Turning Children into Data. August 25, 2010.
‘Life is not a multiple-choice test’ (www.nagb.org) (Correction: Fixing 33-year teaching degree to 33-year teaching career) I recently posted the resignation letter of Ron Maggiano, an award-winning social studies teacher at West Springfield High School in Fairfax County, after a 33-year teaching career — four years shy of full retirement.
Document Deep Dive: What Was on the First SAT? SAT essay section: Problems with grading, instruction, and prompts. Photo courtesy Caleb Roenigk/Flickr This past Saturday, several hundred thousand prospective college students filed into schools across the United States and more than 170 other countries to take the SAT—$51 registration fees paid, No. 2 pencils sharpened, acceptable calculators at the ready.
And as part of the three-hour-and-45–minute ritual, each person taking the 87-year-old test spent 25 minutes drafting a prompt-based essay for the exam’s writing section. This essay, which was added to the SAT in 2005, counts for approximately 30 percent of a test-taker’s score on the writing section, or nearly one-ninth of one’s total score. The View from Where I Standardize: Ruminations from the Test-Prep Industry: Playing the Game. There are a lot of people out there who like to win.
We all know them. When Grownups Take the SAT: Elizabeth Kolbert. Taking the SATs is not something to do lightly. Nevertheless, on a frigid Saturday morning not long ago, I found myself filing into a classroom with twenty sleep-deprived teen-agers. One of the girls was carrying two giant SAT review books studded with pink Post-its. I couldn’t decide whether she’d brought them along to do some last-minute studying or to intimidate the competition. We’d been assigned to a chemistry classroom, and its walls were covered with placards offering a variety of emergency-evacuation instructions and motivational sayings. Why we need a moratorium on the high stakes of testing.
The president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, called late last month for a moratorium on the high stakes attached to new Common Core-aligned standardized tests.
(You can read about that here .) Here’s a piece in support of that call, written by Jeff Bryant, an Associate Fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future and the owner of a marketing and communications consultancy. It serves numerous organizations including Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, PBS, and International Planned Parenthood Foundation. Why schools are forcing some kids to ‘sit and stare’ for hours. A new policy is being enacted in some school districts across the country known as “sit and stare.”
What is that? “Sit and stare” policies are enforced on those students whose parents have opted them out of taking a high-stakes standardized test but who are still required to be in the school building when the exams are actually proctored. Under this practice, kids are forced to sit at their desks and stare while their classmates take the test. They can’t read. A Model for the National Assessment of Higher Orde. Richard Paul with Gerald M.
Nosich Abstract This paper, co-authored by Richard Paul and Gerald Nosich, was commissioned by the United States Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement of the National Center for Education Statistics. It provides exactly what its title implies: a model for the national assessment of higher order thinking. The paper consists of a preface and five main sections. The National Center for Fair & Open Testing. Florida Backtracks on Standardized State Tests. The Truth about Learning to Read Well E D Hirsch. Barry Falls View full image Ample research shows that scores on fill-in-the-bubble reading tests are the most reliable predictors of Americans' future economic status and ability to become effective citizens.
Reading ability embraces multiple skills one needs in order to become effective in the public sphere. From the ability to understand strangers and make oneself understood in turn, other competencies flow. One can learn new things readily, prosper in school, and possess the general knowledge needed to train for a new job. No Child Left Behind reasonably places a big emphasis on reading tests, but that has unfortunately accounted for the unintended consequence that much time is being misspent on how-to skills and test preparation. Dear Parents - A Must Read by Donald Sternberg – School Leadership 2. Want to read more of this type of posting?
If you are not already a member of School Leadership 2.0, why not join today? More than 5,900 concerned and dedicated educators around the globe have already done so. It's easy, just click here to get started. September 4, 2012 Dear Parents, Op-Ed: For One Sixth Grader, NJ ASK Is a Misguided Waste of Time, Money, and Effort. Because she couldn't opt out, this student simply made up her own answers for the state test I am a 6th grade student who recently took the NJ ASK.
I am protesting this unnecessary test. I wished to opt out of the test, but my parents were unable to take me to school halfway through the day after the test. Because I could not opt out, I have instead decided to protest the test by creating my own answers and disregarding the prompt. I do not mean to disrespect anyone by doing so, and if I do, I sincerely apologize. I believe that these tests are being used to unfairly evaluate teachers. SAT exam to be redesigned. SAT Reading Scores Are the Lowest They've Been in 40 Years - Alexander Abad-Santos. Coming in with an average SAT reading score of 496, 2012's graduating seniors have the dubious distinction of having attained the worst reading score since 1972.
(For those test-takers of a certain age and test-taking history, "reading" is actually that part we knew as "verbal. ") Regardless of what you call(ed) it, "The average reading score for the Class of 2012 was 496, down one point from the previous year and 34 points since 1972," reports The Washington Post's Emma Brown, gleaning numbers from the College Board, the organization that administers the test. What's troubling beyond the low average score is that seniors' scores in "writing," a section related to "reading" and for most of us, life in some way or another, also dropped—to 488—a decrease of nine points since the College Board started testing for it in 2006. So what gives? Testing, Early Learning, and the Pace of Reform: Talking with Teachers.
Our work at the US Department of Education aims to make sure that students throughout this country have the education that they deserve – an education that will give every student a genuine opportunity to join a thriving middle class. A crucial part of that work is supporting, elevating and strengthening the teaching profession.
As often as I can, I spend time talking with teachers about their experience of their work, and of change efforts to improve student outcomes. American Schools Need More Testing, Not Less. Tests Make Kids Smarter. Let's Give Them More. In high school, we used to moan about Mr. Koonz’s chemistry class. Every Friday, Mr. Koonz required his students to turn in a worksheet and take a test. It turns out Mr. Texas Legislators Seek to Pare Standardized Tests. Pearson holds a five-year, $468 million contract through 2015 to provide the state assessment tests that students begin taking in third grade.
STAAR writing test a big step backward. The real problem with multiple-choice tests. Is It Time We Threw Standardized Testing Out the Door? Dr. Mark Naison is involved in a movement he hopes will change the American education system. A professor of African-American studies and history at New York’s Fordham University, Naison wants to see less standardized tests in the classroom. When an adult took standardized tests forced on kids - The Answer Sheet. Update 12/12: New Reasons to Dislike Multiple-Choice Testing. The multiple-choice problem is becoming a bit of an issue. Why I Changed My Mind. Top authors — including Maya Angelou — urge Obama to curb standardized testing. Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) - Released Assessment Questions.
PISA Released Computer-based items from 2015 The Released Science literacy items from 2015 are available here: PISA Released Paper-Based Assessment (PBA) Items and Scoring Guides The Reading Literacy Items document contains 59 released reading items grouped into 14 units from PISA 2000 and 2009. The Test Score Racket. American education and the IQ trap. The First Testing Race to the Top. School district eliminating No Child Left Behind school transfers. ‘Small typo’ casts big doubt on teacher evaluations - Stephanie Simon.
Florida to measure student goals by race. Teachers, school district can’t agree, quash Race to the Top... School district needs to spend $12 million on computers for... A ‘value-added’ travesty for an award-winning teacher. Firestorm Erupts Over Virginia's Education Goals. Moco schools chief calls for three-year moratorium on standardized testing. Chicago Students Boycott the NAEP to Demand Safety - Living in Dialogue. Eighth grader designs standardized test that slams standardized tests. Calling all NYS math teachers: There is an error on the Integrated Algebra Regents exam that the state won't acknowledge. : education. The State of State Standards—and the Common Core—in 2010. Pearson PR Backfires. Education Publisher Accused of Censorship and Propaganda.
Minn. one of 3 states where computer glitches derail school tests. How Pearson Cheats on State Tests. Standardized-test robo-graders flunk - Opinion.