tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9539359.post111807546417306605..comments2023-10-24T10:06:05.391-05:00Comments on Instructivist: Another district goes fuzzyInstructivisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652458042291988959noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9539359.post-1118110753892735242005-06-06T21:19:00.000-05:002005-06-06T21:19:00.000-05:00Catherine,Real tests are a thorn in the side of co...Catherine,<BR/><BR/>Real tests are a thorn in the side of constructivists. It can be expected that defanging tests will become the new front.<BR/><BR/>I am reminded of an item that appeared in The Education Gadfly:<BR/><BR/>New front in the math wars <BR/> <BR/>One never ceases to be amazed by the inanity of many so-called "experts" in testing and instruction. In Illinois (which recently adopted a cracker-jack set of assessment benchmarks; see http://www.edexcellence.net/foundation/gadfly/issue.cfm?id=120#1514 for more detail), the experts are bemoaning a new testing program that they say will dumb down math by focusing overmuch on basic computational skills. Twenty percent of the new test items will be what snippy math educators disparage as "naked math," i.e. number problems that emphasize computation rather than application to "real world" situations. Such an approach, of course, used to be called "math" before the experts got hold of it. So far, the state testing division is standing firm. Look for the impending Fordham publication, The Citizen's Guide to State Standards, Tests, and Accountability Systems, for a discussion of problems that many states have in developing high-quality, rigorous tests that truly cover what their standards say their kids should know. And keep watching Illinois for this latest skirmish in the math wars that have pitted reformers and concerned parents against the "experts." <BR/><BR/>"Critics: tests dumb down math," by Tracy Dell'Angela, Chicago Tribune, January 4, 2004Instructivisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01652458042291988959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9539359.post-1118096953525493852005-06-06T17:29:00.000-05:002005-06-06T17:29:00.000-05:00State and federal testing is a major concern to me...State and federal testing is a major concern to me, because of the potential (or the reality?) of NCTM & NSF-funded educators writing the tests. <BR/><BR/>Assuming I'm reading Tom Loveless correctly, NAEP has radically decreased the number of test items involving computation of fractions -- the single most important 'predictor' of future success in algebra &, later, in college mathematics as far as I can tell.<BR/><BR/>You frequently read that 'math scores have been going up.'<BR/><BR/>It is entirely possible that math scores are going up, because test difficulty is going down.<BR/><BR/>See here: http://www.brook.edu/gs/brown/bc_report/2004/2004pressrelease.pdf (pdf file) and here: http://www.brook.edu/gs/brown/bc_report/2004pressrelease.htm<BR/><BR/>I think it's essential for parents to 'administer' their own assessments using the items David Klein wrote for the Los Angeles County Board of Ed when he worked there. (You can find them at our site, at David's web site, at matheaticallycorrect and, I believe, at NYC HOLD.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com