Newsgroups: k12.ed.math
Subject: Re: Testing
From: pmacfar@eis.calstate.edu (Paul MacFarlane)
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 08:04:51 GMT
Organization: Calif State Univ/Electronic Information Services

Carol.Hooper@f64.n381.z1.fidonet.org (Carol Hooper) writes:
> To be sure everyone knows, I did not write all the sentences which 
> appear in Mr. McFarlane's response but rather wrote the first two.  
> The later quoted info was a reply to me concerning teaching of the 
> test.
> I'd like to know why you say that public (specifying public) math 
> education is "pitiful."  What are you referring to exactly?
    [parts deleted]
> Look forward to your response.

I'm not sure if I'm the person Carol wants a response from , but I saw my
name mentioned, so I figured I'd add my two cents again.

I certainly do not think that public school math education is pitiful.  In
my own school, in fact, there has been somewhat of a renaissance in math
teaching methods over  the last few years, particularly among the K-3
teachers.  In fact, they make me, as a sixth grade teacher, feel somewhat
inadequate at times.  I am a clear supporter of public schools, in math
education as well as in other areas.

My previous message was merely meant to confirm the idea that, especially
for elementary-aged kids, the form of the test affects the outcome of the
test almost as much as the test items themselves.

As a decade-long teacher, I clearly sympathize with Carol's dilemma about
the issue of "teaching to the test."  I'd also like to take this
opportunity to say that in California public schools, despite the shackles
imposed by our inadequate school budgets, there are many people hard at
work to resolve such dilemmas.

As with so many other movements, there is a buzzword attached: "authentic
assessment"

The idea is that, in the past, tests have been an interruption of a
student's regular curriculum, asking him/her to complete tasks that do not
resemble what he/she does during a normal day.

Instead, assessment should be based on the student's normal tasks.  The
assessment instrument should be presented as a lesson, just like so many
others.  The students should find that they learn from it, just as with any
other lesson.  Assessment may also include a student portfolio, and
students should have some say about what goes into the portfolio.

This last weekend, at a training session given by the California Science
Implementation Network, the basic tenets of authentic assessment were
presented as eight points: (semi-accurately reconstructed from my notes)

1. The emphasis should be on the production and not on discrimination
2. Assessment should model good instruction
3. The focus is on integration with skills and curriculum
4. Concepts are more important than facts
5. There is an emphasis on connections for depth of understanding 
6. Students write to learn and to communicate
7. There is an emphasis on speaking and listening
8. Learning and assessment can sometimes be done with groups of students

As with all assessments, there are some "test" questions, but they will be
more open-ended, much like the some of the mathmagic questions presented
elsewhere on K12 net.

In science, one example of such a problem is: A small tree is planted in a
meadow.  After 20 years, it has grown into a big tree, weighing 250 kg.
more than when it was planted.  Where do the extra 250 kg. come from? 

It's heartening to me that there are so many dedicated educators in
California working towards making assessment real.  It will take awhile,
since scoring an open-ended question like the tree problem will be
considerably more subtle and time-consuming than the standard scantron
sheet we now use.  Also, the whole focus of curriculum is changing in
concert with these changes in assessment (though not as "teaching to the
test"  It's more like "testing to the teaching."

All in all, it's an exciting time to be an educator.  If not for our
budget problems, we'd be well underway in implementing an "authentic
assessment" program throughout the state.  As it is, though, it only means
that change will be delayed a little.

Anyway, this has been a long "two cents." So I'd like to close by
reiterating my support for public school eductors, and also for
the government workers in the California State Department of Education, who
are doing so much to make education and assessment more real.

Paul MacFarlane
Danville, California
pmacfar@eis.calstate.edu