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There are a lot of standardized tests for kids to take, but it's not always clear what the results of the tests actually mean. If society wants to create a huge population of adults who can memorize some facts or fill out circles with no.2 pencils, then we're doing a pretty good job of it. Here are a few links that question the usefulness of certain kinds of tests.- The New York state Education Department recently threw out standardized test questions related to a nonsensical story about talking animals and a sleeveless pineapple. Apparently, a lot of 8th graders were confused about the moral of this story, but the larger lesson might be that standardized tests shouldn't be taken too seriously. [url]
- The headmaster of one of NYC's top private schools (Riverdale) doesn't have a high opinion of standardized IQ tests for admissions. "This push on tests ... is missing out on some serious parts of what it means to be a successful human." [url]
- In Florida, it looks like 5th graders are getting their answers marked wrong even when they're correct. Science is so subjective these days. [url]
- Finnish schools don't administer standardized tests until the last year of high school, but somehow Finnish students seem to do well on the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) exams. Is there something to be learned from the Finnish school system? [url]
- To discover more interesting education-related content, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]
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Filed Under: education, exams, finland, schools, students, teachers, tests
Companies: riverdale
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Oh, and schools don't compete in sports. They do have competitions in academics, but things like soccer and basketball are community based.
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People expect teachers to make little money. Therefore, there will be little competition for those jobs. Laying off teachers now will increase competition, but it won't help because the talent pool was decided back when the potential teachers chose their educational goals.
It will probably take 10-20 years after a significant pay increase (2x to 3x) to get the best possible teaching candidates in the classrooms. I won't hold my breath.
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Reminds me of an analysis of a software program I once heard,
"Whoever wrote this was a great programmer but failed at being a human being"
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FCAT sucks
The FCAT was modeled after the Texas TCAT, which Texas realized was awful and went back to national standardized tests. But for some reason it was just fine for Florida? Not to mention the fact that Florida keeps lowering the bar on the science and math sections so more students can "pass".
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Left?
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Re: Lessons...
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Happy 4/25
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Re: Happy 4/25
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