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.
This message was sent from Theo Dawson to davidpreiss@uc.cl. It was
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