Teachers refuse to give test, but aren’t there some tests that are worth giving?
Teachers in Seattle are taking a stand against standardized testing by refusing to administer a required district-wide test.
What’s odd to me is the test Seattle teachers are choosing to protest, which is the Measure of Academic Progress. The high performing City of Decatur Schools uses MAP testing as well, giving it three times a year to see where students begin, where they are mid-year and where they are at the end of the year.
My kids attend Decatur schools and are not intimidated by MAP testing as it has been part of their education for a long time. Nor are they overly concerned with the scores, which they get instantly as the test is taken on a computer. I would be interested in what other Decatur parents out there think about MAP.
As to the comment within the news story below that algebra students see geometry on the test, my kids tell me that the challenge of the questions on the MAP test increases depending on how well a student is doing. If they get a question wrong, the test adapts and provides an easier question. Each time students answer a question, the test considers all questions taken so far to generate the next question. The tests respond to the achievement level of the student.
So, a student who is doing well will get harder and harder questions, including some that contain material they may not have seen in class. Decatur uses MAP scores to accelerate kids as well as remediate them.
I see the main value of MAP as diagnostic, allowing teachers to know where students are when they walk in the door. Teachers have told me it is valuable to get the information early in the school year.
I understand that schools are test weary, but question condemning test that measures student progress and pinpoints where students are falling behind. I would prefer that we focus on repetitive tests that give no new information.
I also think we have to be careful not to denigrate testing without acknowledging that testing also helps students recognize their own potential. I have interviewed people over the years who first considered college because of how well they scored on some test. In most cases, the people came from families without a history of college attendance and weren’t raised from the cradle with the expectation that they would earn a college degree.
Students in Seattle Public Schools take a test called the Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP, up to three times a year, from kindergarten through at least ninth grade. The school district requires the test to measure how well students are doing in reading and math — in addition to annual standardized tests required by the state.
The MAP test is used as part of the teacher-evaluation process, and it’s supposed to help teachers gauge students’ progress.
“We’ve lost a whole lot of class time. I don’t know what the test was about, and I just see no use for it at all,” says Kit McCormick, who teaches English at Garfield High School.
McCormick says teachers are never allowed to see the test, so she has no idea how to interpret her students’ scores.
“So I’m not going to do it. But I’d be happy to have my students evaluated in a way that would be meaningful for both them and me,” she says. Instead of this kind of high-stakes testing, teachers at Garfield propose that student learning be judged by portfolios of their work.
The school’s academic dean, Kris McBride, was supposed to administer the test this week. Instead, she’s standing behind the teachers. McBride says a major problem with the test is that it doesn’t seem to align with district or state curricula.
“In fact, our Algebra 1 students go in and sit in front of a computer and take this math test. It’s filled with geometry; it’s filled with probability and statistics and other things that aren’t a part of the curriculum at all,” she says.
Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Jose Banda says the teachers are expected to fulfill their responsibilities.
He says the MAP test’s frequency is useful in making sure students are learning what they should be but has invited teachers to take part in a formal district review of its effectiveness. That still doesn’t let them off the hook from administering the test, though.
“In the meantime, they have duties they’re supposed to complete, making sure that this assessment is given,” he says. Banda says instead of boycotting the MAP test, teachers should work with the district to find solutions to their concerns.
–from Maureen Downey for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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114 comments Add your comment
Private Citizen
January 19th, 2013
4:11 pm
Heyey Truth, Shooey, I guess remote viewing is not going to be on the “common core” -may be difficult to “test.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3-kQbNCVOI it’s based on “absolutely no prior knowledge.”
Private Citizen
January 19th, 2013
4:30 pm
This is actually a pretty interesting counterpoint to “testing” rationale: Applied Nonlinear Dynamic Systems http://lhscientificpublishing.com/journals/JAND-Default.aspx
Truth in Moderation
January 19th, 2013
8:21 pm
“Washington Post story for Aug. 7, 1977 (”Psychic Spying?”) explained how the CIA beamed signals to Stanford University at the very time researchers there conducted remote viewing experiments. Were images beamed to the heads of the participants?”
“Psychic Dictatorship in the U.S.A. (Paperback) by Alex Constantine”
Truth in Moderation
January 20th, 2013
12:10 am
A different kind of test…
“CIA Must Disclose Data on Human Experiments”
By ANNIE YOUDERIAN
“(CN) – A federal magistrate judge in San Francisco ordered the CIA to produce specific records and testimony about the human experiments the government allegedly conducted on thousands of soldiers from 1950 through 1975.
Three veterans groups and six individual veterans sued the CIA and other government agencies, claiming they used about 7,800 soldiers as human guinea pigs to research biological, chemical and psychological weapons.
The experiments, many of which took place at Edgewood Arsenal and Fort Detrick in Maryland, allegedly exposed test subjects to chemicals, drugs and electronic implants.”
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/11/17/31924.htm
Truth in Moderation
January 20th, 2013
12:15 am
Feinstein blogwashing: COMPLETE
Truth in Moderation
January 20th, 2013
12:51 am
WOW WOW! Rick Brant spills the beans on remote brain control research in 1957!!!!!!
CHAPTER XV
A Matter of Brain Waves
“On the evening of the cereal fiasco, Parnell Winston returned to Spindrift after another visit to Dr. Chavez. He called Steve Ames and spent a long time talking to the JANIG agent. Then he called the project team and the boys into the library.
“We’re on the track of something,” he reported. “At least we think we are. It’s so incredible that I simply can’t believe it. If true, it means some unfriendly nation is so far ahead of us scientifically that we should all be trembling in our boots.”
Rick had realized that only agents of a hostile country could be involved in the actions against the project team. Everyone present had known as much, without a word being spoken. Only another country could gain from disruption of the project.
“Chavez and I have run a series of EEG’s on Marks. We now have the records of EEG’s on the other two team members, and Steve has managed to turn up a pre-project EEG on one which gives us a basis of comparison. Now, to comprehend our tentative hypothesis, you must understand something of what is known about the brain.”
Rick prepared to listen without much understanding. The field in which Parnell Winston worked was new and strange to him, and while he understood some of the basic theories, he got lost when Winston got highly technical.
“Our understanding of the human brain is fairly[156] recent,” Winston began, “and we’re still only on the threshold of knowledge. In a way, we’ve just discovered the tools of research. The principal tool, of course, is electricity. Through it we can explore the electrochemical nature of brain processes.”
Rick was with him so far. He concentrated hard, not wanting to miss a word.
“There’s no point in reviewing the entire history of brain physiology. You all know of Pavlov’s work on conditioned reflexes. And you all know that Fritsch and Hitzig demonstrated that, when electrically stimulated, certain portions of the brain show a response. You also know that Caton discovered many years ago that the brain itself produces electric currents.”
Rick didn’t know, but he intended to find out. There must be some works on brain physiology in the library.
“However, the important modern work started with Berger in the late 1920’s. He found that the brain emits a definite pulse of activity, which was then known as the ‘Berger rhythm.’
“Since then, Berger’s work has been very much refined. We now know that the brain actually produces a number of clearly defined electrical rhythms. These rhythms have been used in medical diagnosis of brain injury. Walter, in England, has even developed a machine that will show whether or not people will get along with each other, by analysis of their wave patterns.”[157]
This was interesting, and Rick intended to find out more about it. But he began to wish Winston would come to the point.
“I might add that the rhythmic brain patterns seem to be highly individual. No two are alike, even in identical twins. However, each person shows a pattern that remains fairly constant, even over a period of years.
“With this background, you will understand when I report that the EEG’s taken of our colleagues brains are completely abnormal. The EEG’s were taken while they were awake. Yet, the most prominent pattern is the delta rhythm that is universally associated with sleep and some types of damage to the brain.”
“Are there any other signs of physical damage?” Hartson Brant asked.
“No. All tests are negative. Spinal taps show no concussion, and there is no evidence of trauma of any kind other than psychic. Yet, the delta rhythms persist. In the one case where we have an EEG taken before the—incidents, let’s call them—the pattern is entirely different. The scientist had a pattern of a well-known type which bears no resemblance to the EEG taken after the incident.”
Dr. Morrison leaned forward. “What is your conclusion?”
“That our mysterious enemy has somehow caused damage of an unknown kind, by remote means. And that can mean only one thing: The damage was[158] caused electronically, probably by transmission through the air.”
“Incredible,” Weiss muttered, and the sentiment was reflected in the astonished gasps of the others.
“Let’s consider the implications of Parnell’s statement,” Hartson Brant said slowly. “If he is correct, then the enemy has devised a means for causing brain disruption in an individual. A transmitted signal would inevitably strike countless others; there can be no such thing as a beam of radiation that strikes one person at a distance while missing all others. Therefore, this beam must affect only one person among many.”
“But how can a beam be tuned to one person?” Rick asked.
“I don’t know, Rick.” Hartson Brant turned to Winston. “Do you?”
“No. I have only a hypothesis, and one so far afield from what we know of the brain today that I even hesitate to suggest it. Let me ask a question. If the enemy could have access to the brain pattern of an individual—and remember such patterns are no more similar than fingerprints—could the enemy then transmit a signal that would affect only that pattern?”
Julius Weiss objected. “The supposition is based on scientific knowledge that does not exist.”
“So far as we know,” Dr. Morrison added.
A RICK BRANT SCIENCE-ADVENTURE STORY
THE
ELECTRONIC
MIND READER
BY JOHN BLAINE
© BY GROSSET & DUNLAP, INC., 1957
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28813/28813-h/28813-h.htm#CHAPTER_XV
p. 154
Our family loved reading these books together. AT THE TIME, I HAD NO IDEA THE GOVERNMENT WAS ACTUALLY DOING SOME OF THIS!
This must have been cover, to make kids believe it was just fiction.
Truth in Moderation
January 20th, 2013
7:39 am
MORE MILITARY GUINEA PIGS FOR MIND CONTROL EXPERIMENTS!
Now, using “CRISIS ACTORS!”
I’m not making this up!
“MARINES STUDYING MINDFULNESS-BASED TRAINING”
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MEDITATING_MARINES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-01-19-14-32-11
Truth in Moderation
January 20th, 2013
8:18 am
One reason teachers WON’T be getting raises….
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-gongloff/lloyd-blankfein-pay-raise_b_2507012.html?view=print&comm_ref=false
Private Citizen
January 20th, 2013
9:39 am
New vocabulary for USA 2013: crisis actor
N. GA Teacher
January 21st, 2013
12:47 am
The teachers are not opposed to testing, but rightly opposed to issuing standardized tests created by outside agencies which may or may not match the curriculum. Let me give you two perspectives. First, think of the great private schools in your city. There is NO doubt that academic excellence and rigor is a priority, right? Yet they issue no “state standardized test” at the end of regular courses ( AP courses have such tests, but they are for COLLEGE credit). Teachers are responsible for making up tests and other evaluations that make sense. The second perspective is historical for public schools. Prior to the 1990s, teachers were treated as professionals whose judgement of student accomplishment was trusted. Things worked! We had to EARN our grades. It was only when some politicians and social engineers got involved that schools got out of control and standardized tests were installed as “watchdogs”. And then schools figured out how to get around these. Go figure.
Truth in Moderation
January 21st, 2013
5:17 pm
Forget assessments. Some “scientists” are going straight for MIND CONTROL:
Alzheimer’s patients are the next lab rats for electrode brain implants. This time, thanks to the wonder of miniaturization, the jolts can be delivered continually FROM A BATTERY PACK INSIDE THE BODY. REMEMBER RICK BRANT’S WARNING!
“The research is in its infancy. Only a few dozen people with early-stage Alzheimer’s will be implanted in a handful of hospitals. No one knows if it might work, and if it does, how long the effects might last.”
“The new approach is called deep brain stimulation, or DBS. While it won’t attack Alzheimer’s root cause either, “maybe we can make the brain work better,” he said.
Implanting electrodes into the brain isn’t new.”
Read more: ‘Brain Pacemakers’ Offer Hope to Alzheimer’s Patients
Important: At Risk For A Heart Attack? Find Out Now.
Read more: ‘Brain Pacemakers’ Offer Hope to Alzheimer’s Patients
http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/health_stories/alzheimers_pacemakers_zap/2013/01/20/492712.html?promo_code=EACE-1&utm_source=GatewayPundit&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1
Pride and Joy
January 23rd, 2013
3:43 am
Incompetent teachers will ALWAYS clamor for no standardized or other testing because it reveals something about their work that they don’t want others to know.
Competent teachers and logical, educated people welcome standardized tests.
I am a parent. I pay twice for public schools AND pay the private school tax.
You can bet your butt that I DESERVE to know what I am getting for my hard-earned tax dollars.
Eveyr parent, rich or poor, and every income between, deserves to know how their child’s school is performing compared to other schools.
We middle class parents choose our homes based mostly on the test scores of the schools.
We look for the best school district we can afford to live in and then look for the best house we can afford. Those test scores are absolutely critical.
If any teacher doesn’t want to give a standardized test, he or she doesn’t have to. She can just walk right out of that school and get herself a different job…
and we PARENTS and TAXPAYERS — who pay for those teachers’ salaries…DEMAND accountability.
flipper
January 25th, 2013
10:21 am
MAP results are supposed to be made available to teachers . If they are not, it’s a complete waste of time. In City of Decatur, I think that the MAP is well used and much more informative than the CRCT and EOCTs. MAP measures progress throughout the year and gives teachers a great deal of information about what each kid knows and doesn’t know. MAP is designed to have questions that are beyond the curriculum for a given grade. It is designed to keep asking more and more advanced questions until it gets beyond a particular kid’s level of knowledge. There are a lot of kids here in Decatur with knowledge that extends well beyond their grade level. If MAP stopped at the end of each grade level, teachers would have no idea how advanced their high achievers are. In fact, Decatur uses MAP testing as a factor in deciding to grade advance math students in upper elementary and middle school.
MAP is also very useful to admins and parents who can see if a teacher is ineffective because his or her students will show little or no growth over the year. Maybe that’s why the teachers in the article above dislike it… it’s showing them up as sorry teachers!
I say get rid of the CRCT and have every system use MAP instead.
decatur teacher
January 26th, 2013
5:58 pm
I have found that a lot of the data generated by MAP is very useful. This is especially true for the more advanced students. These kids can pass the state tests on the first day of school. We realized that teaching them only grade level standards was not enough (mainly because they already know the stuff). Now we have more specific information about topics to work on that are often two or even three years beyond grade level. These are kids who otherwise would get bored with school because it was too easy. Now we can provide them with the challenges they need and keep them engaged in real learning. The test is also aligned with the new Common Core Curriculum, so not sure where comments otherwise are coming from. It would be great if everyone just “trusted” us as teachers to do a fantastic job, but accountability is a reality and rather than resist it, we should look for assessments like MAP that at least measure student growth.