Re: measurement error

[aburke5054@aol.com]

 This is not a problem with test scores at all.? 

Both progress and level are important.? It's wonderful that Strauss strives to take his "lower-ability" students to a higher level and teachers should by all means be recognized when their students gain.? But it's equally important to have high expectations for all students and to test all students against those high expectations as a way of priming the system to work better for them.

"Lower-ability" has been used in the past as a euphemism for a bigotry that assigned lower standards for poor children, minority children, children with disabilities, and children learning English.? Don't go there, Strauss..? 

Art







 



-----Original Message-----

From: monty@fairtest.org

To: arn2-strategy <arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>; ARN-L <arn-l@interversity.org>; ARN-state <ARN-state@yahoogroups.com>; NDSG <ndsgroup@yahoogroups.com>

Sent: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 1:37 pm

Subject: [arn-l] measurement error












Robert Strauss points out another problem with test scores:?

?


Monty Neill,?


(This is  one final thought I had about high-stakes testing that might interest you and your group.  It relates to what you said in your article about "measurement error".)?

?


I teach English to three levels of 9th grade students: honors, average learners, and students who are lower-ability learners--struggling readers and writers.  Obviously, it's the third group that the end-of-course tests most affect.?

?


Here's the problem for a hard-working, committed teacher: a reasonable goal is to take the lower-ability students to a HIGHER ability, i.e. improved reading comprehension skills and the capacity to write coherently.  For many students, that might mean reaching the point after freshman year where sustained reading can go as long as 15 minutes, and the student can respond successfully to questions about a short text.  The so-called educational gurus at the statehouse might not consider that a major step, but a teacher knows what an accomplishment that is.?

?


Yet, when the end-of-course test is thrown at the kids, they have, say, eight or more passages to read and a good hour-and-a-half of concentrated challenge.  In other words, two DIFFERENT things are being measured: not just comprehension but sustained concentration, which for many of these kids is equivalent to preparing them for a short race and throwing them into a marathon instead.?

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To use another example from sports, it's similar to taking a pitcher with limited control and getting that pitcher where he is confident enough to pitch an inning of middle relief. . . and then sticking him into a game and saying, you need to take us through the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings, oh and by the way, you're our closer.?

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Anyway, that's just another very real problem with what these high-stakes tests are supposed to tell us.?

?


Bob Strauss, Jr.?


Greenwood, SC?

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