Once again, Ms. Warne has articulated the frustration many of us feel concerning the nature of standardized testing, the way we know students learn, and the way we know we should teach literacy. Simply, there exists a major disconnect between high-stakes testing and effective pedagogy and assessment. The question, "hadn't the test creators read the research?" prompted me to reflect about the the growing body of literature that supports using a constructivist approach, i.e., a writing workshop, in the classroom. Similarly, developing a culture in the classroom that values learning, respect and trust provides the necessary framework to make it all work.
As I continue my study of the work of writer-educators such as Lane,Calkins, Weaver, Moffett, and Warne, (and many others)it has become increasingly clear that teaching writing in the context of literacy is extremely complex. High-stakes, one-size-fits-all testing presented in multiple-choice, electronic format is a wholly inadequate way to assess the growth of writing, yet we hang our hats on it as the end all, be all.
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4 comments:
You are so right that it is complex. It is nice to be reminded by Bonnie's voice of reason. If Bonnie believes in something, she figures out a way to do it. I admire that in her. Christy
It continues to amaze me that tests like the ISAT test writing through multiple choice questions. As I said to my mom (who has an M.Ed., has been teaching for 30 years, and is an accomplished and published writer), you don't have to be able to define "gerund" to use one. To which she replied "I don't even know what a gerund is."
Anna... please tell you mom I didn't know what a gerund was either.:)
It's cheap, quick, makes lots of money for institutions and satisfies a truckload of politicians who have a vested interest in appearing as if their policies are contributing to progress.
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