Standardized Testing
Chuck Gaston (CAG9@PSUVM.PSU.EDU <CAG9@PSUVM.PSU.EDU>)
Mon, 27 Nov 95 09:57 EST
>Seems that much of what we know today as "standards" has emerged from an
>epistemology which sees knowledge as outside the learner and reality as
>absolute. Don't we need to give serious thought to the meaning of
>standards within an epistemology that sees the learner involved in the
>construction of knowledge within a reality that is tenuous?
>
>Dr. Kathleen Martin Texas Christian University
In my opinion, no!
After seeing so many arguments that say, essentially, "Since testing is
imperfect, don't test at all," I think we should begin concentrating only
on standardized testing for mathematics, where reality *is* "absolute", and
not "tenuous". Narrowing the discussion that way should eliminate a lot of
the fuzziness.
Now, within this narrower focus, what is wrong with current standardized math
tests, and what can be done to make them better? (Note that word, "better";
I don't believe that *anyone* expects that they can be made "perfect". If
new things had to be perfect before they could be used, we'd still be in the
stone age or worse!)