January 22

Today, we talked about standardized testing, and each person needed to keep a pro/con list of standardized testing in his/her daybook.  We began with a writing into the day about what the benefits of NCBL were supposed to be.  We listed the following as benefits:

• promote literacy
• increase math skills
• increase test scores
• be more competitive with other countries
• students can change schools if they are attending a failing school
• students can change schools if they are being bullied
• standardized tests can be used to measure student and teacher success
• higher standards for teachers and students
• NCBL was created to give everyone an equal opportunity

Then, we watched "Why Standardized Testing Fails" - a TedTalks video (minutes: 0:00-7:22; 9:30-11:30) and answered in small groups the questions on the handout about this video.  With the small groups, we also talked about what we think assessment should move to (if it should move at all).

After this discussion, we talked about highlighting and used the highlighting suggestions on page 40 of Practical Argument to highlight "My 54 Year Love Affair with the SAT".  Finally, we talked about what we wrote on our pro/con lists.

Homework:

Post to your blog an explanation of what you think the ideal assessment plans for schools would be.