[Xmca-l] Re: Teaching in social context

[Dr. Paul C. Mocombe]

Greg T.

Some of these test questions are absurdly difficult, and "urban" and class bias... i do not like to use "culturally" here.  


Dr. Paul C. Mocombe
President
The Mocombeian Foundation, Inc.
www.mocombeian.com 
www.readingroomcurriculum.com
www.paulcmocombe.info 

Race and Class Distinctions within Black Communities 
www.routledge.com/9780415714372


-------- Original message --------
From: Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com> 
Date: 03/17/2015  1:51 PM  (GMT-05:00) 
To: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu> 
Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Teaching in social context 

but Mike (other Greg here), I think Paul was particularly picking up on the
fact that this was part of a "district wide mock test".

I thought that this kind of cultural and socioeconomic bias in testing had
been chopped at the roots by the myriad of critiques of this sort of thing
back in the 80's and 90's? I would have at least thought that the problems
with a passage like this would be obvious to test-makers today. Or has that
all been forgotten?

More evidence that we are back to the beginning?

[and btw, I'm perhaps even more baffled by how this got integrated into a
3rd grade test. Seems a bit beyond what my kids could have handled in 3rd
grade.]

-greg


On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 11:13 AM, mike cole <mcole@ucsd.edu> wrote:

> Greg--- Not to mention people being caught in the rude.
>
> Seems like the grumpy quality of the narrative is being picked up on, but
> hard to tell.
>
> *The Secret Garden* is antiquarian by American standards, having appeared
> in the latter part of the 1900's. I note there is a modern TV series about
> it.
>
> Paul - Would it be permissible to incorporate some of the TV, so the kids
> get a richer interpretive object and mix it with reading?
>
> mike
>
> On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 10:01 AM, Greg Mcverry <jgregmcverry@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > A hoe, a gardener named weatherstaff  and a mistress, Oh how meaning
> could
> > be misconstrued. And I am not even considering the mansion which few of
> > your wife's students have any real cultural reference point.
> >
> > On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 12:54 PM Dr. Paul C. Mocombe <
> > pmocombe@mocombeian.com> wrote:
> >
> > > My wife teaches 3rd grade at an inner-city school.  Today the students
> > > were tested on a district-wide mock test and they came across the
> > attached
> > > passage.  Half the class came up to her, and said that they can not
> read
> > > the passage bcuz they are cursing in it...
> > >
> > >
> > > Dr. Paul C. Mocombe
> > > President
> > > The Mocombeian Foundation, Inc.
> > > www.mocombeian.com
> > > www.readingroomcurriculum.com
> > > www.paulcmocombe.info
> >
>
>
>
> --
> It is the dilemma of psychology to deal as a natural science with an object
> that creates history. Ernst Boesch.
>



-- 
Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
880 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson