tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post3690947328373181452..comments2024-03-28T23:52:50.698-04:00Comments on Mother Crusader: I've Opted Out And You Can Too!Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-29836154222779378462013-04-18T22:25:16.892-04:002013-04-18T22:25:16.892-04:00Creating high-quality, fair, reliable assessments ...Creating high-quality, fair, reliable assessments is the "tough work" that teachers do (and do well) every day. Thanks for not wanting to "burden" us with the "enormous complexity" of doing our jobs, but we're actually quite good at this "stuff".<br /><br />Standardization is not what makes an assessment "fair", it's what makes it generic. Knowing the individual students in a school along with the specific content they've been taught is what enables teachers to create assessments that are truly "fair".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-9450152218261914722013-04-17T23:43:30.187-04:002013-04-17T23:43:30.187-04:00Given that the NJPASS isn't reported to the st...Given that the NJPASS isn't reported to the state and used only for internal purposes by schools and districts, it's a bit of a stretch to connect it to school closings, VAM, and teacher evaluations.<br /><br />We use the NJPASS to help guide our intervention efforts. It is a supplement to the thoughtful judgement of teachers, who also help connect students with extra support services if they are struggling with reading or math. <br /><br />Given the critical importance of acquiring literacy skills by the end of 3rd grade, I'm actually a bit taken aback by your post -- the NJPASS would seem to be exactly the kind of test that I thought you would advocate for.<br /><br />It is:<br />-optional<br />-based on high quality standards (which represent untold hours of labor by teachers, curriculum designers, etc)<br />-low stakes/no stakes<br />-not reported to the state, or anyone else.<br />-a tool for schools and teacher to help guide their intervention efforts.<br /><br />One thing that I've learned after a decade in the education world is that creating high-quality, fair, reliable assessments is *tough work*. You mention teacher-created assessments - there's a role for the classroom teacher to be sure - but we actually don't want to burden teachers with the enormous complexity involved in writing sound assessments. It's really tough. The 'standardization' in these tests means that they have been thoroughly vetted. One of the things that they look for is skew or bias in the questions -- stuff that can be hard to see off the bat. Imagine a student from a disadvantaged background takes a teacher created assessment with comprehension questions that unwittingly skew toward the prior experience of advantaged students. Now imagine that this is the assessment used for determining honors program placement. Or a scholarship. Or the local magnet school. This stuff matters, and standardization is what makes it fair. Doing these assessments statewide also makes major accommodations feasible - there are only a few hundred students who need the Braille version of any one assessment, but I'm glad that we can provide it for them.<br /><br />In much the same way that I am glad that civil engineers know how bridges work, I am glad that our teachers are supported by highly skilled experts who know this stuff cold.<br /><br />I'd encourage you to take a look at the technical manual for the NJPASS - if you read the description and history, it doesn't really match the malevolent thing that you described at all. There's a long list of educators who clearly put a lot of work into this, likely because they were passionate about improving early childhood education.<br />http://www.riverpub.com/products/njpass/securesite/manual.pdfAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-3305924986804165912013-04-17T14:58:28.976-04:002013-04-17T14:58:28.976-04:00"Ours is a progressive district committed to ..."Ours is a progressive district committed to public education. I would love to see a broad conversation in our schools, purposefully framed to include parents, teachers, administrators and board members, about the effects this nation's obsession with standardized testing is having on the education of our children." <br />Darcie- some of us here in Princeton Public Schools have been trying for over a year now to get a conversation like the one you mention here going.<br />We have presented our BOE with a letter signed by over 80 parents and spoken both publicly at a BOE meeting, and privately with members of the board. There seems to be a great deal of resistance to this and I would love to know if you make any progress (and how) in your district. Maybe a forum that includes many districts within the state?<br />Lori TroiloAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913136677201955986noreply@blogger.com