I finished reading the required pages last night. I have to say it was difficult to get through, especially the first 5 chapters. Parts of it I found interesting, parts madning, and honestly parts of it were pretty boring.

One statement that really hit me was on pg. 77 "The (ETS) push would always be to test more rather than to ponder the merits of testing, though that was susposed to be it's job." So was and is the ETS out for money? What happened to this SAT test that would allow colleges all of this great information about the potential success of students? If the merit of testing is no longer important than why put students through it?

I agree with you. It was certainly a lot of info to take in. I wonder myself the importance of testing. I am not one of those people who test well. I can remember in elementary school taking the CAT tests. I would fret over them. My mom would tell me not to worry, but of course I did. I think our gov't need to stop and think about what all of this testing does to our children. Sure we need to see that they have mastered subject areas, but sometimes the pressure is too much.

I agree about the pressure being too much. Parts of me agrees with testing. I think children need to be held accountable for learning, just as we are for teaching, but how far is too much?

Kristi - I agree with you. I believe that effective testing can be a way to hold students accountable. But the problem is finding that middle ground.

The whole testing topic is hard for me because I was the exception. I always scored well on standardized tests. But I know that testing bias does exist. And I honestly don't see any way to combat the problem. As long as we're working hard everyday to educate our students - what more can teachers do?

This response is for Kristi and also for Regina. As a teacher I would have to agree that testing is important and holds students accountable, but I feel that subject matter testing is more important that a general synopsis of everything I should know, as in the SAT and ACT testing. For instance, if a test is given in math after the math is taught, great, or any other subject, but without heavy studying and reviewing I probably would not remember it 5, 6 or even a year later.

Regina had mentioned that she tested well. Unfortunately, I do not, but I am also the exception in that my low test scores did not show my academic performance because I was in the top of my class, took AP courses, etc. in high school. What does that tell us? How much do you take test scores into account. According to this book and the men involved that is all you are to look at as a college or University when admitting students. I, like you, do not know where that middle ground is, especially in this book's view.

Hope this was understandable. I had to rant and rave for a moment! Thanks for letting me do that.

Kristi, I agree that parts of this book were difficult to read. I was glad to see that someone else thought so. I kept getting bogged down in all the details: names, dates, events. I was trying to keep it all straight as I read and I think I spent too much time rereading parts that I didn't feel like I had a grasp on. It did seem easier after chapter five though.

I thought the part in chapter six about the deferments testing was interesting. College students would be given an IQ test. High scorers would be deferred from the draft, and low scorers, along with all the other boys who weren't in college would do military service. The high scorers supposedly had a potenial higher worth than the low scorers, so that made it okay to send them to war. I liked Edward R. Murrow's response to this, "If this rule had been applied in earlier days, people like the Wright Brothers, Mark Twain, Phil Murray, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harry S. Truman among others wouldn't have had a chance of being deferred, because none of them went to college....."


What is really sad is that this testing practice seems to have been divised by Chauncey just to provide financial support for the ETS after his Census of Abilities testing and other testing schemes he had dreamed of fell through.

I, too had a hard time keeping everyone straight in the book. I would have to go back and see where this particular person fit in, and if I had read about him earlier. I also had a hard time keeping up with what the time frame was at any given time.
As far as testing, I agree that students should be kept accountable for what they learn, and that you should be tested on what you are learning at the time. I, for some strange reason, always liked taking the tests simply because they were a change from what we had been doing!

I agree. The reading was difficult at times. I also agree we need to keep students accountable for what we are teaching them. I don't always like the standardized tests. When I had to do the SAT or the NTE (now the Praxis) I would get very nervous. I find myself getting a little better with handling these tests because I am always trying to prepare my students to keep them from developing test anxiety on the EOG. Kathy, I enjoyed the CAT tests when I was in school, but for some reason after that timing me on a test made me very nervous.

Kim

Kim, I'm glad I'm no the ONLY one who enjoyed taking the CAT. Isn't it strange? Hey - maybe you could share some of the test taking tips you give your students. It's hard for me b/c I always just did it, you know? Anyway, some of my students are already experiencing testing anxiety so I would appreciate ANYTHING you could share with me!

Kristi,

I agree, the book did have a lot to keep up with in the first five chapters. I have realized that testing has become an integral part of our society just as they intended it to, now beginning in Kindergarten!

I am so glad to hear that many of you are having a hard time with this book. Just getting this section read has been difficult, keeping track of all those names. The part about Chauncey's divorce and it's impact on ETS was a little interesting though, especially the part where "would be academics for whom life had not worked out perfectly" found employment writing questions for ETS! Just what were their qualifications. So far I think Chauncey was a little scary. His vision was to assess all Americans on all dimensions and use that info to plot whole courses of their lives. How un-American.

It seems like testing is accepted as the norm. I feel that testing has its place, but to test students over a long length of time is quite unfair. I do not teach math, and have to think about what students are doing in their math class and sometimes have to ask the math teacher how to do problems in order to help the students. If I have this problem, how can a child be expected to remember and perform on a timed test, without any help. Yes, students should be held accountable for what they are learning, but isn't there a better way to assess?

As far as the book...I felt it was the most boring thing to read. I did find a few parts interesting, but had a really hard time sticking to it with this book. I am glad that it is one of the first ones to read so that it is out of the way.