tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post88757964918996368..comments2024-03-28T19:47:39.985-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: Standardized Tests Tell NothingPeter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-79558869630754931642014-04-30T07:53:31.296-04:002014-04-30T07:53:31.296-04:00Please run for governor. Please run for governor. Problem Solving not Testinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14134802684042500812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-79823825238110630382014-04-06T07:58:49.617-04:002014-04-06T07:58:49.617-04:00Bob Shepherd, I would be proud to call you brother...Bob Shepherd, I would be proud to call you brother. Thanks as always for your extremely kind words.Peter Greenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-35559299129285832162014-04-05T22:08:27.135-04:002014-04-05T22:08:27.135-04:00Fantastic post. Fantastic post. Dave Eckstromhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13521336850803352134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-51750873285249600602014-04-05T16:33:12.912-04:002014-04-05T16:33:12.912-04:00As a retired teacher of the deaf, I have long been...As a retired teacher of the deaf, I have long been intensely concerned that the multiple-choice format for assessing reading comprehension is totally inappropriate for students who do not have a native speaker mastery of English. I just stumbled on this article and will copy and paste the reference and the intro. The study was done on adult ESL students, but I think the findings also apply to younger students. I'd appreciate any thoughts on this. Thanks<br />"How assessing reading comprehension with multiple-choice questions shapes the construct: a cognitive processing perspective"<br />André A. Rupp, Tracy Ferne and Hyeran Choi<br />Language Testing 2006; 23; 441<br />The online version of this article can be found at:<br />http://ltj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/23/4/441<br />p. 441<br />“This article provides renewed converging empirical evidence for the hypothesis<br />that asking test-takers to respond to text passages with multiple-choice questions<br />induces response processes that are strikingly different from those that<br />respondents would draw on when reading in non-testing contexts. Moreover,<br />the article shows that the construct of reading comprehension is assessment<br />specific and is fundamentally determined through item design and text selection.<br />...<br />The analyses show that:<br />• There exist multiple different representations of the construct of ‘reading<br />comprehension’ that are revealed through the characteristics of the items.<br /> • Learners view responding to multiple-choice questions as a problemsolving<br />task rather than a comprehension task.<br /> • Learners select a variety of unconditional and conditional response<br />strategies to deliberately select choices; and<br /> • Learners combine a variety of mental resources interactively when<br />determining an appropriate choice.”<br />Sheila Ressegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03825902968436088673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-73301108589217876212014-04-05T16:02:57.085-04:002014-04-05T16:02:57.085-04:00Years ago, I studied classical guitar at Indiana U...Years ago, I studied classical guitar at Indiana University with the great Javier Calderon, himself a student of Andres Segovia's. At my first jury, a well-known violinist on the faculty opened by saying to me, "This piece you are going to play is called 'Lagrima.' Do you know what that means?"<br /><br />"Tears," I said.<br /><br />He leaned forward and fixed me with a challenging stare. "Then, when you play it, it had better cry."<br /><br />In response, my fingers, ordinarily so responsive to my brain, became distant, mechanized claws, like the ones in those machines that kids put quarters into in hopes of grasping some toy and dropping it into a chute. <br /><br />I think that I produced for that fellow the most stilted, perfunctory, machinelike Lagrima ever played by a guitarist.<br /><br />It was enough to make me weep.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-11579758310304706612014-04-05T15:51:21.966-04:002014-04-05T15:51:21.966-04:00Peter Greene, I swear by all the Gods, you sound l...Peter Greene, I swear by all the Gods, you sound like my Brother from Another Mother!!!<br /><br />Not only do you absolutely nail these Ed Deform bastards in piece after piece, but you also play jazz trombone! I am a jazz guitarist (when I am not, like you, writing, teaching, and railing about education deform generally and the idiocy of the new “standards” and of standardized testing in particular).<br /><br />Another great piece, Peter. Thank you!<br /><br />Another beautiful, profound, compassionate, witty, erudite, and humane piece. <br /><br />Keep testifyin’, Brother Peter.<br /><br />And signifyin’Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-57992494915153726272014-04-05T12:31:34.757-04:002014-04-05T12:31:34.757-04:00Hmm, as a musician, I wonder how well you would &#...Hmm, as a musician, I wonder how well you would 'perform' on a 'test' of your 'mastery' if asked to play the clarinet. I learned the clarinet many years ago, played in the band at school, but couldn't begin to make decent sound on a trombone if my life depended on it...Miss Adventure's Adventureshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14939314396541386113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-21530949881858671152014-03-21T22:18:52.780-04:002014-03-21T22:18:52.780-04:00Excellent post, love the analogy to showing how we...Excellent post, love the analogy to showing how well a musician knows a song!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00788012804742840323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-74824903773067678082014-03-21T18:06:38.293-04:002014-03-21T18:06:38.293-04:00By making teachers the bad guys and the tests the ...By making teachers the bad guys and the tests the "end all be all" of students' measured success.bchladihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04671006985406913155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-22254812958074502522014-03-21T12:20:01.602-04:002014-03-21T12:20:01.602-04:00Your post on this is very timely, given recent cov...Your post on this is very timely, given recent coverage of the phenomenon of employers asking for SAT scores, even from employees in their 30s and 40s:<br />http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303636404579395220334268350<br /><br />How did the testers manage to sell this load of tripe to, apparently, every single person with any influence in our country?Zach Sielaffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05213386020754207903noreply@blogger.com