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. […]
The Complete Posts
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 […]
The failure to reconcile social learning with competitive testing schemes
Hard to believe that seven years have passed since Alina Von Davier and I with the expert assistance of Sue Borchardt created this brief animated video on collaborative assessment as part of the Pulling to the Edge series to accelerate innovation in educational measurement. Alina offers some glittering insights in this short film such as “We (educational measurement scientists) measure very very well what we […]
Two Stories of Failed Testing — And Teaching
Stories Day 2 is made much easier because two friends shared stories from their own personal histories of testing that allow me to riff off of them. First, my dear friend and former colleague, Vasu Murti related this example: Sharing my testing story while pursuing Bachelors in India vs. Masters in the US. Bachelors: 5-years Naval Architecure B.Tech program (Focus: ship design, construction […]
Claims matter the most for those deemed different
In the first days of this blog, Testing: A Personal History, a reader who is also a friend wrote me this reaction: “ I’ve really enjoyed your writing on testing. I’ve always hated tests, but I think its’s more an issue of what is done with those test results that informed my experience than the […]
Too Early for Apgar
I was born early. My mother, by then familiar with the routine of births via my four older brothers, insisted the nurse admitting her had made a wrong turn in the corridor at Union Hospital in the Bronx; the labor room was in the other direction. But the nurse replied that there was no need […]
Maslow vs. Manufactured Consent
The mystery for me is still unsolved. Oh, not that one! They caught the guy at a McDonalds in Altoona. I refer to the puzzle of the narrow but nonetheless decisive electoral victory of DJT. This case is hot rather than cold considering all the amateur sleuths and officially designated democracy detectives declaring that this […]
The InterWeb: Mechanism of Authority or Comfort Blanket?
In this post, we keep digging as to what the mechanism would be if this often repeated accusation that the voters heeded the messages from a right-wing sound system and that was why they ended up choosing a convicted felon, verified sex assaulter, and indicted insurrection inciter to be the 47th President of the USA.
Where Does Your Authority Live These Days?
A Mystery Story Series How Much Control Do We have Over Our Lives Anymore? And Do We Care? Is it the Internet? Part 1 Detective stories always appealed to me. Hardy Boys books were often a quarter or less at the used books dealer in the tented emporium known as Frankie’s Market in North Jersey, […]
This is a Test: Maybe Everything Is
Four and a half hours on hold. That was the experience Friday afternoon that led me back to this argument: everything is a test. I had come across the phrase again recently reading the letters of Seamus Heaney. He cited his friend and sometime collaborator and my playwriting model, Brian Friel as the source of […]
Taking the Straight job to Pursue the Creator’s Arc
What an inspiring obituary of Frank Auerbach, the great British painter! His art invites powerful perceptions, but the patience of his life also animates strong feelings in me this morning as I keep rewriting the latest play and consider other projects.
Bad Attitudes in the Knowledge Economy
I have never felt more of a minority in this country than today. Not alone, but palpably aware that most of the attitudes of most of my fellow citizens are not anyway like mine.
Postscript: The Reviews Are In, Don’t Be On The ‘Outs’
You did it! The house opened, the seats filled, lights dimmed, and then rose again in the proper pattern to illuminate your story and the marvelous set constructed for this occasion. The actors costumed brilliantly moved and spoke as you imagined. Well, mostly as you imagined because the direction and their own imagination have brought […]
Madelyn Blair Interviews Me on Reinvention
In a very welcome event where I managed to blend experiences and insights from both of my major careers — Chief Learning Officer and Playwright – – Madelyn Blair, executive coach, TV host, president of the Conscious Business Network on e360tv, and old friend from our days in the world of organizational knowledge and learning research, invited me to a discussion on reinvention. That […]
A Poll Is A Lower Quality Type of Knowledge
Many friends looking at my work history of well over 50 years perceive a kind of crazy quilt (is that too outdated a metaphor?) of careers. While there were many different jobs ranging from girls basketball coach to reform school teacher to alcoholism counselor to actor and playwright to barely competent bartender to psychiatric hospital […]
Six Steps Aiding Reinvention
Yep, I said in my previous post that CR Snyder proved that there were six steps to enacting a strategy of hope, steps that are a necessary element of successful reinvention. Nowhere will you find any claim that ascending those steps is easy. Heck, finding a free hour to even contemplate the steps can prove […]