Set The Hook.
Follow me:
  • Home
  • Fishin' Solo Blog
  • MTBoS
  • Table Talk Math
  • The Classroom Chef
  • Would You Rather...?
  • Meet the Fisherman
    • Resume
  • Flipping 2.0
    • Flipping Your Classroom
    • Troubleshooting a flipped classroom
  • Choose Your Own Assessment
    • Student Work Samples
  • Apps In Class
  • Pre-made Math Lessons

Should We Abandon Standardized Tests?

7/25/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
My wife, who is a registered nurse, has the unfavorable responsibility of finding a new job since we have moved for mine. In doing so, she had to take a test.  A sample of the test is the screengrab above, which made me think about something.  She is a great nurse and, while not great at math, can work her way through pretty much any problem.  She got flustered because she knew the answers, eliminated a couple distractors, and had to second-guess herself.  If we completely abandon standardized testing because it is unfair to have kids fill in bubbles and avoid distractors, are we really helping them?

Just some food for thought:

CSET (Teaching)
CBEST (Teaching)
NCLEX (Nursing)
MCAT (Doctor)
LSAT (Lawyer)
ACT (College)
SAT (College)
NHA (Nursing Home Administration)

All of these assessments, if passed with a certain score, allow students to advance their careers in some very highly respected fields.  They still have to complete performance tasks and demonstrate their knowledge in some sort of interview of practicum, but a failed test denies the student all rights to pursue a career in the given field.  In no way am I saying that we should be testing as much as we do.  My son is about to enter the school system and I dread the day he has to take his kindergarten state standardized test.  

However, are we doing our children a disservice by tossing the notion of standardized testing out the window in secondary?  Should we be teaching test-taking strategies?

Happy fishing
0 Comments

Would You Send Your Child to Your School?

7/22/2013

2 Comments

 
This question has been weighing on my mind for quite some time.  I have a 3 year-old boy and 10 month-old boy who will, sooner than later, enter into our nation's education system.  Sure, they are learning right now at home by coloring, solving puzzles, being challenged and educated the way that their parents were raised.  However, when it comes time to enroll them in school, would we be comfortable sending them to the same system that I work for?

Read More
2 Comments
<<Previous

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    Author

    Math nerds tend to have a reputation for being math nerds.  I'm here to continue that trend.

    For more blog posts, click HERE

    Picture

    Archives

    July 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012

    RSS Feed

Not that you would do anything crazy, but here:
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
Photos used under Creative Commons from timlewisnm, leppre, KristinNador, Jarosław Pocztarski, Martin Pettitt