New Testing Makes No Sense
Two “Super Supers” came to Idaho to bring us their wisdom. It is always good to listen to the voices of experience; it helps clarify things. It certainly threw light on some issues for me.
Dr. David P. Driscoll (MA) and Dr. Eric Smith (FL) were brought to Idaho by the Albertson Foundation, which has been financially supporting standards development in Idaho since 1997.
In describing their visit here, the Supers indicated that they were given some of our state data to review. It showed a couple of things that many across the country have knownfor years; we have a lack of consistency in the quality of our schools and those schools that show up on the bottom of the performance pile tend to do so repeatedly. This we have known.
These experts came to their conclusions by reviewing the data they were given; some of us have lived the reality, shouted it from the rooftops, and been brushed aside — because our observations were anecdotal, we can’t do our own research, attempt todraw logical conclusions from data, or we didn’t graduate from the right colleges? (I have New Testing Makes No Sense - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice:
David P. Driscoll
He has been a member of the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) since 2003. For the past two years, Dr. Driscoll has been appointed chair of NAGB by Secretary Arne Duncan. Dr. Driscoll serves on a number of national boards, including the Fordham Institute, Alliance for Excellent Education, U.S. Education Delivery Institute, and Teach Plus.
Dr. Eric Smith
Smith previously served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for The College Board, and was a member on the Board of Directors for the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program. He has served as Chair of the National Assessment of Title 1 Independent Review Panel since 2003 and was named Florida's Commissioner of Education in 2007.[citation needed]
Smith has used his educational skill recently in Chile, while teaching the Chilean Army in the use and employment of Field Artillery.
Dr. Smith also served as Senior Vice President for College Readiness at the College Board and is a member emeritus of Chiefs for Change.
