The move to all-computer testing = start of a boondoggle
Sent to the Los Angeles Daily News, January 10
The move to all-computer testing (“State schools chief proposes replacing paper Scantron tests with computer-based ones,” January 8) is the start of a huge boondoggle. After every student is connected, the set-up will be declared obsolete and need to be upgraded or replaced. The schools will cheerfully pay up, eager for the "newest" technology, and computer companies will cheerfully accept their money.
I have nothing against private enterprise making an honest profit for providing a needed service or useful product. But in this case there is no evidence that the product is needed or useful. We are about to waste a gigantic
The move to all-computer testing (“State schools chief proposes replacing paper Scantron tests with computer-based ones,” January 8) is the start of a huge boondoggle. After every student is connected, the set-up will be declared obsolete and need to be upgraded or replaced. The schools will cheerfully pay up, eager for the "newest" technology, and computer companies will cheerfully accept their money.
I have nothing against private enterprise making an honest profit for providing a needed service or useful product. But in this case there is no evidence that the product is needed or useful. We are about to waste a gigantic
When will testing fever end?
Sent to Education Week, January 10, 2013.
“Testing group picks ‘college readiness’ exam” (January 9) announces yet another test to add to the staggering pile of tests our students must take. When will this end?
Because there is no evidence that adding more tests helps students, and plenty of evidence that increased testing will be very profitable for those who sell the tests and supply the infrastructure for the required on-line testing, the obvious answer is that testing fever will end only when the greed of the standardized-testing-
“Testing group picks ‘college readiness’ exam” (January 9) announces yet another test to add to the staggering pile of tests our students must take. When will this end?
Because there is no evidence that adding more tests helps students, and plenty of evidence that increased testing will be very profitable for those who sell the tests and supply the infrastructure for the required on-line testing, the obvious answer is that testing fever will end only when the greed of the standardized-testing-