Quote:
Originally Posted by KSig RC
These people do exist - and you're correct that testing only shows who can pass a test, and that other forms of interpretation/application are a MUCH higher-level skill than simply responding to questions.
However, these people are NOT the norm - in fact, they're an extreme minority. The overwhelming majority of people who do poorly on a test have poor understanding of the subject material.
NCLB sucks in its implementation more than its concept.
I agree completely with you, though, that NCLB is narrow - there are many things it could do to obviate some of the "bad test taker" concerns (untimed tests would be one, and making testing less formal another, among easy things that we've known about for decades) but instead, it just sort of pukes on itself.
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Agree with all of the above.
I can't speak for every state, but the test our state uses (OAKS) for NCLB isn't timed, students are allowed a break whenever they need it or the tester thinks they need it, they can be tested alone, in small groups, or large groups, and there are a host of other accomodations (for instance, in some cases the tester can read the questions and answers fro the math and science portion to the students, and they can have them read the reading sections out loud).
Some kids will get stressed no matter what you do, and some will never test well, but I think our state made every effort to alleviate that issue. On the other hand, the legislature voted in the middle of October (when most schools were doing the first round of testing) to raise the score required to pass the math portion by 7 points which was a big jump. They didn't give the districts, schools, or teachers any time to prepare for that change. I oversee state testing at the charter school where I currently work. We are required by state law to show that our students are performing better than the students in our district (I believer we have to show that 80% pass or exceed) or we are out of business. It led to a pretty stressful situation for everyone.
I do have other issues with how state tests are sometimes used (for instance, I'm not sure this is still the case, but when I taught in Washington, they were moving towards making the state test a requirement for graduation. I think they've backed off on that, but I'm not sure). To make matters worse, at the time, they had no Plan B for special education students. The state made it clear they were just going to wait for a lawsuit which they knew would happen at some point and then deal with it.
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