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Part 4: The Politics of Testing

Part 4: The Politics of Testing. A Guide to Survival. Gifted classes in smaller schools can lead to misplaced students, lower-scoring standard classes. Comparing grade to grade instead of following students as they progress (longitudinal cohort groups) = irrelevant data.

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Part 4: The Politics of Testing

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  1. Part 4: The Politics of Testing A Guide to Survival

  2. Gifted classes in smaller schools can lead to misplaced students, lower-scoring standard classes. • Comparing grade to grade instead of following students as they progress (longitudinal cohort groups) = irrelevant data. • Background knowledge: seriously affects data

  3. What kind of land surrounds the Great Sphinx? • A. snowy • B. Dry • C. Rainy • D. Full of Trees • Skill: applying background knowledge

  4. Validity Testing on New Tests • How do we determine validity?

  5. Disaggregated analysis • Pros: A more personalized analysis • Cons: Can lead to misplacement

  6. Taking our Place at the Policy Table • Which issues deserve our attention? • Norm-referenced vs. Criterion-Referenced tests • Seeing tests after they are scored • Becoming active

  7. Norm-referenced vs. Criterion-Referenced tests • Norm-referenced: SAT • Criterion-Referenced: AP Exam • Both made by ETS

  8. Norm-Referenced Tests • Exist independently of material taught in schools • Guarantee even spread along a bell curve. • What does this mean?

  9. Norm-Referenced Tests (ctd)

  10. Viewing Tests After they are Scored • Error analysis • Analysis of the validity of test questions • Seeing several years worth of tests help us analyze differences and find commonalities.

  11. Criterion-Referenced Tests • Creates incentive to learn • Is standards-based. • Holds all students to the same high expectations.

  12. Standardized Tests Shouldn’t Interfere with Learning • Because they are standardized, they are not fine-tuned assessment tools. • Not the sole measurement of success. • No clear goals to teach towards with norm-referenced tests. • What do they measure?

  13. (Article Slides) • Title: “Do Kids Read Less for Fun? Blame Standardized Tests” • Source: http://www.districtadministration.com/pulse/commentpost.aspx?news=no&postid=48822

  14. “Put that book away and do your reading” • Problem: standardized test scores are eating up our curriculum • Reading for pleasure is effected

  15. The irony of our obsession • Preoccupation with scores and its effect on instruction • How does this effect our students? 2 ways: • More homework = less time for pleasure reading • *Bad attitude towards “the written word”: kids learn to hate reading and writing

  16. Desire to read • The most important thing we can instill • Giving children a “fish” versus teaching them to fish • Disposition is a higher-level skill in Bloom’s taxonomy

  17. Would the author of our book agree? • Criterion-based testing: good or bad? • Difference between criterion-based testing and criterion-obsessed curriculum. • Common ground in both philosophies

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