Is your State making the Grade?

In an assessment crazed education environment, responsible teachers should take time to review their home State's report card?

Click here for a State by State comparison.

Are you making the grade?

Following TRAILS to Information Literacy

In a world of limitless information, perhaps the most important skill of all will be information literacy. At least that is the belief of the Institute of Library and Information Literacy Education,(ILILE), who have developed a free resource for educators to assess these skills.

Below is a sample assessment question:

5 (9th grade) What is the best definition of intellectual freedom?
CHOOSE ONE ANSWER.

a. the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction
b. the prevention of cheating by students
the encouragement of open and public sharing of ideas
c. the limiting of access to ideas and information that some people find objectionable or dangerous
d. the support of the Bill of Rights

To visit the TRAILS page, click here.

A marriage made in public education heaven!

Wearing the blue trunks, the reigning champion of public education..."Basic Knowledge"
And in the red trunks, the challenger..."21st Century Critical Thinking Skills"

Some say, let's get ready to rumble! I say, can't we all just get along?

Certainly, IF schools can somehow provide a practical blended approach to assessing both basic and critical thinking skills.

Meet the Henry Kissenger of educational diplomacy.
The College-Work-Readiness-Assessment (CWRA)

Building on decades of neuro-science research demonstrating the overt benefits of combining core knowledge with critical thinking skills, the CWRA requires students to apply basic skills to solve complex problems.

To read more on the CWRA click here

Who's Cheating Who?

My favorite professor of all time turned me on to Statistics back in the 80's with the simple words; "All of your exams will be open book and open note". He went on to say "In the real world, if you need an answer, not only will you be allowed to use reference materials but you would be foolish not to!"

Twenty years later, Diedre Coleman at the Presbyterian Ladies College in Australia has applied the same principles with a 21st Century twist. Her 9th grade English students are encouraged to use i-pods, cellular phones, MP-3s, and the internet to formulate answers and support arguments.

Talk about a spicy recipe for educational discourse!
1. A pinch of academic dishonesty
2. Add a splash of cellular technology
3. And mix liberally with the World Wide Web

Many educators will lament the use of technology is cheating.

I would suggest the failure to integrate technological tools as part of the curriculum and authentic assessment is cheating...the students.

To view the full article from the The Sydney Morning Herald, click here.

Testing...1-2-3...Testing

The easiest "A" I ever earned was in 10th grade trigonometry. In truth, it was more of an inherited grade because my teacher was also my uncle's teacher and my big sister's teacher; in 30 years of teaching, he had never changed his tests!

Welcome to the 21st century, home of postyourtest.com, an online clearinghouse for exams.

The creator of this site claims the purpose for development was to level the playing field for all students by allowing equal access to available study materials.
I.e. old tests.

Opponents to the site claim it opens the door to a host of academic integrity issues.

I personally believe it will put an end to recycled course assessments and force instructors to generate new ones.

What do you think?

To visit postyourtest.com, click here.

Bad Grade = Big Success

We've all heard the infamous story of Fred Smith who supposedly received a C grade on his undergrad term paper outlining the business model for the now famous, billion dollar, multi-national shipping company FedEx.

Educators should not fret over the accuracy of the Fred Smith story. However, we must show concern that our pedagogical process and subsequent metrics are indicative of success outside the classroom.

The answer to WHAT our students will need to succeed in the 21st Century is easy...
Critical Thinking Skills.
The HOW we assess these skills with any degree of accuracy and reliability is just a bit trickier.

One potential resolution is offered (for Free) by the fine folks in the Harvard Education department who have created the "River City Project".

Program director, Chris Dede, describes River City as a multi-user virtual environment on middle school science. The curriculum is centered on skills of hypothesis formation and experimental design, as well as on content related to national standards and assessments in biology and ecology. Our virtual “world” is a city, set in the late 1800’s, and concentrated around a river that runs from the mountains downstream to a dump and a bog. Scientific tools are available (e.g., a virtual microscope that allows examination of water samples). Students work in teams of three or four to develop and test hypotheses about why residents are ill.

He believes the true power of this type of virtual environment is the ability to gather information on the activities of the student that subsequently can be used to paint a more complete picture of not only WHAT they learned, but HOW they learned.

Making the shift from summative, rote memorization to formative, critical thinking assessments will not come without cost. Even if you take advantage of a free program, there still exists the formidable task of orientating and supporting faculty in the use of a completely foriegn form of assessment.

However, the measure of our measurements can not be limited to cost and ease of use. The true test of a test is how accurately it can predict the future success of our students and therefore a nation.