Re: tests are secure but answers aren't

[kceh <kceh@AIRMAIL.NET>]

"But today we honor your differences. They have determined your
futures." Lois Lowry

Brrrrr.

Susan Ohanian wrote:
>
> You don't have to be right-wing paranoid to find this troubling: "Set up"
> students to reveal something--and it can be anything the people in charge
> decide--and then, when you find their answers troubling, you go track down
> the students. We've seen scattered examples of this in this country--with
> students' "violent" responses to essay questions (that solicited "violent"
> responses). But this is the first example I know of where the prompt isn't
> just careless (or stupid) but a deliberate attempt for kids to incriminate
> themselves.
>
> Does anybody else worry about the Orwellian possibilities here? I admit to
> being very sympathetic to the conservative position that people in schools
> must be very careful about meddling in "personal" stuff. Another one of those
> very complicated, non black/white issues.
>
> But isn't it interesting that while teachers across America are not allowed
> to discuss the tests in any way because these tests are "secure," no such
> security is awarded to the kids' answers? Minimum wage test correctors are
> alerted to watch for certain things (some people say there's a list; other
> people deny the existence of the list), and then individual answers are sent
> first to headquarters and then to school officials, police, whomever.
>
> The Orwellian possibilities are truly chilling.
> Susan O.
>
> BBC NEWS
>    You are in: UK: Northern Ireland
>
>   Wednesday, 31 May, 2000, 16:20 GMT 17:20 UK
> Exam plan to trace bullying victims
>
> Growing concern over bullying issue
>
> Examiners marking English papers containing a question on bullying have been
> asked to report any evidence of schoolchildren who may be at risk.
> The Council for Curriculum Examination and Assessment (CCEA) has made the
> request as a result of growing public concern after a 14-year-old bullying
> victim took her life earlier this year.
>
> Denise Bailie from Highfield estate in north Belfast committed suicide in
> April.
>
> A question on the Key Stage 3 English paper which is taken by 14-year-olds
> suggests bullying as a topic for a newspaper article.
>
> The CCEA has written to all markers asking them to report any individual
> stories which might indicate a child is at risk.
>
> Children's names are not on the scripts. But children can be traced using a
> reference number and a school number.
>
> The markers have also been asked to spot if there appears to be a pattern of
> bullying from a number of pupils at the same school.
>
> The exam papers are to be returned and may be passed on to the school to deal
> with the problem.
>
> Bullying study
>
> The CCEA said Denise Bailie's death had highlighted the need for some action
> on the issue.
>
> The move coincides with the launch in Belfast of a Childline service by TV
> presenter Esther Rantzen.
>
> In April, the then education minister, George Howarth, initiated a study to
> investigate the causes of bullying in Northern Ireland schools.
>
> The Childline number is 0800 1111.
>
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