Re: Strong Editorial for Test Transparency

[aburke5054@aol.com]

Leaving the ever-fascinating Three Bodies Problem aside, injecting 
"fascism" into a discussion of how many items should be made public 
from state tests (or from commercially-available tests or teacher-made 
tests) is beyond silliness.

One thing I do agree with is doing what's best for students.  That's 
what we're doing now, right?  All for the kids.

Art

-----Original Message-----
From: Csubstance@aol.com
To: arn-l@interversity.org
Sent: Thu, 13 Mar 2008 1:27 am
Subject: Re: [arn-l] Strong Editorial for Test Transparency

In a message dated 3/12/08 7:27:28 AM, bobschaeffer@earthlink.net 
writes:

<< The

company should be compelled to do what profits Florida students most.

Transparency does. Currently inane levels of secrecy do not. >>

3/13/08

As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted...

The release of "sample questions" is simply silly. Only the entire 
test,
along with all scoring materials, makes it possible for the public to 
analyze
the
testing program. Anything less than all of the questions (along with 
the
"answers") makes it impossible for the public to know if they test is 
doing what

it's supposed to do.

Everyone knows this, but it always had to be repeated, with one or two
examples.

When I taught Romeo and Juliet, I used to joke that it was important to 
test
the students on their knowledge of how many people were dead by the 
tragedy's
end. Counting Mercutio, that total is five. Three bodies are on stage 
at
curtain.

However, in the "West Side Story" version of the same "story", Juliet 
(Maria)
gets to survive, and "Paris" survives as well.

Total: three bodies (only one at final curtain).

The same is true of any test. If you don't have the entire test, you 
don't
know if the child has learned the narrative (or whatever else you're 
testing;
imagine Plane Geometry that didn't confront the Pythagorean Theorem).

So let's finally make all the tests "transparent" after they're 
administered.

Fair Test and Substance can take a bow for being prematurely anti 
fascist in
this regard. (Sorry: I couldn't resist the analogy to the 1930s).

George Schmidt
Editor, Substance

www.substancenews.net <BR><BR><BR>**************<BR>It's Tax Time! Get 
tips,
forms, and advice on AOL Money & Finance.<BR>
(http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001)</HTML>