From: Theo Dawson <theo@devtestservice.com>
Date: April 8, 2009 9:00:36 AM GMT-04:00
To: davidpreiss@uc.cl
Subject: Testing the limits of testing
National Testing Survey Launch Event and Workshop
The NTS is an interactive online survey that asks about (1) the
legitimate purposes of testing and (2) how well today's tests serve these
purposes. In addition to completing a set of survey questions, respondents
are offered an opportunity to write about their personal experiences with
testing and share alternative testing resources. When respondents have
completed the survey, they can view their results and compare them to
national averages. Anyone who visits the site can read respondents' stories,
explore the resources, and track National results. Please participate in the
NTS, and use your email lists and social networks to spread the word! Feel
free to circulate the NTS poster or the poster announcing the NTS launch
event. Contact Zachary Stein if you have questions or would like to become
involved.
NTS launch event: Testing the limits of testing
Thursday, May 28th, 2009, 4:00 - 5:30 pm
Zachary Stein, Marc Schwartz, and Theo L. Dawson
The launch event will occur just prior to the opening of the Second
Biennial Conference of the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society
(IMBES) at the Sheraton Society Hill Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At
this event, speakers will present preliminary data from the NTS, examine the
limits of current test development methods, and explore new approaches to
assessment, incorporating the perspectives of stakeholder groups who have
participated in the survey so far. More information is available on the NTS
site.
Admission to the launch is FREE and open to the public, but space is
limited. To attend, you must obtain a ticket from the NTS web site.
The conference will also feature a workshop on testing:
Educational testing for the 21st century: Challenges, models, and
solutions
10:45 - 3:45, Saturday, May 30
Kurt Fischer, Marc Schwartz, Theo Dawson, Zachary Stein
The most basic form of educational testing takes the form of a
"conversation" between an individual student and a teacher in which the
student reveals what he or she is most likely to benefit from learning next.
This kind of conversation increasingly takes a back seat to standardized
forms of assessment that are designed to rank students for purposes that are
dissociated from learning itself. Testing has lost its roots. The
statistically generated rankings of standardized tests tell us very little
about the specific learning needs of individual students. And it is becoming
increasingly apparent that the kind of knowledge required to succeed on a
typical standardized test bears little resemblance to the kind of knowledge
required for adult life. The challenge we now face is creating the kind of
mass-customization that revives the educative role of assessments in the
local dialogue between teachers, students, and the curriculum, while
maintaining the advantages of standardization. Simply stated: we need tests
that help teachers meet the learning needs of individual students--tests
teachers ought to teach to. In this workshop, we explore perspectives on
these issues from the classroom, cognitive developmental science,
psychometrics, and philosophy and offer a concrete vision for the future of
assessment. The workshop is intended for educators, administrators,
researchers, and policy makers. It is FREE to those who register for the
entire IMBES conference. If you are interested in attending only the
workshop, the fee is $80 before April 28th, and $95 after April 28th.
You can register for the conference or the workshop at the IMBES site.
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