"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Monday, November 09, 2015

Online testing: One of the greatest boondoggles of all time


Posted as a comment following "Paperless Testing: Most Grade 3-8 Students To Be Assessed Online in 2016," Education Week, November 6, 2015 http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/marketplacek12/2015/11/paperless_testing_most_grade_3-8_students_to_be_assessed_online_in_2016.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news3

This is one of the greatest boondoggles of all time, a never-ending source of profit for the testing and computer industry.
It requires all students to have access to up-to-date computers.  As we know, computers need to be replaced every three years because of "progress" in technology.
It means that every time there is new "progress," we need to spend more money on the latest technology.
There is no evidence that online testing is better than old-fashioned testing, no evidence that it produces more accurate and useful results. To my knowledge, there is currently no attempt to gather this kind of evidence.
If the brave new online testing fails, teachers will be blamed, and there will be more money spent on technology and professional development.

Stephen Krashen

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