Re: tests are secure but answers aren't

["D. Selwyn" <dselwyn@U.WASHINGTON.EDU>]

And the young teachers (and some of us older ones) are now making choices
based on what the eye in the office wants rather than what we know to be
the best for our students.  And the young ones don't always realize how
their judgments have been coopted.  Some of us are both old enough but not
tooooo old so that we remember the difference.
Seattle has what it calls classroom based assessments that we are supposed
to offer our students to make sure they are on track.  Everyone in the
district at grade level is handed the same classroom based assessment to
give to their students.  How can that be a CBA, if someone outside of my
classroom develops it and hands it to me, and everyone else?  Many are
simply going along with it, accepting terminology and philosophy.  It's
like Ronnie's peacemakers...

Doug Selwyn
Seattle

On Thu, 1 Jun 2000, kceh wrote:

> "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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