Re: Fw: reading

[aburke5054@aol.com]

 Leaving aside the question of how you decide when a child knows enough English to take the same kinds of tests other kids are taking, I think your argument would be more direct if you left off the bit about the construction of MC tests and just said that it's probably a good idea to test kids who are learning English using several different testing formats. (Good idea for all kids, in fact). Remember that it's been kind of a bedrock assumption in the Test Standards that kids will be tested in the format that gives them the best chance to show what they really know and can do - as long as the test is valid.
    Art
 
 -----Original Message-----
 From: gbracey1@verizon.net
 To: arn-l@interversity.org
 Sent: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 1:47 PM
 Subject: [arn-l] Fw: reading
 
  In the letter to the editor of the Washington Post that follow, I laid out a line of argument that seems very reasonable to me but I know of no evidence that might bear on my contention. Does anyone?   Jerry   ----- Original Message ----- From: GERALD BRACEY  To: letters@washpost.com  Cc: Maria Glod  Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 9:07 AM Subject: reading  
  Maria Glod quotes Fairfax Superintendent Jack Dale as saying that Fairfax will test immigrants with the same tests used for native-born kids "when they've learned enough English to have it (the test) in front of them." This is a lot harder to determine than the article makes it seem.   Classroom teachers by and large are not trying to make fools of kids. Tests always are. Given a 5-choice multiple-choice question, four of the choices will be wrong. If the test maker cannot fool enough students into picking one of those four wrong answers, the test will not "behave" properly, this behavior being defined by certain statistical properties. The ability to choose the right answer among five options likely requires a mastery of English that is more subtle and sophisticated than what is needed to succeed in the classroom.   Gerald W. Bracey 1797 Duffield Lane Alexandria, VA 22307 703-317-1716   The writer is a former Director of Research, Evaluation and Testing for the Virginia Department of Education.       
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