I recently had discussions with people in the local K-12 education community about students being tested to death. Yes...to death! The question that came up? Are you saying we shouldn't test and if not what's the alternative? I sat down and put my thoughts together and share them here. If you take the time to read the blog article consider sharing it with others but do something even more important...contact your local school and district and tell them to back off and do what's helpful and not what's for ego or childish adult vanity reasons. Summary Thoughts We do need to test. The question is what types of tests, the frequency and how the results are used. When we use curriculum … [Read more...]
NAEP Shows Little to No Gains in Math, Reading for U.S. Students
Kids today are tested to death. The big annual test (SBAc); the iReady several times a year. Regular tests. Test...test...test. The stress is high and the student attitudes are bad. On top of this most districts have moved from paper to computers. Tests on computers produce lower results. The following article from US News discusses the performance issues. If you don't think your child should be tested electronically take a stance and contact your local school principal and district. Fourth- and eighth-graders in the United States have made little to no gains in math and reading since 2015. While the average reading scores for eighth-graders increased compared with 2015, … [Read more...]
iReady Testing….What is it and is it useful or just another waste of time? Updated October 20, 2020
Update: October 20, 2020 Several more articles that you may find useful: https://mathexchanges.wordpress.com/2018/06/14/why-iready-is-dangerous/ https://tultican.com/2019/11/23/i-ready-sells-50-years-old-education-failure/ Update: December 29, 2018 The Vancouver school district is moving to introduce iReady testing...in kindergarten! Yes...the 5 year olds will be asked to use a computer to complete the testing. In addition the district is planning on giving the iReady test...MONTHLY! Why? So they can train children for the SBAc annual test. So they will dramatically expand testing in the name of "gaming" the SBAc to try and improve falling testing scores. No matter … [Read more...]
Death…by…data
Ever feel overwhelmed with information? Ever see so many numbers your brain turns off? Welcome to Public Education. At a workshop put on by the administrative staff of the Battle Ground School District we had the chance to learn more about what data/information they gather and hear about possible ways it can be used. The staff was thorough and open. In this story we would like to share the details we gathered and share some thoughts and ask some questions. You can find out what's happening in your local school district. Let's start out with the workshop presentation slides (as pdf files you everyone can open them): Data_BGSD_Board Data Presentation 11.14.16 If you don't want … [Read more...]