Re: [Fwd: EPAA Publishes Vol 10 No. 50 Ludlow,Shirley&Rosca"Massachusetts Teacher Tests"]

[Art Burke <aburke@VANSD.ORG>]

Nothing you excerpted supports a conclusion of "teach the test ....."

Art


>>> rparkany@BORG.COM 12/12/02 12:19PM >>>
Art Burke wrote:
>
> The authors conclude that schools where lots of candidates flunked, "responded rapidly with innovative strategies to enhance the content knowledge of prospective teachers as well as their writing and reading skills."  Where do you get "teach the test, forget the rest" from that?
>
> Art

Art:    Thanks for scanning this one...read it a bit more critically just once, please, notinh:
especially:

Paragraph #6:

**We take it for granted that teacher testing is now an established part of the American educational
landscape, and we are skeptical that any social movements or political coalitions will arise which
will have sufficient power to terminate teacher testing. The testing movement has been firmly
embraced by the current administration in Washington, DC, and while there are some opponents, they
do not seem to enjoy broad public support. Given that these tests are here to stay, we seek to pose
and answer an educational question: *what is it that teacher education programs are doing to ensure
that their students' pass rates meet state standards?*  **

PLEASE NOTE the *italics* in the original, Art...

..AND FURTHERMORE (FROM THE *CONCLUSION*, PARA. #3:

...SNIP...
**We, however, wish to advance several caveats because we share with critics of teacher testing
concerns about how the tests are being used and the manner in which they are transforming teacher
education. First, many of the besieged institutions recently changed the time of their testing so
that students take sections of the teacher test before even being admitted to a teacher education
program. In these cases, the institutions are guaranteeing a high pass rate from their program
completers. Second, we do not know if valuable facets of teacher education have been sacrificed in
the effort to improve test scores. Cochran-Smith and Dudley-Marling (2001) found that significant
institutional resources were devoted to test preparatory activities and some of these resource
allocations detracted from socially critical parts of a university's mission, such as recruiting
students of color into teaching. Finally, the test may screen promising teachers out of the
profession who could be quite effective in classes yet do not perform well on standardized tests.**
...SNIP...

etc., etc., etc., ..., ETC.!

See what I mean?        ;-} rap.

Art Burke wrote:
>
> The authors conclude that schools where lots of candidates flunked, "responded rapidly with innovative strategies to enhance the content knowledge of prospective teachers as well as their writing and reading skills."  Where do you get "teach the test, forget the rest" from that?
>
> Art
>
> >>> rparkany@BORG.COM 12/12/02 11:37AM >>>
> What a *veh's mir*! Teach to the test, fergit th' rest.
>
> This from Gene Glass & EPAA...  ;-} rap.
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: EPAA Publishes Vol 10 No. 50  Ludlow,Shirley & Rosca  "Massachusetts Teacher Tests"
> Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 12:15:03 -0700
> From: Gene V Glass <glass@asu.edu>
> Reply-To: Gene V Glass <glass@asu.edu>
> To: EDPOLYAR@asu.edu 
>
> The Education Policy Analysis Archives is a peer-reviewed scholarly
> journal freely accessible on the internet at http://epaa.asu.edu.
>
> EPAA has just published Volume 10 Number 50 "The Case That Won't Go
> Away: Besieged Institutions and the Massachusetts Teacher Tests" by
> Larry H. Ludlow, Dennis Shirley & Camelia Rosca.
>
> The article can be accessed directly at
>                  http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n50/ 
>
> An abstract follows:
>
>                 The Case That Won't Go Away:
>    Besieged Institutions and the Massachusetts Teacher Tests
>
>                      Larry H. Ludlow
>                      Dennis Shirley
>                       Camelia Rosca
>
>                      Boston College
>                Lynch School of Education
>
> Abstract
> Teacher testing was inaugurated in Massachusetts in 1998 and
> a 59% failure rate among test-takers led to public shaming of
> the teacher candidates and their colleges and universities in
> the media. Within a two-year time period, low-performing
> teacher education programs in Massachusetts initiated a wide
> range of test preparatory activities which led to a dramatic
> increase in their students' pass rates. The authors separate
> colleges and universities into three categories and examine
> their differentiated responses to teacher testing. Their
> finding that institutions of higher education have responded
> effectively to teacher testing does not preclude critique of
> teacher testing as currently practiced in Massachusetts.
>
> Citation: Ludlow, L., Shirley, D., Rosca, C. (2002,
> December 12). The case that won't go away: Besieged
> institutions and the Massachusetts teacher tests,
> Education Policy Analysis Archives, 10(50). Retrieved
> [date] from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n50/.
> _________________________________________
> Gene V Glass, Editor
> Education Policy Analysis Archives
> College of Education
> Arizona State University
> glass@asu.edu 
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the ARN-L list, send command SIGNOFF ARN-L
> to LISTSERV@LISTS.CUA.EDU.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the ARN-L list, send command SIGNOFF ARN-L
> to LISTSERV@LISTS.CUA.EDU.

--
"Dein Wachstum sei feste und lache vor Lust!
Deines Herzens Trefflichkeit
Hat dir selbst das Feld bereit',
Auf dem du bluehen musst." JS Bach: Bauern Kantata
Richard A. Parkany: SUNY@Albany
Prometheus Educational Services
http://www.borg.com/~rparkany/ 
Upper Hudson & Mohawk Valleys; New York State, USA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the ARN-L list, send command SIGNOFF ARN-L
to LISTSERV@LISTS.CUA.EDU.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the ARN-L list, send command SIGNOFF ARN-L
to LISTSERV@LISTS.CUA.EDU.