January 30

Today we began by responding to a quote by Cizek for our writing into the day.  Then, Megan walked through "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" and highlighted the important parts of the article.  These parts discussed the intended benefits of this Act.  After that, we got into our inquiry groups and made a list of the positives of standardized testing according to Kaplan (using "My 54 Year Love Affair with the SAT).  We listed the following:

• The SAT can be used for lower income kids to be able to get into more prestigious schools
• It tests thinking ability rather than just facts from the core subjects
• The SAT levels the playing field
• It tests the "why" and "how" of subjects rather than the "what"
• The test requires a student to apply knowledge rather than regurgitate facts
• It provides a fair way of assessment
• It is the "academic yardstick for college admission"
• It is reliable and predictable
• It tells you where you are compared to other test takers

Then, we watched a Why Standardized Testing Fails (a TEDTalks video) and had the following discussion about the ideas in the video:

• Students should be taught the way that they learn
• Grades do not define the whole person/student
• You need a what to figure out how much knowledge a student has gained and testing is the easiest way to do that.
• Tests are easy and convenient for schools
• If you changed testing, you'd need to redo the whole educational system.
• How would teachers fairly grade?  Would they look at the quality of the work, effort, the potential of the student?  It would be subjective
• Tests should be paired with something else
• Testing scores can hinder confidence.  Assessing on potential should help give a student something to strive for.
• Broader tests (with more than one right answer) would work against the careers that require only one answer like math and science careers
• People rely on testing because of laziness. 
• Should we have different classes based on the student's learning style?
• No, students need to learn to adapt to different situations.
• Creativity is too opinion based to test
• Everyone knows testing doesn't work, but no one can come up with a better way.
• Even if someone did, people don't want to change.
• Most colleges base admission on test scores.  It's an easy way to filter people out.
• Essays and recommendation letters should be added to the admission process in addition to test scores.
• The college should look at the applicant as a whole student rather than a number.
• Jobs look at GPAs when they are hiring.  Again, they look at the number.
• What you learn in school rarely helps on the SAT
• GPA measures more than intelligence.  If someone has a high GPA, he/she also likely has social skills, good relationships with teachers and the ability to participate.
• Classes at some schools might be easier than at other school so GPA is not really the best judge for admission.
• The same issues apply with class rank.  The IB programs have more weight so those students usually have the highest rank.
• Admissions aren't using the best numbers because of the variables

Homework:

• By Sunday at midnight:
1. Post answers to the four questions as a reflection for the comments you received on your paper today.
2. Comment on two blog posts from your inquiry group.
• By Wednesday before class:
1. Read your assigned section of "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work" and post a reading response.

If you missed class, you need to email me so I can send you an electronic copy of your paper and the questions for reflection as well as assign you a section of the reading.