Imagine a third-grader taking a math exam.
First she watches a short video about barnacle collectors and the hazards they face. Next she reads a handout about people who collect barnacles, king crab, honey and alligators -- jobs that expose workers to risks ranging from hypothermia to gator attacks. The handout includes the working season, the average amount collected per day and the per-pound reward for each job.
The first question seems easy enough: Given the earnings by midday for each collector -- ranging from $120 for crab to $690 for alligator -- figure out how much each collector must earn to reach $1,000.
Next, she's told that on a bad day, each collector gathered only 2 pounds. "Did they make more than $500 altogether? Show how you know."
Then she must estimate the total earned for one pound of each product -- first by rounding the per-pound prices to the nearest 10, then to the nearest hundred. "Which estimate is most accurate? How do you know?"
Finally, she must choose one of the collecting jobs and create a postcard to persuade her parents that this job is the best choice. She must compare the number of days worked, the earnings and the risks, and draw a picture of herself doing the job.
If you're thinking this is nothing like the state exams you've seen or heard of, that's precisely the point.
North Carolina, like most of the nation, is trying to transform teaching and testing. Lessons are supposed to move beyond rote work and put skills to use in challenging, real-life contexts. Tests are being designed to supplement multiple-choice questions with short answers, essays and "performance tasks."
The example above is a sample performance task created by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teachers. It's designed to test third-graders' ability to round whole numbers, add and subtract, model with math, conduct viable arguments and critique others' reasoning. Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark presented it to the school board Tuesday to give them an idea of what N.C. testing may eventually look like. (I've condensed from a seven-page handout she gave them, so it may have lost something in my translation.)
One challenge is obvious: An item like this is much harder to grade than a bubble-sheet that can be whipped through a computer scanner.
Another is more subtle: Many students are weaker in reading than math, so they may struggle with math problems that require extensive reading and writing.
State and local officials are still sorting through a range of issues related to the new testing this year, including what it will take for local districts to score them and how the delayed results will affect students. Superintendent Heath Morrison said he hopes to have answers ready for families soon.
This year looks like a rocky road, but the destination is intriguing.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Testing transformed
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62 comments:
Yes, Math tests are all about reading now. And I don't mean word calling, I mean comprehension. Students need to understand process words, transitions, multiple meaning words, phrasal clusters, idioms, and stories or problems that they have no background or contextual understanding.
There are too many programs in schools now that only do a superficial job of teaching fact gleaning reading when they need to be teaching deep understanding, analysis and synthesis which helps people understand how to problem solve.
In other words, what they need to survive in the real world.
So at last we might be going in the right direction.
And yes, this need to start no later than 3rd grade. closer to 1st is better.
This is the way testing should be. However, unless CMS takes it time and takes great care to deal with all the potential issues, this type of testing will fail. CMS does not have a good track record where this is concerned.
Because so many people in central administration lack the competence to create and execute the processes necessary to carry out large programs like this, these kinds of programs often fail. Typically, they announce what will happen first, then figure out to make it happen, making a ton of mistakes and angering teachers in the process.
This kind of testing should take a 2-3 years to create, field test and then implement. You watch, CMS (or the state) will try to have it in place by the end of the 2013-2014 school year and evaluate teachers based on it.
These will be great tests for the high achieving students, but the mediocre and poor performing students will be left in the dust again. Many 3rd graders will not even understand the words used and have no idea what is being asked of them. It sounds like a perfectly appropriate question for a 5-6 grader who has a greater knowledge of how all the parts fit together to find an answer to a multistep problem. It's a start though, but don't gloss over the fundamentals and jump to these type of probs for 3 graders. Many students and teachers will be set up for failure.
Well, call me old school but I think they should still give spelling tests.
Abbott: You throw the ball to first base.
Costello: Then who gets it?
Abbott: Naturally.
Costello: Naturally.
Abbott: Now you've got it.
Costello: I throw the ball to Naturally.
Abbott: You don't! You throw it to Who!
Costello: Naturally.
Abbott: Well, that's it—say it that way.
Costello: That's what I said.
Abbott: You did not.
Costello: I said I throw the ball to Naturally.
Abbott: You don't! You throw it to Who!
Costello: Naturally.
Costello: Now I throw the ball to first base, whoever it is drops the ball, so the guy runs to second. Who picks up the ball and throws it to What. What throws it to I Don't Know. I Don't Know throws it back to Tomorrow—a triple play.
Abbott: Yeah, it could be.
Costello: Another guy gets up and it's a long fly ball to Because. Why? I don't know. He's on third, and I don't care!
Abbott: What was that?
Costello: I said, I DON'T CARE!
Abbott: Oh, that's our shortstop!
2 things...first, children should not have to answer test questions such as these unless this is how and what they are being taught in the classroom. I have a friend who is the head of the English dept at a community college. She had to write a book, "Read and Respond", because even at that level there was no such type of text book available to her. And second, teachers should have to take and get a perfect score on the test before we expect the kids in their class to pass it. You can't teach what you can't do yourself.
Wait until the logistical nightmare or trying to grade these tests kicks in! No one is thinking about that. The sheer amount of time and energy to evaluate those will be overwhelming. TEACHERS are trained to teach and assess over a period of time. Trying to cram in such testing and then grade it is crazy. Good teaching and learning is more than ONE TEST!
Bolyn - One better , If a business (say CMS) closed a bunch of schools and had a very low turst level annually how many parents would leave? If that said business also lost its best students in that the same "flight" by what percentage would their GPA drop as a unit? And final question if the said business (CMS) had to drum up positive news about this and non-facutal data to support it how much would that entity cost the business (CMS)? Most in the 1st grade know the answers to this . Keith W. Hurley
How does one collect only two pounds of alligator in a day? Sounds like a game law violation to me. So much for real-world application.
While teachers might find the results of this test useful, any effort to turn it into "data" that could be crunched and regressed and compared would be a colossal waste of time and money. I'm with the superintendent of Montgomery County - we need a national three-year moratorium on high stakes testing so we can come to our senses and figure out what these tests can and (especially) can't do.
Boyln? Where, where?
Anyway, seems to me these educrats pushing this standardized testing is just a new industry looking to tap the public education monies. These folks need to go away. 80% of CMS ivory tower needs to go away. And the Feds need to go away and we need to redirect these dollars to the schoolhouse (resources, supplies) and teacher salaries and development.
We need to go retro and let teachers teach, give students homework - with a grade....pop quizzes - with a grade...section or quarterly exams - with a grade and two semeters tests - with a grade.
By the end of the year, the student will have a final grade and the teacher decides, based on performance, whether the student passes or not.
Pamela: Baby alligator?
You may all be interested to know that when we talked about testing at Heath Morrison's briefing Weds, he had this to say (among many other things): "I do worry that we have come to this tipping point of far too much testing."
Setting aside the testing portion for a second, there was an Op-Ed in today's Wall Street Journal talking about how vocabulary and reading is much more important than math skills in terms of future success.
For adult success everything stems from reading comprehension.
I think that in the case of baby alligators game laws would kick in.
I'd be interested to know if Heath would help campaign for the three-year moratorium proposed by the Montgomery Co. Supervisor. Actions speak louder than words.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/12/10/moco-schools-chief-calls-for-three-year-moratorium-on-standardized-testing/
You've go this self promoting industry now, standardized testing for public education, that has got the media all jacked up over needing to test NC 3rd graders against AZ 3rd graders. While we can point to many societal issues that have contributed to the watering down of public education, we've really not turned the emphsis toward where it needs to be, to challenge and push every kid to reach their potential. Additionally, educrats, union groups and teachers themselves have failed to address how to discipline themselves to identify, redevelop or terminate teachers no longer capable of delivering the level of performance that is required and ever increasingly setting newer and harder challenges.
We are where we are. Can we shed ourselves of these ineffective ways, programs, administrative overhead, federal strings, etc. and get the focus back on helping these students recognize and realize their potential?
3 year moratorium...
Not sure if that is even practical because that is part of the federal strings NC had to agree to to get these last 2 federal grants.
Here's a math question appropriate for a third grader t see if they understand "rounding".
Please round the following numbers to the nearest whole number:
10.1
11.3
12.4
13.5
14.5
10.6
10.7
No irrelevant BS about endangered species, global warming, EEOC hiring practices, or the plight of Vietnamese fishermen on the Louisiana coast after the BP oil spill needed.
A moratorium would have to have federal support and federal exemptions, which is why a campaign is necessary. Congress could include in its ESEA reauthorization, over-riding executive orders such as the NCLB waivers.
Pam/Ann, Your correct its a game violation of under 2 LBS so its a trick questions. Any kid knows that the alligator eggs are less in weight and worth more at market. Keith W. Hurley
10:30- Finally someone came up with the answer to all the new testing dilemas. Follow the money to any of these companies and you will find names like Broad, Gorman, Gates. Simply dipping into the ponds that they "endorse" to society and profit from in the end.
Anon 11:53 am...
Gates would like to "Microsoft Certify" everyone if he could.
Then we could outsource our math instruction to India for pennies on the dollar.
Or. preferably, to pirated videos downloaded to an Ipad.
Anon 11:51
The question about the alligator eggs is culturally biased towards the children of those Vietnamese fishermen along the Louisiana coast.
I hope they remove the cultural biases from their next test.
Hey CMS, how about teaching kids proper grammar and how to write? Once again they are putting the cart before the horse. Our kids need to know grammar, how to spell and write, and how to read (reading comp). I am afraid the basics are being left behind because we are looking for the magic bullet to help all kids immediately.
"and draw a picture of herself doing the job."
Is that a stick figure? F-!
2:02, the picture part confuses me, too. Not sure what that demonstrates, other than artistic ability.
Jeff Wise, That WSJ article is a good one. It usually takes 3-4 days depending on weather for that to show up in the CO. Those pidgeons take a little longer now with the early darkness. Keith W. Hurley
Yes, but the real test should be about kids knowing how to distinguish the difference between alligators and crocodiles!
Alicia
Of course, the art test includes some pretty heavy algebra questions so the color-blind and dyslexic kids with exceptional mathematical abilities have a chance to score well, too...
Distinguishing between alligators and crocodiles is part of the History curriculum.
Anon 2:18...
After Wednesday, probably half the people reading the Observer will fall off the Observer Cliff, so news may as well get here by slow boat from China.
Wiley, it has been great getting to know you through these blogs. When the Observer cliff happens, maybe it is for the better of most of us that we will give up this forum as a resistance to an ineffective school system and cut some profit from the CO (advertisers paying by the hits). While they have forced the paper subscribers to supplement this at first, that seems a little anti-trust to me, it may eventually accelerate their losses as more people that carry the paper, decide to drop it due to the increase. As for my household, I'd not subscribe so those that want it, pay for it out of their pocket.
So, Wiley, are you going to pay for a print subscription? Surely you of all people would get your money's worth! :-)
And Bill, I'm curious: Do you believe the Observer's news coverage and/or the forum it provides is a force for good when it comes to understanding and shaping the institutions your taxes pay for? If so, why wouldn't you expect to pay something for it? And if the O goes away (even if it's just from your life), what do you expect to take its place? If you don't want a free market news source, well, I can't imagine anyone wants a government news bureau.
I'm not at all opposed to competition. I'm just kind of baffled by a mindset that seems like "I use this service all the time and you dang well better not charge me for it."
No, distinguishing between alligators and crocodiles is part of the ethnically biased Biology curriculum which discriminates against kids who live along the Canadian border among moose.
Oops, Wiley, I meant a digital subscription.
But are alligators eggs worth more or less than escargot at a market in southern France?
"The example above is a sample performance task created by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teachers. It's designed to test third-graders' ability to round whole numbers, add and subtract, model with math, conduct viable arguments and critique others' reasoning. Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark presented it to the school board Tuesday to give them an idea of what N.C. testing may eventually look like."
The average 3rd grader is how old?
Other providers of "free" services have figured out how to survive through paid advertising to those who use their service.
It's as true of radio as it is of the internet.
How important is it for an 8 year-old who believes in the Tooth Fairy to be able to "conduct viable arguments and critique others' reasoning"?
"The average 3rd grader is how old?"
A question best left to the director of the Af-Am Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill...
Ann,
I haven't taken the Observer in 5 or 6 years.
I would think online "papers" such as the Observer would remain "free" by selling ads, but then again, maybe companies don't see the value in advertising on news sites or maybe the revenue isn't there to make a profit.
Just yesterday, Marc Andreessen, founder of Netscape and a venture capitalist said this:
In response to a question from the audience, Andreessen said the New York Times Co (NYT.N) should shut down the print edition of its namesake newspaper "as soon as possible."
While the newspaper's potential audience is growing quickly due to factors such as the global rise of the middle class, he said the company should focus entirely on its digital offering.
"It's not that you can't make money in print newspapers," he said. "It's not that there aren't people who love them." But successfully dealing with transformative technology requires going "on 100 percent offense," he said.
Yes, I like commenting on local stories, especially on your blog and quite frankly, your blog/stories is primarily why I get on the Observer site.
As another person said, it might take three days for a story already current news to find its way to the Observer site.
Why would I want to pay for old news, whether delivered by cutting down trees or online three days late?
My main interest is what's happening globally and there are plenty of other sites still free of charge.
Eventually maybe all content will be like high school sports..."pay to play" and at that time, I'll make a decision if I want to play.
Agreed there are plenty of sources for global news, but I'd argue we're the best and sometimes only source for in-depth local news. The broadcast folks do cover news, and their sites (as far as I know) will still be free, so it's going to be an interesting environment. My goal is to keep trying to deliver better education coverage than anyone else in the Charlotte area, and hope my bosses find a way to keep paying me for it!
Ann,
I couldn't tell you the last time I watched a local newscast. They are like nails on a chalkboard to me.
Think about it. The Observer is about to remove themselves from one of the few local online news outlets, which enhances the ability of the ones who stay with free content to gain new readers.
I miss the local Rhino Times, but there is always the Pundit House.
Ann, there are still many sources of local news still free. As far as the CO, the editors' agenda is apolgetic, too "white guilt", and too endorsing of spend freely politicians. It is perpetuating of the class envy started out of the White House. They lack fiscal and human relations common sense. There is no such thing as an ineffective handout program to minorities and illegals.
Ann C. and the others are typical bi-phonic elitists. They have condemned us that ended busing when all along they had their kids in private school. They are the true wrong in this country. Insisting the rest of us abide by public policies that makes it harder for us to raise our kids and make a decent living yet they find a way to not have to abide by them.
In the end, my opinions, my preferences for a responsible, accountable citizen corp is simply ignored and in many times, the CO becomes a force of intimidation and an avenue for others to distort the facts and slander others with no consequences.
What's a bi-phonic elitist? Never heard that phrase, and the only online definition I found for "biphonic" is musical, not cultural/political.
Wiley, there's no intent at all to remove ourselves from the online fray, only to get people to pay a bit for it. How well that works, we'll see. And hey, even if you opt out, you still get 15 free visits a month.
Hey Ann,
The Observer isn't perfect, but no one out there does what you do. It's worth every penny of my subscription. I'll take you over the free content of CMS or Bill James any day.
nBi-phonic=speaking out of both sides of their mouths?
Just a guess...
bi-phonic, speaking out of both sides of their mouth
Bah-hum-bug Wiley. Come on. You're not going anywhere. We all have too much fun here. Besides, who wants to go back to sanitized interviews between Dr. Gorman and CMS TV'S Moira Quinn?
Alicia
Along the same lines of testing, so kids get test and get labeled "gifted." This mean NOTHING at suburban schools as they hasn't been any gift intervention/guidance the entire year. Um, how about updating parents on what the heck is going on. Also, would be nice to know that some "specials" include 2 classes at once. Nice
CMS TV
Moira Quinn; "It's so wonderful to be here with you, Dr. Gorman. Please tell us how wonderful CMS is".
RHINO TIMES
Alan Hodges; "Dr. Gorman, the public thinks you're a butt-head. How many uzi's did CMS confiscate last year?"
CMS TV
Moira Quinn; "Dr. Gorman. Is it hot in here? Oops, I'm feeling a wee giddy. Tell us how wonderful your think and luxurious dark hair is, I mean, how wonderful CMS is."
RHINO TIMES
Alan Hodges; "CMS s-cks. The public demands to know why CMS royally s-cks".
CMS TV
Moria Quinn; "Tell us how many CMS students were accepted into Harvard last year. I heard the graduation rate at Myers Park was 97%. It's just all so wonderful. Please, tell us how wonderful it all is, Dr. Gorman."
RHINO TIMES
Alan Hodges; "We're just moving deck chairs on the Titanic. When is CMS finally going to sink? The public demands to know when this system is finally going under water and belly-up!"
CMS TV
Moira Quinn; "Oh, Dr. Gorman. That 5 o'clock shadow just shows how hard you've been working. Do tell us just how hard it is."
RHINO TIMES
Alan Hodges; "How many criminals and thugs does CMS have in their kindergarten classes? Why haven't authorities whip-lashed the little brats into hand-cuffs and carried them down to the slammer where they belong along with the rest of their loser parents.
CMS TV
Moira Quinn; " I feel pretty, oh so pretty, I feel pretty and giddy and gay! For I get to sit close to Dr. Gorman during my interview with him today! La-la-la-la-la, tra-la-la- la-la! Wee, CMS is so wonderful!"
THE RHINO TIMES
Alan Hodges; "CMS leaders are nothing but idiots sent by satan".
CMS TV
Moira Quinn; Thank you for watching CMS TV with our wonderful superintendent, Dr. Gorman. Stay turned to next week's show when we'll sit down with our school superintendent to discuss kittens and butterflies!"
The reason I stick with a paper subscription of the local daily wherever I've lived is every day there are a few stories I end up reading that I otherwise would not have or even known about.
I agree that the Observer in recent years tends to be a few days behind on the national news, but that's how it goes in the business I suppose. It's all the other sections that worthy of paying for.
And whether I agree with the editorial and news staff's opinions or not, I do trust them to fill their pages with interesting stories. And they always have.
Therefore I have no problem paying a little bit of money to get access to those stories. It's funny that so many people (and I'm not accusing anyone in particular) are perfectly fine paying $100/month for cable television, but balk at paying $120/year for newspaper service.
7:38, you made my evening. Well worth one last read-through from home! For the longest time I had a classic Rhino Times headline taped on my wall, something very close to "CMS task force report less lame than many expected."
I tutor second and third grade students in math at Billingsville Elementary School. I love the students. I don't think more than a handful could do the barnacle collecting problem. As has been pointed out, testing increasingly requires reading and vocabulary comprehension most students don't have. Math could be an equalizer if the questions were number problems and the curriculum allowed straight-forward calculations. These students want to master how to do math problems, but the bureaucrats keep deciding to make it harder and harder for them to do so.
Agree with several posters, why are they making this so complicated for 3rd graders? Only a handful of students will be able to master this type of problem. Maybe they should focus on multiplication and division in 3rd grade and watch less videos.
Alicia, Bill...
I suggest the Observer do a better job on their pay wall.
Supposedly, there are a number of work-arounds.
We shall se =o)
I will at least be able to aggrevate Ann 15 times a month for free.
Bill, we'll see how it goes... I'll send you my email at some point if you want it.
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Ann,
I aim to please. Over and out for the evening.
7:38
AD
Thanks 10:03...
But I believe you're the Road Runner in disguise.
I feel an anvil in my future.
A local paper should be collecting scalps from govt corruption and incompetence. I don't see it from the CO, and I'm left to conclude the CO is in bed with the corruption.
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