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Thanks for the dialogue, Eric. This is the part of the message that I think we need to keep in mind:
"...look at which schools are most distorted by testing. As the education blogger Whitney Tilson has pointed out, the schools that best represent the reform movement, like the KIPP academies or the Harlem Success schools, put tremendous emphasis on testing. But these schools are also the places where students are most likely to participate in chess and dance. They are the places where they are most likely to read Shakespeare and argue about philosophy and physics. In these places, tests are not the end. They are a lever to begin the process of change."
And as you (and Brooks) point out tests are one way of measuring change, and only part of a much larger ecology.
Jamie
________________________________________
From: Informal Science Education Network [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Eric Meyer [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2011 6:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: testing in the news
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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James,
Nice article. Thanks. I really liked the part about the 'mission [of
the school] transcending the test'.
I've been to some great schools and I've been to some bad ones and good
leadership is always a huge plus. I've also worked with children who
know pi to 30 decimals but who had incredible trouble investigating the
behavior of light [given lights, mirrors, and lenses]. Personally, I
would rather be around people who knew how to figure things out instead
of the person who knows a lot of answers.
As a scientist, I understand the value of measuring things.
Unfortunately, it seems to me that policy makers and district
administrators are often more interested in the measurement itself and
not enough in the students being measured.
I also understand that you can measure 101 things and that doesn't mean
they are useful for anything. There are also many different ways you
can measure something and each will give you a different result.
What are good tools with which to measure? How do we adapt those tools
to an incredibly diverse population? Humans are not widgets so the one
size fits all application seems to be a huge flaw in learning or
education.
So, what is it that we want to measure regarding education?
To the last line of the article, I would add - "If your school teaches
to the test, it's not the test's fault. It's the leaders of your
school." - and the people whom you elected to your school board and
other offices.
Education of our youth is the responsibility of us all - parent,
teacher, neighbor, uncle, store owner, friend...
I'm way over my 2 cents now. How about a session proposal for 2012 or
2013 ASTC?
Eric Meyer
Explorations/Special Projects Manager
Explora
www.explora.us
1701 Mountain Rd. NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
[log in to unmask]
505-224-8386 phone
505-224-8310 fax
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