“Pupils learn poorly when using most computer programs”

.The future: I\(I love this cartoon)

.Here are two posts worth a read, showing the rheeformed way forward, and consequences

reading-between-the-lines:Obamas-testing-action-plan/
sciencedaily.com/computers_math

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Another “must read”, on test grading, new style(!)

When I got to the sentence

“If it doesn’t take a person with subject knowledge to score the essay, it doesn’t take a person with subject knowledge to write it.”

I thought of Todd Farley and his book “Making The Grades”‘

” Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose” (pardon my French, and excuse the lack of accents)

So go and read the rest : http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2015/06/mcgrading-mctest.html?

and then read Farley’s  book.

School——>PARCC tweet———>suspension———->and then?????

Thank you Audrey Watters for leading me to this exposure of the behaviour of testing corporations.

These two are MUST READs, and should be passed on to everybody:

http://www.bobbraunsledger.com/breaking-pearson-nj-spying-on-social-media-of-students-taking-parcc-tests/

http://kengreenwood.com/pearson_spying_on_kids/

Testing to destruction.

Testing to destruction.

“IIHS Hyundai Tucson crash test” by Brady Holt – Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0

A method used in manufacturing for product testing, where the product is
designed for a single action, and is used in practice as an insurance. The
best example is vehicle air bags. To see if they work a car is driven into
a wall, and the effect on the dummy people in the car is assessed.
Unfortunately some medical procedures can have a similar effect, of course
unintended. The classic case is amniocintesis, a procedure for assessing
the presence of Down’s Syndrome in the fetus. The reality was that the
probability of a fetus having the syndrome was way smaller than the
probability of the procedure itself causing a miscarriage. Initially, and
for quite a long time this was not realised. Eventually the test was only
offered to women who had a higher chance anyway of having a syndrome baby.
Could there be a connection between this stuff and the roll out of high
stakes testing in schools. Think about it.