Posted on 04/24/2022 5:37:54 AM PDT by karpov
Standardized educational tests do not perfectly measure student aptitude or achievement, and no one argues that they do. But they can differ from all other available measures in two respects: their standardization and their independence of education insider control.
To be truly standardized, the same content must be administered in the same manner to all students. To be independent of educator influence, they must be “externally” administered—that is test materials must be managed and tests administered by non-school personnel.
External administration of a test systemwide to just one grade level of students requires both intensive and extensive logistical management. That is one reason why most countries administer large-scale, consequential tests at only a few grade levels, typically at key transition points. Administering those tests securely requires even more logistical oversight.
Moreover, most relatively wealthy countries maintain educational testing systems that strongly resemble theirs of twenty years ago. I propose that they maintain such system structures because they judge them optimal.
Now, consider what has transpired over the past twenty years in the USA. We were headed in the direction of other countries’ testing system structures at the turn of the millennium, with state-led consequential achievement tests for students administered only every few grade levels.[1] Plus, we benefitted from two competing college admission tests, whose scores could be submitted for consideration simultaneously to thousands of universities worldwide. [2]
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
Do like they did in an episode of Star Trek and have a computer program teach and then test each student individually at the end of each lesson before they can continue to the next lesson. Rinse and repeat. Remove teachers, period.
I remember having the IOWA tests in grade school and we would take them in the cafeteria....seemed like a reasonable way to measure ones abilities for comprehension in reading and math ? With what I have seen on my nephews math homework is beyond the way I run numbers in my head....the approach they take with children now and talking about things that have nothing to do with the three “R’s” is just beyond me. Morality is taught and observed at home not school.
Example of what I mentioned. It removes standardized testing, per se, and makes progression based upon individual.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvMxLpce3Xw
I do think that’s the solution.
Of course, the Establishment won’t like it.
A long time ago, reading was taught with Phonics. And the do-gooders said that one method does not work for everyone. Which is true. Some percentage of students (10%? 20%?) didn’t do well with Phonics. So, they abandoned it entirely and switched to Whole Language. Which didn’t work for about 75% of the students. But that was OK, because at least it wasn’t Phonics.
They did the same with Math. In the 1950s, average students could do math in their heads, balance a checkbook and perform complex math with a slide rule. But then Sputnik came along, everyone panicked and we switched to New Math and, later, other methodologies. And mathematical illiteracy has been increasing for the past 60 years.
The Establishment knows what works. And they avoid it. They say they need methods which are more “fair”.
Well, putting a major emphasis on technology to teach students and getting rid of 90% of the teachers would help most (but not all) of the students. And that’s better than what we have now. And it would be so much cheaper.
We always had the California Achievement Tests. The land of fruits and nuts.
We’d take the test in the morning and get them handed back after lunch or the next day. If you got someone else’s test, it didn’t matter, you’d have to continue with Billy Bob’s test. Don’t know why but it proves the school didn’t put much stock in them waaaay back when.
Seems like a good time for a homeschool ping...
I would love to see an nation wide effort by Christians to get the Ten Commandments posted in all the schools. Now THAT would be a worthy goal.!
i went through my years of school before jimmy carter was a whisper in national politics.every state i lived in, and every military establishment i lived on, had their own system. Wisconsin FFA had their hand in it, since farming was the major industry. In Connecticut, and Fairfield County, with all the influence of major corporations and competition with lower NY State counties, all the bases sere tested and ccovered, according to your overall curriculum - college prep, business, trades, or (blech) liberal arts. Massachusetts had a statewide education testing department, per grade, with optional tests in science.
I graduated #126 out of #612, in the first ranked of 5 high schools in town in 1970. I believed I faired well.
Standardized tests do a good job of determining who has a better chance of success. That doesn’t sit well with those who think everyone should get an “A,” no matter how low his/her IQ or effort might be.
Without testing, we end up with COLLEGE graduates who cannot read, write or spell.
Testing should determine whether a student passes or fails a grade. Automatic social promotion has taken its place. Many high school graduates cannot now read their own diplomas.
How does that help young people? They have nothing but a life of crime awaiting them.
The validation of a test is whether it can predict success. Those who test well succeed. Changing the testing process so everyone tests well but a predictable proportion then fail academically accomplishes nothing. In fact, faulty tests just set people up to fail. Affirmative action admissions prove that and predicts failure quite reliably.
“Do like they did in an episode of Star Trek and have a computer program teach and then test each student individually at the end of each lesson before they can continue to the next lesson. Rinse and repeat. Remove teachers, period.”
This just shifts the opportunity for corruption to the course developers. As it is some of today’s “state approved textbooks” are outrageous. They have actually managed to include wokeness in “”hard subjects” like math.
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