When a re-wired, pack-rat educator takes a deep dive in the basement there’s no telling what she will find in those decades worth of edutrivia. (This post by the way is Part Three of “My Life with the Spirit People”. Part One is here. You may ask: “Where is Part Two?” Well – I haven’t written it yet.) Take this…
Do you remember what you were doing on the 22nd of June at 9.00am? I do – at least for the year 1964 because that was the date of the University of London GCE “O” level exam in Biology. I am seated in a single desk in one of many rows in a packed but silent school assembly hall. I…
Test-weary second-grader asks school board: ‘Is that all that matters to grown-ups?’ Elitist parents threaten lawsuit after kids are called out for alleged test prep Two news stories from test-world: The first from The Washington Post reports the testimony of a second grader at the New Jersey State Board: Dear members of the New Jersey State Board, and fellow stakeholders: Hi.…
Seth Godin wrote about the culture of testing, Netflix and what is untestable. You can read it here. I have rewritten it. I hope he doesn’t mind. A Culture of Testing Many schools test everything. They’re very proud that they put out the sign that the next four days are test days and they are proud of their grades, GPA’s,…
This is the second post reporting on the results of the survey we administered at PDS last spring: The High School Survey of Student Engagement. The HSSSE has 34 main questions across key dimensions of school life and many are broken out in subsets making for many scores of questions in total. Number 35 allows a few lines and asks:…
A colleague from a neighboring school has sent the following link from the New York Times. It’s a cautionary tale of just how much can go wrong when the political focus is test scores and not learning. On New York School Tests, Warning Signs Ignored. When New York State made its standardized English and math tests tougher to pass this…
National Standards kindergarten through 12th grade are on their way. At PDS we are looking forward to taking a good look at all the standards and at where we converge, and diverge, in the choices we make. And also, at where we exceed and expand national (and international) expectations. As an accredited independent school we have the ability to think…
By now you have probably been sent a link to, or have even read, Playing to Learn – Susan Engel’s oped in the NYTimes last week. In addition to the fluttering in my twittersphere, I received notice from a teacher, an alumna, and an administrator at PDS as well as the head of a neighboring school. And no surprise: Engel…
Advanced Pressure – Video Library – The New York Times video.nytimes.com The problem with Advanced Placement classes and how they are destroying the lives of high school students. This video features students and educators from the film Race To Nowhere – a film that takes a look at education, childhood and the unintended consequences of the achievement and test obsessed…
A colleague at a nearby school sent me this link to the NYTimes – just the latest bulletin from a world gone mad with narrow definitions of achievement and success. Test prep for pre-school no less. And a real moneymaker for the lucrative (and unregulated) test prep industry. Tips for the Admissions test – to Kindergarten “Kayla Rosenblum sat upright…
Cyril E. Power The Exam Room Study of Standardized Admissions Tests Is Big Draw at College Conference – article in Monday’s NYTimes and College panel calls for less focus on SAT’s I’m looking forward to hearing more from the PDS college guidance team who were at the conference in Seattle last week.