannot capture childrens ability....do you agree?

I totally agree with you. Having been a teacher myself, I can frankly say that we can notice the skills in children if we try. Fortunately, I do not teach at a conventional school and neither does my older son go to such a school. In fact, I can openly say now that my child would have been lost at a conventional school. He is a school topper now and participates in all the school activities. But when he was younger, I could see his limitations and always new that if he went to a conventional school, they would put him in a special school. He would have had problems in reading and writing and in following instructions. Though my child is very talented in things that kids his age does not do...he was having trouble with day to day things that normal children could easily do (which only I noticed). But since his school didn't pressurise him to do things faster and I also didn't force him, he was able to develop and not be affected by things which otherwise would have made him lose his confidence.
REcently, we watched the movie Taare Zameen Par and we were so glad that we didn't push our son in anything and were able to nurture his talents.
We adults tend to think at our own level even with the kids. 'He ought to be doing this at this age', 'I can't understand why it's so difficult for her to understand this..it's so easy'. We forget they are kids and that we have to think at their level to understand them and their thoughts.

I can see myself in this, who would have guessed that i am very gifted in constructing and working with metal. That i am also good at design and 3d perception, models and stuff. didn't realise such stuff until i did a test for a education in welding, and that i am good at getting things done. That would never show up on any paper test.

I totally agree that many skills and talents can't come to knoledge because of pen § paper tests. yea its good for finding kids with academical skills but harder for all thoose who have more practical skills. Such a waste that some kids talents never get to come in use, just because they were never found.

i agree that pen and paper tests can't show children's ability. different children have different abilities. parents and teachers should try to find and develop children's talent. but we can't neglect the importance of tests because in most cases we can't be admitted by some schools to develop our ability without good performance in tests.

the children do not yet show their abilities and that is why they still have to be honed to be in their best

My son was labeled as gifted in school, yet he did poorly on tests, such as the ACT test. I asked his gifted teacher about this. She told me that gifted children never do well on standardized tests. She said that with their minds they can find logic in more than one of the multiple choice answers. The answers they mark are legitimate, true answers, but they aren't always the same ones the testing company calls the right answer. Therefore, they get it wrong and get low scores.

In my own opinion, nobody is dull in this world, everyone of us intelligences which varies from person to person. A paper and pencil test is not a reliable basis to judge a person's/child's ability. There should be a variety of measurement tools a teacher should use to evaluate children performances in academic and in teaching there should also be a variety of technique to be established so children will be motivated to study. Just like in the case of children who is gifted in singing, they would easily learn the lesson if you make a song out of your lesson, or if you would let them composed a song related to the topic. For those who possess intra personal intelligence, let them talk on discussions, give them task to report - in that case they can use their intelligence and they could easily learn the lesson. If that is the strategy, children will not be bored and will develop interest with their study and would have a big chance to excel during exams.

My son is one of the ones with the verbal and leadership abilities -- a woman I worked with used to hire my son for manual labor at her house - she loved him, said he was so likable and sincere -- this kid could sell sand to an arab and ice to an eskimo.

My worse dream is that he become a lawyer or a politician.

yeah.. its not only the paper and pens a lot of poeple are not bright in the classroom but when they are in the real world they are better than anyone.. so we better not put down people who doesnt get the uportunity to go school...

You are absolutely right.
Children have their hidden ability.
how they can be judged in pen and paper test.
they can be judged by what activities they do in everyday life.
I have seen my little niece how beautifully she draws on walls. May be she can be a painter.

Hi Season0907! My pleasure to share with your such a nice discussion, a very thoughtful and rich indeed sepecially for parents and teachers! Yes, I do agree with your points and would add that firstly parents are the entity having a closer look of the activities of their child.

Sometimes, being parents we ignore the gestures and maneouvers of our kid demanding our personal attention. But education, regardless of the all traits, off course necessary to sharpen the hidden skills in a better way. Thanks for nice thoughts!