Re: sunshine in the testing warrens
Ken Goodman (kgoodman who-is-at u.arizona.edu)
Thu, 04 Feb 1999 09:39:25 -0700
Some years ago, a school psychologist, held a meeting for parents to
discuss the standardized tests their children had been taking. The state
affiliate of APA brought her up on charges of unprofessional conduct.
There is a long history of publishers and school authorities protecting
tests from public and professional criticism. Of course when the tests
are high stakes tests the concern over leaking or disclosure becomes
extreme. New York and a few other states have truth in testing laws.
Under those laws those taking the SAT have been able to challenge items
they believed were ambiguous or contained errors. That led to rescoring
which affected most those students at the top and the bottom of those
who took the test.
In the current mean time politicians equate tough tests with higher
standards- nevermind what makes the test tough. Texas is accumulating a
large overage population in the 9th grade because they can't accumulate
enough credit to move to 10th. The solution from the legislature: more
tests.
Ken Goodman
--
Kenneth S. Goodman, Professor, Language, Reading & Culture
504 College of Education, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
fax 520 7456895 phone 520 6217868
These are mean times- and in the mean time
We need to Learn to Live Under Water