Back when I was in college, the internet was in its inception; information was hard to find online and even less reliable than it is today. If I wanted to know basic facts (“What is the fundamental attribution error?”; “What are the stages of meiosis?”; “What was the Treaty of Westphalia?”), I had to either ask an expert or […] … learn more→
Tag Archives: testing

In the age of Google, why are we still so focused on testing facts?

Can students be assessed today as they were before the pandemic?
The global pandemic caused by the rapid spread of COVID-19 has brought about a change in the way of proceeding in every area imaginable; and the world of education has perhaps been one of the environments in which this social, professional and academic reorganization has had the most impact. One of the most surprising consequences that […] … learn more→

We all put too much emphasis on test scores
We live in testing times. We also live in a time of globalization, immigration and the internationalization of schools and universities around the world. Our current obsession with school accountability and student learning outcomes has resulted in the increased use and abuse of test scores — in particular language test scores. Language test scores are […] … learn more→

Good tests make children fail – here’s why
Many parents and teachers are critical of the Standardised Assessment Tests (SATs) that have recently been taken by primary school children. One common complaint is that they are too hard. Teachers at my son’s school sent children home with example questions to quiz their parents on, hoping to show that getting full marks is next […] … learn more→

Here’s how the method of testing can change student scores
Students who recently took the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) scored lower when they took the test on a computer than when they used paper and pencil. This might not matter much if the results of these tests played a minimal role. But they do not. Test scores are used […] … learn more→
What can the US learn from South Korea’s testing pressures?
South Korea is often upheld as a model of educational success by policymakers and commentators in the United States. This is not without reason. Korean students have consistently performed well on global standardized tests, while US students fall somewhere in the middle. The question is whether South Korea is a good model to emulate? With […] … learn more→
To catch a cheat: More on the Pearson problem as our problem
“Cheating by test takers is becoming more common in the United States and throughout the world,” explains T.J. Bliss, adding: In the past year, multiple news agencies have reported several instances of cheating on high-stakes tests. Recently, news broke that doctors in a variety of specialties had cheated to pass certification exams (Zamost, Griffen, & […] … learn more→