1. Part 4: The Politics of Testing A Guide to Survival

2. Gifted classes in smaller schools can lead to misplaced students, lower-scoring standard classes. Comparing grade to grade instead of following students as they progress (longitudinal cohort groups) = irrelevant data. Background knowledge: seriously affects data

3. What kind of land surrounds the Great Sphinx? A. snowy B. Dry C. Rainy D. Full of Trees Skill: applying background knowledge

4. Validity Testing on New Tests How do we determine validity?

5. Disaggregated analysis Pros: A more personalized analysis Cons: Can lead to misplacement

6. Taking our Place at the Policy Table Which issues deserve our attention? – Norm-referenced vs. Criterion-Referenced tests – Seeing tests after they are scored – Becoming active

7. Norm-referenced vs. Criterion- Referenced tests Norm-referenced: SAT Criterion-Referenced: AP Exam Both made by ETS

8. Norm-Referenced Tests Exist independently of material taught in schools Guarantee even spread along a bell curve. What does this mean?

9. Norm-Referenced Tests (ctd)

10. Viewing Tests After they are Scored Error analysis Analysis of the validity of test questions Seeing several years worth of tests help us analyze differences and find commonalities.

11. Criterion-Referenced Tests Creates incentive to learn Is standards-based. Holds all students to the same high expectations.

12. Standardized Tests Shouldn’t Interfere with Learning Because they are standardized, they are not fine-tuned assessment tools. Not the sole measurement of success. No clear goals to teach towards with norm- referenced tests. What do they measure?

13. (Article Slides) Title: “Do Kids Read Less for Fun? Blame Standardized Tests” Source: http://www.districtadministration.com/pulse/ commentpost.aspx?news=no&postid=48822

14. “Put that book away and do your reading” Problem: standardized test scores are eating up our curriculum Reading for pleasure is effected

15. The irony of our obsession Preoccupation with scores and its effect on instruction How does this effect our students? 2 ways: – More homework = less time for pleasure reading – *Bad attitude towards “the written word”: kids learn to hate reading and writing

16. Desire to read The most important thing we can instill Giving children a “fish” versus teaching them to fish Disposition is a higher-level skill in Bloom’s taxonomy

17. Would the author of our book agree? Criterion-based testing: good or bad? Difference between criterion-based testing and criterion-obsessed curriculum. Common ground in both philosophies