Tag: education

A Christmas Dog’s Dinner

Yes, sit down (or stand up) for a special holiday canine repast of links about testing and its adjacent domains or what is known as a dog’s dinner this time. And why wouldn’t you be invited, anybody who is interested in measurement is part of a community. At least that seems to be the point […]

Unmasking The Myth of Meritocracy: Sophie Callcott’s Excellent Essay

Sophie Callcott, a junior at Stanford University, has written a solid essay yanking down one corner of the myth of meritocracy in college admissions:  There’s Still One Big Trick for Getting Into an Elite College https://nyti.ms/3y7IWil   Yes, looking at, agreeing with, and promoting this essay are all proof of my obvious confirmation bias when it comes […]

Is there another debt to deal with? Should colleges be put to the test?

The Internet is atwitter and abuzz and in some cases aghast at the decision by President Biden to cancel student loan debt. My brother Gene Bouie squarely raised the unsaid elements of at least some of that resistance in writing to a swath of engaging people this morning about the cancelling of student debt by […]

If the ‘learner is at the center’ then shouldn’t all tests already be for learning?

Former ETS colleague Kate MIllet published an intriguing article recently here that pointed me towards the Big Education report where I read this sentence: “When the learner is at the centre, it is their strengths and needs, passions and interests that become the focus for transformation, wherever that learner comes from and whatever system they […]

NO Tests But For Learning: The Provocation Proceeds

The proceedings of  this blog began back in September with an invocation of the metaphor of exorcism. Some might have found that strange, but the comparison seemed apt to this old altar boy because impressions and ideas, objections and observations, frustrations and fancying associated with the world of testing do afflict me like distracting spirits. […]

Are Problems With Tests Really Problems With Authority?

An unexpected telephone conversation this morning, on the 27th day of for this blog, exposed me to a loved one who trusts what Joe Rogan and his guests say about the pandemic. In other words, that person believes that those voices speak with authority. To do so requires a corresponding belief that the so-called official […]