It’s too bad the government isn’t as efficient with student test results as it is with mold test results.
Despite these limitations, there are situations where mold testing by skilled investigators may be valuable – for example, to “justify” remediation expenses or to document that cleanup has met expectations. In some cases, tests can also provide clues that may help find hidden mold, but the growth still has to be found by looking for it so that it can be removed. Experienced investigators should evaluate whether testing is warranted and if they are ethical, they should advise against testing whenever the problem can be corrected without it. Testing may be useful as part of an investigation, but it is never a substitute for a thorough visual inspection.
Student achievement testing, when used correctly, can be quite effective. It’s like birth control that way.
Wanna know whats fun? Sitting at a school board meeting to see if my wife would get laid off for the fourth consecutive year and hearing a discussion about how to pay for the NCLB data cruncher and close a $2.5MM gap in the budget…
Should we lay off 25 teachers? Should we stop doing lab science in the high school? (you read that correctly) Should we close an elementary school? Should we do away with the all-day kindergarten that has to be run by lottery because there isnt enough money for all the kids in the small city? Suprisingly no one thought maybe we should tell DC where to stick their unfunded data cruncher…
End result: Closed an elementary school, laid off 15 teachers including my wife (she was rehired and seems to have moved up on the list enough that she won’t get laid off again), and hired the data cruncher 6 months late to save money and not get the feds all riled up.
Sigh.
Begin snark…
David, how would anyone know? Has student achievement testing ever been used correctly?
…End snark
Remind me again why so many liberals who don’t even trust the government to do educational testing properly are so eager for it to do stuff like, say, manage our health care?
Bah, that’s easy. Educational testing is done by Republicans, therefore it is evil, profane, and a nefarious plot to impoverish the middle class. Health care would be managed by Democrats, who are made of all the good and light in the world. And their shit smells like lilacs.
Random.
It not the government that I dont trust to do stuff. Its THIS ADMINISTRATION that I don’t trust to do stuff.
For example, if tomorrow Bush announced his plan for single payer health care i would run screaming for the hills because, like everything eminating from Washington these days, it would be a thinly disguised give away to big campaign contributors that was designed to fail so even more people could lose their health care on the next three years.
On testing, it seems that in practice, the more we test the more teachers feel pressure to teach to the test. Link that to merit pay for teachers and you might as well abolish the Department of Education and just stick 6 yr olds in a room with video instructions, #2 pencils, and bubble sheets 180 days a year.
Oh wait.
Grade inflation, anyone?
DT – Don’t get mad. Our shit smells like lilacs because we use air freshener. You can get some too in the aisle with all the paper products.
As for educational testing, forgive me if I find the party that wanted to do away with the Department of Education the wrong voice to lead educational policy.
It would be like asking me to manage the Yankees. I want to abolish the Yankees.
Thats why DC funded the mandate for the data crunchers for NCLB, to prevent grade inflation.
Did I say funded? Never mind.
Wow, Dave beat TKD to his own answer by a full three minutes. Props to Dave.
Here’s another take by an expert in his field.
In my defense, I’m studying at the same time.
And to think we actually had typing classes in I.S. 181X
It boils down to this:
When we assess by tests alone, we teach children how to take tests. We don’t teach them to learn, to analyze, or to hypothesize. They learn how to pick A, B, C or D. And only in the fields of math and reading.
We are responsible for educating the WHOLE CHILD. Relying on tests alone as assessment restricts us to only teaching test materials.
Students are not little computers or little dictionaries. They are KIDS.
Ok, leaving the soapbox.
Ooh, forgot something major -
And only in the fields of math and reading should be followed by “if we’re talking about tests that satisfy NCLB.
Sorry. Need coffee.