Hi all,
 
Great conversation going here..looking forward to more. 
 
Bruce, thanks so much for your posts.  I'm not picking on you, I
promise:  I'm picking on EVERYONE!!!
 
Bruce, you said:
"And even if we devote the time to a good tool, we still have to use
standardized tests as well to comply with funders."
 
Many of you are moaning now, thinking:  "here she goes yet again." - but
it's my job:  good tools and bad tools are standardized; portfolios are
standardized; quizzes can be standardized; TABE is standardized but so
is the writing rubric REEP; in theory, any assessment can be
standardized.  What everyone rails against is the particular selection
of assessments that are available to us today - and while those are
standardized, that's not what makes them good, bad, or ugly.
 
Standardized tests should be viewed as positive things because their
soul mission in life is to attempt a level playing field.  
 
As a field, we object to the paucity of choices, not that those choices
are standardized.  We also object to the use of materials that are
out-dated or do not reflect today's needs.  We object to the mis-use of
a particular assessment.  We should object to incorrect use of data and
test results.  We should object to mis-alignment between curriculum and
assessment - which directly speaks to Bruce's (and many many folks')
wish that there be an assessment that can serve the purposes of the
classroom and program as well as it can serve the purposes of high
stakes issues (like funding or career advancement).  
 
What we really want are in fact standardized assessments, that's not the
issue.  The issue is that we don't yet have a thorough selection of
tools that meet our complex needs - whether those tools are standardized
or not.
 
marie-harp-on-cora
Assessment Discussion List Moderator
 
 
 
 
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