Return-Path: <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id f57Ernf02652; Thu, 7 Jun 2001 10:53:49 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 10:53:49 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <3B1F94F9.EB0F7825@ellijay.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Art LaChance <arthur@ellijay.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-LD:3488] Re: re; Degrading award ceremonies X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en] (Win98; I) Status: O Content-Length: 2305 Lines: 43 Kathleen, Why is it then that we resist applying standardized testing of any sort to prove that the child understands the material before we send him/her out into real life to fail? I think not teaching a child the necessary survival skills for success in our society is akin to "killing them", don't you? A rose by any name? Art KathleenBombach@aol.com wrote: > Art: > It sounds as if the tests you took to show that you had mastered the actual > skills you were being taught and needed to know were not standardized tests. > They were performance-based criterion-referenced tests. You had to > demonstrate that you could actually perform the specific skills you were > there to learn. > > All tests are usually 'standardized,' meaning they have the same test > administration protocol. What people call standardized tests are normed > tests. They ask the question: how well does one individual do in > relationship to all others who have taken the same test? > > Let me give a concrete example. 100 students go through the courses needed > to become nurses. When they graduate, they can be given a > criterion-referenced test, which assesses whether they have mastered the > actual skills needed to be competent nurses. Or they can be given a test > which tells us where each individual stands relative to all other > individuals, and we can pick a score where they pass and where they fail. > Professional tests tend to do the former: one must possess certain specific > skills and knowledge to be licensed or certified, say dosage calculations, > and no matter how well you do in every other area on the test, say patient > care, you will not pass the test. This is because a nurse who has great > bedside skills but who cannot calculate dosages will kill people. We don't > care that he scored better than 75 of the other students, we care that he can > calculate dosages correctly 100 percent of the time. Our teaching goal is > that all 100 students calculate dosages correctly 100 percent of the time. > Normed tests only look at an individual relative to the performance of other > individuals who took the test. It may be appropriate for other types of > learning, say global knowledge, in a subject area because one wishes to > become a teacher in that area. > Kathleen Bombach
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