Cheater, Cheater
More pressure has been put on schools and teachers to make standardized scores rise. In a poll, 60% of high school students admitted to cheating on an exam at least once. And 33% admitted to copying something from the Internet to an assignment for school. Forest Brook High School in Houston, TX had had low test scores for years and then last year they had 95% of eleventh grade students pass the state science test. While the school got rewarded with a grant. The Texas Education Agency hired the company, Caveon Test Security to look in to make sure the scores were valid. However in the next year, 2006, their scores had only 39% passing science. The No Child Left Behind program is forcing teachers to force more education on the students so that hopefully they will get higher test scores each year. Otherwise, the schools lose money. The government and the states are trying to push us to hard and to fast. Especially since people learn at different rates. I believe that schools have to gain 4% every year in order to get money. However, once you reach 97% to 99% you can't go up another 4%. You're percentage would be less than 4%. Meaning that your school has a 98% passing score or whatever you'll still lose money just because it didn't go up 4%. There isn't a clause on this No Child Left Behind and there should be one.
“Newsweek”
Monday, October 15, 2007
topic: economy
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This is my summary and thoughts of an artical I found. It's a good way of keeping up with what is going on in the world.
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"article"
Sorry... I know it's somewhat rude. But that has been peeving me for some time. Thanks for being understanding in advance.
Oops, I never noticed I typed it wrong. Well, I feel like an idiot lol. No, thank you for pointing that out (I don't find it rude).
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"Love is like a war. It's easy to start, hard to stop, and impossible to forget."
There are a lot of problems with NCLB, and the emphasis on standardized testing is one of them. The success of children must be measured in several different ways, not scores on math, english, and science tests. Also, it's an unfunded and backwards mandate that hurts schools which need the most help. However, education policy should be reformed. What are your ideas for a better education system?
More money does not equal better grades, as our education system shows.
year after year we push more and more money into education, yet our grades go down.
And, not to be cold.... but if the purpose of school is to educate, then their scores in math, english, history and science should indeed be a scale upon which to determine the success of the educational system. . . If a school isn't able to meet a basic standard of education, then why should it be rewarded with more funding? The goal is to educate the student, not get a bigger budget.
Over the last 20 years, our schools have become less safe and less successful, despite the vast amount of money and safety policies.
In my state, even a portion of the Roads and Bridges repair fund goes to fund education, as does the lotto.
The answer isn't money. Money does need to come, and it needs to be wisley spent, but as decades of history has shown, throwing money at a problem only makes the problem grow.
I agree. However the money does pay for new textbooks, computers and other learning facilities etc.
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"Love is like a war. It's easy to start, hard to stop, and impossible to forget."
I believe that education is one of the most important pieces of our society and should be funded better. It should also probably be restructured and funded in a more intelligent manner.
As to what you said about education and test scores, you have a good point. However, perhaps our ideas of an all-around school structure should be tinkered with. Are most people REALLY going to use Algebra II skills in the workforce? Must people who find reading a bore spend all four years of high school studying classics? I think perhaps education should be structured in a manner that gives kids more choice than a couple of elective classes.
Also remember that family structure has changed in the last few decades, leaving more kids to learn more things. Schools should make sure that kids aren't suffering as much from uninvolved parents; this includes exposing them to culture and fostering a sense of community service OUTSIDE of extracurricular clubs. Teachers should focus more on developing members of community than kids who are "proficient" in math, science, and english.
Also, we need new ways to evaluate kids, because grades fluctuate so much. Some teachers are more lenient than others; some schools are tryign to save their funding and therefore encourage padding grades. Grades are essentially meaningless when looked at on a national scale. We need to evaluate kids' creativity, initiative, and service to the school and community, and do it in a way other than creating a laundry list of clubs that they are involved in, which is also a vague way of charting achievement.
I was not arguing that sub-standard schools recieve more funding, but that they at least don't get docked money for failing to meet standards. If a school in a poor area of town always performs poorly, I consider it down right discriminatory to institute a policy where they must make a miraculous improvement in performance in short time with no additional help, or find themselves with ever-decreasing funding.
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True. That is kind of ridiculous that we have to take Algebra II and such when most jobs aren't going to use that sort of thing. I think that if you're a high school sophomore, junior, or senior you should be able to pick out exactly what classes you want--that will help you better your education in the career field you plan on pursuing later in life. I want to do forensic science so obviously I should take some chemistry, physics and math classes to better prepare myself for that career (which I'm currently doing). However, I don't think taking world/US history is going to help me out a whole lot (which I was required to take my 10th and 11th grade years). Because of all the required classes that we have to take in high school I never had enough room in my schedule to take a photography class (which would help for forensic science). Therefore, I will have to take it in college where it will cost me a lot more money for the classes.
I think the only reason President Bush created the No Child Left Behind program was because China is rapidly becoming a more advanced knowledge nation than we of the United States are. And in order to stay one of the worlds' most powerful nations (so to speak) you have to constantly keep pushing education down children of younger ages. Which isn't right. I don't find it fair that our country should "punish us" by shoving all of this knowledge at us while cracking a whip at us to obtain more and more and faster and faster. To just get ahead in this race against China. You can't win everything all the time, you sometimes just have to face the facts and come in second place (for the sake of the students).
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"Love is like a war. It's easy to start, hard to stop, and impossible to forget."
Uhhhh..
Math and science are the two most important subjects right now. We have too many liberal arts graduates; and not enough graduates for the technical fields. Just because you are not interested in them or aren't a math person doesn't mean you should eliminate algebra from the curriculum or encourage others not to pursue mathematics.
I'm not saying that they should not be encouraged to pursue them. I'm saying curriculum should be changed so that they have a CHOICE. If someone wants to write, and has a great talent for writing, why should they take algebra 2 when they passed algebra and geometry and don't WANT to learn any more math?
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Because most people can't even balance their checkbook. And so many high school students who run the cashiers at the the grocery store can't do basic math they had to develop a program that tells people how many of which kinds of coins to give people back based on the currency they are given. That, my friend, is the pathetic state of our country.
Math is necessary to maintain your personal finances; everyone needs the math given up to the high school level to control their finances and at least have a basic understanding of the world around them.
I disagree. I don't think kids need to know the quadratic formula in order to balance their checkbooks. They need to know addition and subtraction, multiplication and devision, and how those functions work with decimals and fractions. There needs to be a better consumer math education. I think there should also be microeconomics for all students. But graphing parabolas and hyperbolas and managing imaginary numbers? I don't think all kids need that.
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If they plan on understanding the stock market, or being able to discern the graphs in front of them on the TV they do.
Basic math is important. The quadratic formula is basic math.
Algebra II should be the highest you have to go in high school math course. Because it gives you the basics plus a little extra info to be on the safe side. And then I'd say if you WANT to take more math course, go ahead. Some people are just bad at math no matter how many courses of it they take--it's just some peoples weakness (which we all have in something). I'm one of the weak math people; I just ask for help and try my best to understand the information. Science stuff I understand better, I guess just because I have an interest in it. My point being that I could be saving myself a lot of money if I could of taken a few more classes while in high school than taking them in college. However, I couldn't get those classes because I had to take my mandatory classes like Discrete for example (my semester math class; next semester I will have stats). I doubt they will help with a whole lot with future jobs.
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"Love is like a war. It's easy to start, hard to stop, and impossible to forget."
Here's an idea-- have Algebra I go to the quadratic formula, since you seem so set on it being absolutely necessary (though I disagree to an extent, as I sit here tutoring a remedial math class and watching them go through this stuff that I haven't even seen since high school, and I do watch the stocks and deal with graphs and charts), and instead of Algebra II, where there's more theory that most people don't use, have a practical math class. Topics in it would be balancing checkbooks, following the stock market (mathematically), figuring out interest rates for mortgages, and so on. The course would revolve around practical, real-world applications of the math formulas that you learned in pre-Algebra and Algebra I.
Assignments would include things like following a few different stocks for companies and compare them to see which would be a better investment (so on and so forth), and to actually balance your checkbook (or do an imaginary one if you didn't have a checking account...keep track of your expenses and whatnot; you could actually have the teacher play bank and have "pay days" and fake shopping trips and whatnot, draw cards for things like family size, occupation, driving distance, etc).
You could still have Algebra II, pre-Calc, Calc, and so on as electives, but a practical applications course would give you skills and show you how to use them in the real world.
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
You should create that class and I'd sign up for it--no joke. I was just using Alg II as an example because that's the only "good" stopping point that's available currently. I would rather learn more practical things like you mentioned, because I really doubt I'll ever use Alg II skills ever again. And I probably don't remember any of it now as a matter of fact.
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[ BRIDGET ]
Be open minded...
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/b-nel
The basic math you get from Algebra II and other high school math classes works your brain and builds and expands where there was nothing before.
Even if you won't remember the equations, you are still getting a beneficial, irreplaceable bit of growth in your brain. Not to mention a general basis of sciences you may want to pursue in the future.
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Learning in general creates those "bits of growth" in your brain, at least when it's practical, it'll get used more often.
Even my physics classes did nothing with factoring trinomials, nor have any of my programming classes. Even my observations of the math needed in programs such as video games didn't go beyond the things you learned in Algebra I.
Tell me, please, what things you learned in Algebra II that are actually used by people not in highly specialized, high-level fields, because I'd really like to know.
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
As I've been saying this entire time, what technical things I learned are irrelevent. I'm in a math class that is lower now and I know there is no way I would understand what I'm doing unless I had the base from Algebra II.
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http://progressiveu.org/143541-how-to-survive-the-2008-elections
Omg...
Math is too harrrrrrrrrrrrd. So are foreign languages, biology, history, and economics. We totally shouldn't make kids do it. Let's just cancel high school. It's child abuse to force these kids to learn things they just can't do because they're not smart enough and it's too harrrrrrrrd.
Give me a break.
Seriously though!
Let's cancel Senior English because we're never going to write essays ever again when we're done with school!
And we don't need foreign language because, hell, we're in America, and Americans speak ENGLISH.
I agree... high school is a stupid idea. Kids don't need a general base of knowledge. Apparently, they all know what they want to do with the rest of their lives when they're 15 anyway.
Who needs standardized curriculum? Japan has it... and look where they are. Geeze.
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this is war. every line is about who i don't wanna write about anymore. [Brand New]
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Hell, who needs middle school?
I mean, that's what BOCES and the internet is for.
There is a very small minority of students who would actually take advantage of choosing their own classes.
It's a really stupid idea to let a lot of really stupid, inexperienced high school students say what they want to do without giving them a basic outline of classes. You have to take basic writing classes through high school, and no one seems to complain about those. Those students should be required to take basic math, basic science, basic history throughout school as well.
They are required to do so right now. But if you take away those requirements, students are going to get into college and then real life with no education to back up anything. At all. Except what they were interested in when they were 15.
Sounds smart, considering when I was 15 the only things I thought were important were Good Charlotte and theater.
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this is war. every line is about who i don't wanna write about anymore. [Brand New]
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Lucky me then I guess. When I was 15 I wanted to be a forensic scientist...and I'm still striving for that dream career today as we speak (2 years later). As I stated earlier, it would probably only be a good idea for juniors and seniors (I take back the sophomores I previously said) because they'd have more of a general idea of what they want to do with their life. I don't care who you are, English writing classes are necessary. I like the idea that dragonwolf came up.
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[ BRIDGET ]
Be open minded...
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/b-nel
You want to go into Forensics but don't feel that simple algebra will be necessary?
You are in for a rude awakening. Even my Community College Forensics class utelized a ton of math.
Oh well.
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this is war. every line is about who i don't wanna write about anymore. [Brand New]
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Uh, hello? I've already mentioned that I'M TAKING all my math and science that I can get because I KNOW that I NEED that information in order to pursue what I want. I just don't think Discrete math is going to help so much. I wish I had more class openings to take even more sciences and such to help me out. However, I will take them in college.
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[ BRIDGET ]
Be open minded...
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/b-nel
Someone who knows more about education than we do put that class as a requirement for a reason.
It gives you a BASIS of those maths you ARE CURRENTLY TAKING.
Requirements in high school are intended to give you a general background so that you can pursue what you want.
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this is war. every line is about who i don't wanna write about anymore. [Brand New]
http://progressiveu.org/143541-how-to-survive-the-2008-elections
Someone who knows more about education than we do put that class as a requirement for a reason.
Considering my experience with the administration staff of the school district I grew up in, I beg to differ.
Also, I hardly consider anyone that doesn't see that the current method of teaching only really works for a fraction of the students and creates laws that hurt the schools that need the funding the most to "know more about education than we do."
In schools, just as in a lot of real-world companies, those on the highest ranks are often clueless as to what actually goes on at that bottom, where the company's lifeblood is.
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Why you need to take math:
1) Higher level math courses improve your critical thinking skills.
2) People who are better at math not only will make more money, but they are better at spending and saving it.
3) Math will help you in college - managing your budget, juggling your schedule, and taking those pesky business electives you may otherwise flunk - because, let's face it, everybody needs to deal with money and business whether they like it or not.
4) We live in a global world. In real life, you are competing against people from all over the planet where in many countries (especially Asia) they are required to not just take algebra 2 but CALCULUS in high school. How can the United States ever expect to stay on top, or even begin to compete, if we do not encourage or require our students to maintain the same standard of education as other high level countries?
5) We live in a world of technology. Technology requires math and science. Math is easier to learn when you are young - why would you close those doors now?
6) Math is fun, creative, cool, and challenging. Anyone that tells you otherwise only says that because they weren't good at it, and they weren't good at it because they refused to challenge themselves, or were told the same thing and weren't given the opportunity you have.
Don't pull people back - move them forward. Do it through math.
I find your sixth point to be almost insultingly pompous. I've met countless individuals who struggle through math classes, barely passing with extensive tutoring and assistance. Some people just don't get it. Not everybody considers math fun and cool. I find it creative and challenging, and I've done well in math up through precalculus, at which point I stopped taking math classes. Why? Because I don't enjoy it. You can develop critical thinking skills in a logic or philosophy class.
Plus, something that you and the other poster seem to be missing is that we are not advocating the abolition of math. If kids got better math instruction, and I didn't see people struggling with Algebra II, then I'd be all for it as a requirement. But the fact of the matter is, Algebra II is mostly theory and only the best teachers or smartest kids are going to connect it to real world use; most of those that do don't actually use it. I know how compound interest works, but you don't see me double checking Bank of America's interest on my savings account. I graduated high school a couple of years ago and at that time, you could take consumer math senior year as an elective, after Algebra II. I would much rather have seen it the other way around.
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Kids struggle with history and foreign languages too. Let's ban them.
In fact, high school is so difficult, we should ban education altogether. It's too difficult so we shouldn't force kids to learn.
Wtf is wrong with you people.
Did either your or BurningExample even read what I had to say? I suggested to make Algebra I go a little farther, basically making it more challenging, then provide a practical math class in lieu of Algebra II.
I'm a college senior, studying computer programming, and I've yet to run into anything beyond basic Algebra that I learned in Algebra I. Even when I was in the Computer Engineering major, my first two math classes were things I learned in Algebra I anyway.
Perhaps we should have more reading comprehension classes instead, since it seems you two could use some refreshers.
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
I don't know... I can't read minds. They don't teach that in high school and it's too harrrrrrrd to learn by myself.
I have to agree with Howard on this one. I'm wonderful at math... sat around and read in my calculus class most of the time, still got over 100 in the class, and got a 5 on my AP exam and a 7 on my IB exam (just so you can't say that my teacher just wasn't teaching us well). The only math class I've taken since is Stats, because it was required for my major. I hate math, with a passion. It's one of the reasons I changed from a chem major to a bio major...
Try talking to Fallon about her math problems. I consider her a very very smart individual, but she can't get math. Algebra just doesn't make sense to her. At my high school, we needed three math credits. You could get credit for pre-algebra, algebra, trig, pre-calc (sometimes combined with trig... depending on which track you were on), geometry, algebra 2, and calculus. So students at my school never had to take algebra II, if they really didn't want to. I see no reason why a class on practical math as applied to the real world should not be added to the curriculum, so students can actually apply what they have learned in other classes to the real world, instead of taking a class that they are going to struggle with no matter how many hours they put into it.
Same reason I believe that you should have an option for history classes, science classes, foreign language classes, and art classes, in addition to all your electives. English should be the only thing mandated (with only options for honors or AP/IB) as to which specific class you have to take to get the credits you need to graduate.
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Now yours is an argument I can take heed to.
You make sense completely, but I think it still stands that a basic outline of curriculum should be set in high school.
My high school was like yours-- we had a choice, though not much of one-- of which math classes we wanted to take/could actually excel in. Maybe that's why I'm not comprehending why we should do away with standardized, required math.
In my high school, Algebra II was a continuation of Algebra I. It was actually extremely simple [well, simple enough to get a C in when I would normally fail math] as far as math classes go, and I couldn't have made it through any college math without it.
So thank you for pointing out a conflicting opinion without being an ass like certain people on here... but I still have to argue a little bit.
I didn't really like history much until my sophomore year. I didn't consider a career in it until my junior year. If they didn't require the history classes I had taken, who knows where I'd be. I definitely wouldn't be striving for something I love.
Curriculum requirements are a good thing in high school; I hate to say it, but most HS students are not ready to make their own life decisions.
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this is war. every line is about who i don't wanna write about anymore. [Brand New]
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My only point here:
Stop closing door for students, and keep them open instead. That is one of the goals of standardized high school classes. To keep students involved so they can keep their minds open and make the most informed decision possible when they graduate.
I don't think high schools would have many options anyway (typically teachers in high school aren't as specialized as teachers in college). We had to take like three years of history in high school, and we had the option of American, World, or like... modern (I'm not really sure what we had... I had to take government/geography for SS my freshman year, then AP US my sophomore year, and would have taken world and African in my junior and senior years if I had stayed at my first school, and ended up taking History of the Americas (both N and S) and Modern World at my second school).
Doing something like requiring civics or government and maybe geography or something, and then giving the option of like American, European, Ancient, or Asian history (or something), and you have to take two of the three would give a little more flexibility to students.
You're not removing requirements completely... you're still saying you have to take two of the three or four classes offered in order to graduate, but you can decide not to take World or American if you don't want to. It's not a life decision, and it's not a huge choice, since you only have four course possibilities. And it might force them to learn something they might not have otherwise tried.
Same concept most schools already have with foreign language. You have to take 1 or 2 years of a foreign language in order to graduate, but you can choose between French, Spanish, German, Latin, etc.
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Well, aside from me NOT having a choice in which language I took (my school only offered Spanish, lol) I think I can agree with you.
That's how my college does their GURs and while I hate being so confined, I'm glad I get the choice of what I'm confined to, and I appreciate the base of knowledge I'm gaining.
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this is war. every line is about who i don't wanna write about anymore. [Brand New]
http://progressiveu.org/143541-how-to-survive-the-2008-elections
If you're referring to our conversation, you might want to look over it again and see where the asshattery actually starts before pointing fingers.
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
And you might take your own advice.
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this is war. every line is about who i don't wanna write about anymore. [Brand New]
http://progressiveu.org/143541-how-to-survive-the-2008-elections
Just saying.
Me too.
This is ridiculous... we're both intelligent people and we're arguing like children. Maybe we should stop :X
lol I guess this is what happens when one believes strongly about something and gets a little... defensive ;)
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this is war. every line is about who i don't wanna write about anymore. [Brand New]
http://progressiveu.org/143541-how-to-survive-the-2008-elections
#6 is your opinion--not everyone's. Not everyone whether you're good at math or not is going to like math. We're not all cut out to be math lovers. We're all different therefore we all have our strengths and weaknesses.
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[ BRIDGET ]
Be open minded...
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/b-nel
You have to take basic writing classes through high school, and no one seems to complain about those.
That's because writing is practical. In fact, communication skills are at the top of what every employer looks for in college graduates. Written communication is a major part of that.
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
So are critical thinking skills. And the ability to understand the world around you. Also, the ability to compete with the skills of others in a global business world where other countries teach their children basic math skills.
I can't believe I am even having this discussion. It's so depressing.
You don't need six levels of math to have critical thinking skills. Hell, I'm going to be starting my second course that focuses on nothing but critical thinking after Christmas.
I can't believe I am even having this discussion. It's so depressing.
Why? Because I don't feel that upper level math should be required of everyone after I watch people who have careers in math-related fields, have to retake basic Algebra when they decide to go back to college (for whatever reason) because they never used those skills in the real world?
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Lalalalalalalalalalala
It's too hard so we shouldn't make our kids learn.
What is depressing is that you have stopped trying to offer reasonable counterarguments and are instead resorting to ignoring counterpoints and using meaningless rhetoric.
These are the points we are trying to make:
1. Algebra II contains a lot of theoretical math and should not be a REQUIREMENT for graduation. I believe that the curriculum is important, just as theoretical science, philosophy, writing and communication theory, psychology, and political theory (to name a few subjects) are important.
2. Albegra I should be made a bit more challenging and contain all the basics of theoretical math. Instead of making Algebra II required, a practical math/ microeconomics class should be required so that students understand money management and how they fit into the economy.
3. I actually do agree that the structure of other core classes be changed as well. English classes should focus more on composition and analysis, which develops critical thinking and communication skills, than on grinding through as much classic literature as possible with little depth to the analysis.
4. We are not claiming that classes be eliminated, but restructured and reprioritized so that students are better developing key skills and have the option to focus in what they want to focus in. Maybe more kids would pursue math if they saw just how it comes into play in their lives and in economics; a lot of people probably don't think that by being really good at crunching numbers and statistics, they can make boatloads investing and advising. A practical math class could help remedy this. And, should the majority of students decide to pursue the liberal and fine arts, I believe that we allow them to do that, because we live in the United States, which is supposed to be a country where you are free to build your own career, and I would rather buy Asia's superior technology than impose a quasi-facism at home, cranking out forced math graduates to rival them.
I've taken classes that I've found challenging but enjoyable, and am a better person for it. We are suggesting that students have more freedom to challenge themselves in an engaging manner, rather than have to endure classes which are burdensome and unenjoyable, such as math, which has become the focal point of this particular debate.
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Thank you Howard, I couldn't have said it better myself.
And no, Kate, it's not that I don't want kids to learn (I'm a tutor for crying out loud), it's just that the education system needs to be revamped so that students who plan to go to college can take courses that will actually prepare them for it, while everyone still gets the necessary skills to survive in the real world. Make different classes more challenging, make other classes optional, and in place of the now optional classes, you have practical application classes. Nothing's being eliminated. In fact, pulling some of the beginning Algebra II work and putting it into Algebra I can make Algebra II more challenging because it can go farther because it starts farther.
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
You know I had mentioned in my summary that schools had to improve 4% better each year. Well, I would make it 2 or 3% instead of 4%. And also add a clause to the No Child Left Behind saying that if you were to reach a mark of 98 or 99% of passing students then you wouldn't need to go 2 or 3% higher the next year--and the school would still get their funds. Because I find it next to impossible for every single to school to hit 100% passing. People learn at different rates or just don't want to be at school so therefor they aren't going to do so well. You'll always have students who slack off in class, it's just human nature. And I would get rid of standarized testing (SOLs). For example, at my school everyone has to take their 1st semester exams (unless you have an A average for a semester class). During 2nd semester (the end of the school year) students are allowed to exempt their exams if they have an A average for the class and also they allow us to exempt two exams of our choice based on our attendence (if you've missed 4 or less class periods per class). My point being that if you have an A in the class then you obviously know the material. Some students may have a B average therefore they end up taking the class exam AND the SOL (if it is an SOL class) at the end of the year. So you end up being tested twice on the same material--which is pointless. Hope that makes sense anyway lol. I'm running on very little sleep.
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"Love is like a war. It's easy to start, hard to stop, and impossible to forget."
I think NCLB is a good idea in theory, but is ass backward in practice. It gives more funding to schools that do better, instead of giving funding to the schools that actually need the funding. Also, it puts far too much emphasis on standardized tests. A lot of the lesser-funded schools have actually cut music and arts programs from the cirriculum to funnel the funding to test subjects.
That's detrimental on several levels, the main reason being that it's been proven that the arts help promote learning. Cutting those out means the kids don't get the benefits of incorporating art into their lives.
It can also be easily twisted. One of the schools I used to go to got shut down, supposedly because of NCLB, even though it was actually doing better than the other schools in the district (it was smaller than the others, though, so one student could be a 5 or 10% difference).
They need to do away with the tests as we know them and find a different way to measure success or failure, because some people can be really smart and know what they're doing, but be really bad at tests. Other people actually know very little, but know how to take tests.
The issue I see is that most tests are multiple choice. While that's good for some subjects and questions with black and white answers, it's not the be-all of testing methods. Short answer and essay questions help to test understanding which is the key. Essay questions, especially, test what the student knows, right out of their heads. It can be hard, but it's very effective from what I've seen.
That, of course, would reveal a fatal flaw in the teaching system--not everyone learns the same way. We get taught this in our psychology and other classes that are based on learning about learning, yet it's not applied where it's needed most. We need to give schools more funding to be able to have different types of the same classes, where some are more hands-on for the ones that learn that way, some are more reading based, and others are more lecture based, to maximize learning for everyone. This would also make class sizes smaller (generally), so you don't have classes of 30 or 40 students, which are hard to handle for any teacher.
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
I'm a terrible test taker. I'm much more efficient with doing hands-on projects. I just understand them better than circling a bubble on a sheet as my answer.
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[ BRIDGET ]
Be open minded...
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/b-nel
I just wanted to say that I agree with your points; you more fully articulated them than I did,mostly because I didn't have the time and patience to do so. And I thank you for that.
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