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. […]
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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 […]
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 […]
Another Dog’s Breakfast of Testing Tidbits? Okay, Brunch.
Cleaning up the files reveals some interesting threads. At least, I found them interesting. Bon appetit. MBTI Again?? As if my recent four part screed about Myers Briggs wasn’t enough… How Koreans fell in love with an American World War II era personality test The MBTI approach to dating appeals to the practicality of the […]
Dog’s Breakfast: Collected Links Going to Waste
In writing this entirely sporadic account of Testing: A Personal History, links surface in various streams where I wade: Twitter (could be leaving that ‘hellscape’ soon), LinkedIn, RSS Feeds, Newspapers, even emailed suggestions from faithful fans. Several that I will not likely get around to using in the near future deserve to be seen here […]
Myers-Briggs Antipathy: Maybe It’s Just My Personality Part V
Myers-Briggs Antipathy: Maybe It’s Just My Personality Part IV Myers-Briggs Antipathy: Maybe It’s Just My Personality–Part III Myers-Briggs Antipathy: Maybe It’s Just My Personality–Part II Myers-Briggs Antipathy: Maybe It’s Just My Personality Googling ‘personality change’ reveals many negative connotations for the phrase. “He had a real personality change” isn’t a statement that we associate often with someone […]
Myers-Briggs Antipathy: Maybe It’s Just My Personality Part IV
Part I Part II Part III Part V Imagine the surprise of an obscure septuagenarian blogger in discovering that the New York Times is writing about his latest subject — MBTI — and getting it wrong. See Overlooked No More: Katharine Briggs and Isabel Myers, Creators of a Personality Test The ‘getting it wrong’ part […]
Myers-Briggs Antipathy: Maybe It’s Just My Personality–Part III
Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Why spend precious time discussing the harmless MBTI? My purpose is not to try and change people’s minds about that device. Goodness, how could anyone have the presumption to try and alter opinions anything these days? I love this quote on that point from the […]
Myers-Briggs Antipathy: Maybe It’s Just My Personality–Part II
Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Thanks to Dave Feineman and Mark Frohnsdorff for replying to yesterday’s post. Dave raises some very good points about why people like MBTI and other such personality tests. When it comes to using such tests to give us a sense of surety about ourselves, why […]
Myers-Briggs Antipathy: Maybe It’s Just My Personality
Part I Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V In our play, The Oracle, which ran off Broadway at Theater For the New City this past May, Joe Queenan and I had one character demolish her colleague in an argument thusly: “…But you’re not for me. Not my type. Type! Did you […]
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 […]
Colleges Need To Pass A Test Too
The wrought-iron gate pictured above is called FitzRandolph Gate and stands at the main entrance to Princeton University. Its presence here on a TAPH post about the obligation of colleges is not just because I live in Princeton and bike through that area regularly, but because of a significance the gate acquired over 50 years […]