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Hopefully we will see the influence of standardized testing companies diminish as more robust in-class assessment tools are developed. Our trust in standardize
by germinalphrase 12y ago
Hopefully we will see the influence of standardized testing companies diminish as more robust in-class assessment tools are developed.
Our trust in standardized testing is dependent on the expectation that teachers cannot accurately assess the skills and competencies of their students during regular lessons. To free schools to approach education however they want we just need to find a way to reliably assess students without the need for a centralized gatekeeper.
If the process of developing/proctoring/critiquing assessments was partially standardized (to allow for distribution and certification of assessment elements) and linked to student performance data then we could both reliably integrate this kind of assessment into regular lessons while also mitigating the need for expensive standardized tests.
There are some hints of this in the article; as a HS teacher I'd love to see assessment overhauled in this direction.
- aidenn0 12y agoStandardized curricula (which is admittedly distinct from standardized testing) is useful as prior to statewide standards, it was not unusual for a move of just 10 miles to put your children in a school district with completely different curriculum for at least one subject. The most positive thing I've heard about Common Core is that a federal standard will mean out-of-state transfer students will be more likely to be on the same page as current students.
- brlewis 12y agoAlternatively, take an educational approach where it's not essential that all students be on the same page.