[WS:] I would go even further that that: - no scores except pass/fail, and maybe "pass with honors" for truly exceptional achievers (see below); - offering each student a choice of at least three different forms of test (e.g. a multiple choice test, an essay, or an oral presentation), - offering each student a choice of subject matters on which he/she will be tested in order to graduate (e.g. three passes and three certificates of completion to graduate meaning that a student may take any number of classes but can decide to be tested on three of her choice to get three pass marks and three to get certificates of completion, if classroom participation warrants it) ; - a requirement that teachers record progress that students make in mastering the material during a marking period and that accounts for a significant part of the mark (e.g. if a student made a substantial progress but still fails a bit short of the mark, he can still get a passing mark; or she can get "pass with honors" if she made a substantial progress and passed;) and - burn all books on standardized testing and round up the professoriat who write them and send them to reeducation camps where they can learn virtues of honest work and manual labor - just kidding :)
Wojtek
On Fri, Apr 8, 2011 at 12:37 PM, Michael Smith <mjs at smithbowen.net> wrote:
> On Fri, 8 Apr 2011 12:31:51 -0400
> Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> While we are at that, what do other on this list think of a
>> state-level referendum initiative to ban standardized testing
>> altogether i.e. by limiting testing to the factual knowledge as
>> prescribed by the school-board approved curriculum? I think it would
>> get considerable right wing support, parents rights, religious kooks,
>> etc.
>
> I love the idea. While we're at it, let's agitate for making
> any testing pass-fail; no recording or reporting of scores. Speaking
> of Trojan horses, that one is a Percheron.
>
> --
> --
>
> Michael J. Smith
> mjs at smithbowen.net
>
> http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org
> http://www.cars-suck.org
> http://fakesprogress.blogspot.com
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