What happens when an adult takes a standardized test?

Image via WikipediaIt finally happened.  The Washington Post describes what happens when an adult takes a 10th grade standardized test.  The December 5th article relays the experience with predictable results: 17% math & 62% reading.  The best part of this story is that the gentleman is a member of the school board.

I proposed an experiment such as this in a previous post about Guam's SAT criticisms.  Perhaps when more adults commit acts of bravery such as this, the greater public will see the folly of standardized testing.  It became clear to the school board member...

“It seems to me something is seriously wrong. I have a bachelor of science degree, two masters degrees, and 15 credit hours toward a doctorate.
I help oversee an organization with 22,000 employees and a $3 billion operations and capital budget, and am able to make sense of complex data related to those responsibilities."

... and yet he failed the SAT.  

So what should we do?  Should we require more tests?  How about SAT testing every 2 years until you reach the retirement age - would that cover it?  Perhaps we should find his teachers and do a thorough re-evaluation of their abilities.  Maybe the schools he attended should be penalized somehow; withdraw some federal funding from them or impose some other financial penalty.  I know, how about we create a special program that would accommodate persons with double masters degrees and manage large corporations?  Maybe we should just label him as a failure or constantly rank him against other adults.

How about this.  Why don't we take a hard look at our educational system.  Let's build a new one that is relevant for today.

Related articles

• When An Adult Took Standardized Tests Forced On Kids (classroomconscious.wordpress.com)
• What College Admissions Officers Look For: Importance of Standardized Tests (education.com)
• Looking at the SATs: prep, cheating, why take them anyway? (drstrangecollege.wordpress.com)

The Wikipedia debate

Image via CrunchBase
I just came across an excellent article that examines if Wikipedia should be trusted and how it should be used.  Truce Be Told from the Harvard Graduate School of Education looks at the pros and cons, and how Wikipedia has evolved over the years.  Read the article and consider how it applies to all sources of information (including this Blog!)

 Now more than ever, as students use the Internet as a resource for school projects, the idea that teachers should embrace is that proper research is accomplished the same way as it always has been.  The problem isn't any particular site; one should always use multiple sources, examine their reliability, and give citation to information gained.  As far as Wikipedia, ...

"Educators can use the site to teach about online credibility, fact checking, primary and secondary sources, crowd sourcing … rather than simply banning it.”

Changing Education Paradigms

Hole in the Wall Experiment

Watch this TED Talk about the amazing results Sugata Mitra got in the slums of India when he filled a hole in the wall with a computer.  Do you agree with Sugata Mitra's conclusions?  What implications do you feel this has for Guam?

• Learning is a self-organizing system.
• Remoteness affects the quality of education.
• Educational technology should be introduced into remote areas first.
• Values are acquired, doctrine and dogma are imposed.

"You can drive children with questions. You don’t have to give them the answers. They can find the answers. If the kids/students didn’t get the “right” answer, then teacher didn’t ask the right question. The teacher needs to change question."

Global Education Conference

 A unique event will be taking place this week in cyberspace. The 2011 Global Education Conference is a free online conference that will connect educators from around the globe in a series of keynotes, presentations, and discussions. The conference begins on Tuesday, November 15 at 1:30am (Guam time) and literally last around the clock until concluding Saturday at 4am. You can find a schedule of the conference here with all the times given for our time zone.  Each session listing includes links for viewing the event or for adding to your Google calendar. 

The presentations will be given using Blackboard Collaborate, a webinar platform we may have viewed in our Gateway class.  Blackboard Collaborate is easy to use but you will need to download a file to your computer for each session and have a working internet connection.  Links to each session are given in the schedule.  Each presentation typically lasts 60 minutes.  Keep in mind that some presentations may be in another language; last year's conference had presentations from 62 different countries.

The conference is a collaborative, world-wide community initiative involving students, educators, and organizations at all levels. It is designed to significantly increase opportunities for building education-related connections around the globe while supporting cultural awareness and recognition of diversity.

The conference seeks to present ideas, examples, and projects related to connecting educators and classrooms with a strong emphasis on promoting global awareness, fostering global competency, and inspiring action towards solving real–world problems. Through this event, it is our hope that attendees will challenge themselves and others to become more active citizens of the world. Let us learn, question, create, and engage in meaningful, authentic opportunities within a global context!

 - conference website

Please take one hour out of the next four days to hear what others are doing around the world.  You may find some presentations lean towards educational technology but all should address the global experience of learning.  Enjoy!

Here are a few links for more information...
Global Education Conference website
Presentation schedule for Guam's time zone
Twitter: #globaled11
 

Related articles

• The Global Education Conference 2011 (murcha.wordpress.com)
• Global Ed Conference Nov 14-18 #globaled11 (coolcatteacher.blogspot.com)

Corning's View of the Future

Better or Different?

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeI've been following the news on Guam's SAT-10 scores with dismay. Dismay, not in that the scores are low, but in the message that is sent to students, schools, parents, and the island as a whole. One sentence in the PDN article stated, "As a whole, local public school students fall below the national average - in all ages at all schools."  The blatant omission by the writer are the words "on SAT-10 tests".  It is an injustice to equate the worth of our children, teachers, and schools solely by standardized test scores.
Guam is by no means unique in the way these test results are given credence as the marker of success in schools.  The main problem with standardized tests is that they provide data on "achievement", and it is these numbers that allow politicians, administrators, and others to remark on that achievement.  You see, it is something tangible- a number, that they can use to describe how the schools are doing.  This is obviously the purpose of the tests, but it is at this point that most people have accepted the SAT-10 as an expert indicator of the overall success of schools.  I'll accept it as an indicator of achievement on a SAT-10 test, but I won't give it credit for judging a student or the overall value of Guam's educational system.
I'm not saying the public school system and its students don't have room for improvement and I'm not saying that there isn't a place for standardized tests, but I am totally against this mindset that SAT-10 determines the value of our schools.  We shouldn't make judgements on a student who filled in bubbles for hours over the course of several days.  Nor should our educational leaders make arching policy changes based on these results.  To chase these scores will just lead us to a system that trains students for a test rather than one that focuses on learning.  We should see it for what it is - a nation-wide trivia contest.
Thinks that's harsh?  I've been playing with the idea of giving adults the SAT-10 test.  How do you think a politician would score?  How do you think a business leader would score?  How do you think you would score?  If these scores are so important then why doesn't everyone take them.  A low score must mean that you are a person of low intellect so we'll send you back to school.  Ridiculous?  Of course, so why do we place such importance on it?
You can easily find much better arguments than mine against standardized testing and the need to reform our educational system for today's society.  This is something of grave importance that should be debated in public and addressed in schools.  I strongly urge you to view Will Richardson's TED Talk below and reflect upon it.  Do you think our schools need to be better or different?  Please pass the video or articles you find on to others and discuss what you think is right.
 

Related articles

• Standardized Testing: The Modern Bloodletting? (downes.ca)
• Tale of a Broken System: A Student's Perspective (Guest Post by Jay Chisley) (coopcatalyst.wordpress.com)
• Talking to the Deans About the SATs (education.com)
• Making the Grade: Evaluating your Child's Education (teacherdaddy.wordpress.com)

Role Models

Here's a video of a senior couple trying to set up their webcam while unintentionally recording a video of themselves.  There may be several lessons to learn from this but what enjoyed the most was their attitude.  They aren't complaining or getting overly frustrated - just trying to figure it out.  (2:39) "Well you do whatever you do.  You'll be fine.  You'll learn; it's gonna take time."

Does this sound familiar?

Recommended by Roberta A.

Teacher Education and 21st Century Skills