Testing…Testing…
Surprised there wasn’t more attention to yesterday’s assessment competition results? Me, too. Our “insider” survey overwhelmingly predicted this outcome, both coalitions getting funded, but that was easy. More interesting, policy insiders are pretty bearish on the likely rigor of the “smarter balanced” approach. Most saw the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers as more likely to genuinely improve student learning. More on all that later in the month when we release the full results.
September 3rd, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Ummm . . . “more likely to improve student learning”???? Testing does not improve learning. Instruction improves learning. Testing can assess learning and the validity and reliability of the inferences made from the assessment scores vary on many factors, including the quality of the assessment.
September 4th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
“Testing can assess learning and the validity and reliability of the inferences made from the assessment scores…” … which can be used to improve student learning?
September 8th, 2010 at 8:40 am
“Testing has such bad connotation; people think of standardized testing or teaching to the test,” Dr. Roediger said. “Maybe we need to call it something else, but this is one of the most powerful learning tools we have.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html
April 5th, 2011 at 5:40 pm
Testing can improve learning but should not be the only source to utilize within the classroom. Teachers should look at observation, performance based on grading rubrics, assessments, and independent practice.