Step back, Robot!

This from an ACTFL Smartbrief:

In the 2014-2015 school year, nearly 12 million K-12 students in public districts will take college readiness assessments online for the first time. In order for them to perform successfully, it is vital that both students and teachers have the technology skills that the new tests require. This article will focus on preparing for assessments delivered by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).

PARCC Assessment Challenges
In a paper published last year, Bridgette L. Allen, principal at Marbut Elementary School (GA), shared lessons learned from the experience of implementing online assessment. She explained that young students had a difficult time with the instructions for the test, and that navigating the online testing software was also challenging. Her school administered tests three times during the school year, and did not master the logistics of test implementation until the third administration. As Allen and her co-authors wrote, “It took training, collaboration, and coordination on the part of the principal and teachers to begin implementing the on-line testing process with ease.” Allen also identified issues ……………

and on and on and on and on……… doesn’t it ever occur to these people to step back and evaluate what they are doing instead of just saying, “In order for them to perform successfully, “ These are robots, the automatons of the profession who will do anything to maintain their jobs, status, and pay. They are shills. Why don’t people call them out? Politeness, the eternal passivity of teachers and their abhorrence of confrontation.

Pat’s Polemics

On-going brilliance

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