The Learning Network Blog: How Seriously Should We Take Standardized Tests?

Queries about troubles in the information for college students 13 and older.

A Occasions article this week about the worldwide PISA test announced “American 15-Year-Olds Lag, Primarily in Math, on Global Standardized Tests.” In November, an article about a nationwide test, the Nationwide Assessment of Educational Progress, showed that although there have been gains, “achievement gaps between whites and blacks, whites and Hispanics, and lower-cash flow and more affluent college students stubbornly persist.”

How considerably do you think tests like these inform us about American college students and what they know and are capable to do? How a lot excess weight do you feel we need to give them as a nation? Why? How significantly time do you invest prepping for and taking standardized exams your self?

In “American 15-Yr-Olds Lag, Largely in Math, on Worldwide Standardized Exams,” Motoko Wealthy writes:

Fifteen-year-olds in the United States score in the middle of the designed world in reading and science even though lagging in math, according to global standardized check results getting released on Tuesday.

While the functionality of American college students who took the exams last 12 months differed little from the efficiency of those examined in 2009, the last time the exams had been administered, many comparable countries — including Ireland and Poland — pulled ahead this time.

…The Program for Worldwide Student Evaluation, typically acknowledged as PISA, was administered to 15-12 months-olds in 65 countries and college programs by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Improvement, a Paris-based mostly group that includes the world’s wealthiest nations. Just in excess of 6,100 American students took the exams.

In the midst of more and more polarized discussions about public education, the scores set off a familiar round of hand-wringing, blaming and credit-taking.

“The United States’ standings haven’t improved dramatically due to the fact we as a nation haven’t addressed the principal lead to of our mediocre PISA overall performance — the results of poverty on college students,” Dennis Van Roekel, president of the Nationwide Training Association, the nation’s greatest teachers union, explained in a statement.

Some scholars warned that the lagging performance of American college students would ultimately lead to economic torpor. “Our economy has still been sturdy since we have a very great economic system that is ready to overcome the deficiencies of our education system,” explained Eric A. Hanushek, an economist at Stanford University. “But more and more, we have to rely on the skills of our perform force, and if we really do not improve that, we’re going to be slipping.”

The United States’ underperformance was specifically striking in math, where 29 countries or education methods had higher check scores. In science, college students in 22 countries did better than Americans, and in studying, 19 countries.

The outcomes painted a somewhat various image from exams administered to fourth and eighth graders in 2011 via the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. Those results indicated that the United States was about on par with worldwide averages.

College students: Inform us …

• Do the benefits of the global PISA test concern you? Why? How significantly do you consider policy makers, teachers, parents and students must take them?


• Why do you think the most latest Nationwide Evaluation of Educational Progress final results show that achievement gaps among whites and blacks, whites and Hispanics, and low-cash flow and far more affluent students stubbornly persist? How need to we use that data to improve?


• What standardized exams have you taken in your college occupation? How properly do you do on these varieties of tests in basic?


• Do you believe standardized tests typically do a very good job of assessing skills and understanding that will be worthwhile to you and to society as a complete, or do you believe they frequently fail to measure your correct knowing of, or potential with, a topic region?


• In general, how much of a role do you think these exams need to perform in figuring out an individual’s capabilities, or in measuring the well worth of a teacher or school? Why?


• Do you agree with people who say an overemphasis on standardized exams, and preparing for these exams, get in the way of richer, far more intriguing or far more imaginative routines and units of study? Have you noticed this at your very own school?


• If you have been the leader of your state’s Department of Schooling, would you advocate for far more, fewer or the exact same amount of standardized tests as you have now? Why?

---

Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. Please use only your 1st identify. For privacy policy motives, we will not publish student feedback that incorporate a final name.

Teachers: We have a 2012 lesson strategy on this subject, Talking About Testing: Ideas for Inquiry and Discussion on Standardized Testing. You may possibly also be interested in how a teacher in New Jersey used this very same information post, and how her students responded to it.

The Learning Network Blog: How Seriously Should We Take Standardized Tests?

Denmark is one of the best countries for working families. US and UK take note | Nicola Witcombe

In Denmark, early childhood care emphasises children’s autonomy and taking responsibility. Photograph: Connie Tsang

Imagine taking 23 children, who range in age from three to six years, on a sledding trip. There are three adults to supervise them, but the children have to take responsibility – more or less – for putting on their own snowsuits, their hats and their gloves, and for taking turns so there are no accidents. A health and safety nightmare? Perhaps, but an illustrative example of the pre-school childcare culture in Denmark – a country lauded for its great universal nursery care and parental benefits.

Every child, for example, is guaranteed an affordable nursery place from the age of one to when school starts at six. Parents and caretakers are generally permitted 52 weeks paid leave after the birth or adoption between them, and this can be taken flexibly. For example, my husband and I took one month’s leave together and saved a month, which one of us can take before our youngest is nine years’ old. Over and above this, working hours are less on average than elsewhere in Europe, you get five weeks’ statutory holiday and are safe in the knowledge that you can have a day off to look after your children if one of them is sick. All these rules – and others – make Denmark a place where families can theoretically win the battle between work and life.

Beyond the legal rules, there is a culture that makes it possible for such a system to function. On the whole, society finds it acceptable that pre-school children are looked after by a professional – some of whom have completed a three-and-a-half-year degree – rather than a parent. The job of a “stay-at-home-mom” is, in some sense, taken over by the state.

More importantly, perhaps, is the fact that everyone seems to accept that children should be given as much freedom and responsibility as possible. An often cited Danish phenomenon is the daily excursion where children walk to play parks or museums two-by-two, or holding on to a pushchair which contains the youngest of the bunch. There are numerous other examples that illustrate the emphasis of autonomy and taking responsibility that are less well known and are less likely to live up to American ideals of proper child supervision.

Take the use of open fires used to toast “snobrød” and candles to create a cosy atmosphere. In one case, there was no fence or hedge in a yard to keep the children from wandering off – “one child who wandered off luckily chose to go towards the woods and not the motorway!” All these things can of course still be beneficial to children in their development, but might not sit comfortably in cultures which all too often see such freedom as risk.

The “pedægogerne” (nursery nurses) are not expected to be looking at your child constantly and would not physically be able to do so. There is no fast rule about the number of adults per child. Every afternoon at my son’s nursery, there are two staff to look after 23 children between the ages of three and six. According to the National Institute of Public Health, the vast majority of accidents that happen to children still occur in the home, so there does not appear to be grounds to believe the low adult-to-child ratios are dangerous. Parents also understand that staff are public servants who are accordingly overstretched.

Because “free play” is the main pedagogical principle, close supervision is in any event not required at all times. Most Danish children are self-starters when it comes to playing. They find the most wonderful and innovative ways of learning all by themselves, often with few resources: drawing a treasure map where X marks the spot, girls making sticky name badges for all the boys or groups creating a ‘play’ to perform to others.

The emphasis here is, of course, on the child being self-sufficient and a member of a group – dressing and sitting at the table properly, and being a good playmate. Adult-led, structured activities occur but are relatively infrequent. Again, this seems a far cry from the American focus on didactic activities at every turn, even when watching television.

So, it is not only the legislated rules and expenditure that has made Denmark one of the best for working families. Two other vital factors include the almost universal acceptance of an element of risk, and the concept of free play. If America were to consider introducing more accessible childcare mirrored on the Danish model, it would certainly have some questions to answer first, like “would I allow my three-year-old child to go sledding with minimal supervision?” And if so, who’s supposed to remember his gloves?

Denmark is one of the best countries for working families. US and UK take note | Nicola Witcombe

David Latchman: "our students don"t come to take it easy, but to learn"

When David Latchman was appointed master of Birkbeck, University of London in 2003, he was advised by one of the governors that every single master should have a full-time hobby. “My two immediate predecessors the two had theirs,” he says. “Tessa (Baroness) Blackstone’s had been the Property of Lords and Tim O’Shea’s had been Gresham University.” So what was his? “Research”. Some may possibly call that a small a lot more than a hobby given Latchman is a single of the country’s leading geneticists, but you get the level.

It is tough to picture a prospective candidate for the top task at any other leading greater schooling institution with a lot more than 18,000 college students being provided this tips so explicitly. Currently being a university vice-chancellor these days is like currently being the CEO of a massive company: you happen to be expected to reside and breathe the work 24/7. It’s not that hobbies aren’t permitted just that they aren’t things to be automatically encouraged. Nevertheless at Birkbeck it somehow feels proper.

If any other university in England were to close down – Oxford, Durham, whichever – there would be a loud public outcry, but the larger schooling sector would nevertheless potter along very smoothly: the students would be absorbed into other universities and existence would go on. If Birkbeck disappeared off the map, its students would have nowhere to go as it is the only institution with a long term physical presence (the Open University’s courses are, for the most element, distance finding out) for element-time students. And as its college students all have total or part-time jobs, it would seem proper that its master has a full-time hobby.

For a prolonged time, Birkbeck was seen as the 2nd-likelihood saloon. The place in which individuals who had missed out on increased schooling earlier in their lives came, both because they found they could not get a promotion at perform except if they had a degree or just simply because they had a wish to discover. “Now,” says Latchman, “we are realising there is a enormous untapped marketplace of younger college students who, both since they weren’t witnessed as ideal for university by their colleges or just desired to begin function early, want to do a degree.”

In 2008, Birkbeck began renting area from the University of East London (UEL) and commenced supplying vocational programs. Earlier this month, Birkbeck took down the temporary notices that went up at UEL and opened their own brand new campus in Stratford. “No, it was not a deliberate Olympics cash-in,” Latchman laughs. “We have been searching for a spot that was on the edge of London, that had poor levels of participation in greater eductation and had excellent transport backlinks. You can’t disregard the transport: individuals are not going to signal up for courses that run in the evening if they can’t get to them simply from work.”

Latchman isn’t shocked by the high uptake at the Stratford campus. Feasibibilty studies and the trial runs at UEL had proved there was a market. What has taken him aback has been the impact on Birkbeck’s primary campus in central London. “We are acquiring a large increase in the amount of applications to examine at Bloomsbury from folks who are residing out in direction of Stratford,” he says. “What we consider has took place is that by making our presence known in the location, we have broken down some of the barriers that have stopped some people from participating in increased education in the past. They have witnessed what we are about initial-hand and trust us.”

Predicting what programs will succeed is somewhat trickier. “There’s no easy formula,” says Latchman. “You just have to attempt factors and see what functions. I believe the years of growth via creating new courses are largely over. Back in Tessa Blackstone’s time – 1987-97 – the massive win for the school was introducing degrees in management and law. These are now two of our biggest faculties. There is not so a lot of new courses we could offer: I would really like to introduce medication but it’s just not sensible as we can’t provide the clinical knowledge.”

Birkbeck’s massive win now is 3 yr courses, says Latchman: “Curiously, whilst most universities have dropped their two 12 months degrees as there is little pupil demand for them, we have found there is a enormous, previously untapped market for 3 year part-time degrees. Our only restriction is that the government regards any 3 12 months course as a full-time course and restricts the variety of areas we can offer you. In the very first yr we had a quota of 28 the following year we had 428: we now have 700 and are asking for 1,000 up coming yr.”

The attractions of a shorter course may possibly be partly monetary: not only can students get loans for servicing and books for total time-programs, several have also chosen to deliberately down-size their job for the duration of the program. But Latchman believes the main cause it functions so properly at Birkbeck is simply because the college students are much more mature and committed. They aren’t going to university since that is what their school and parents anticipate of them or to delay obtaining a task for 3 many years they are going simply because they have some expertise of the doing work globe and a passion to understand far more.

“One particular of the causes so several academic staff want to function here is simply because the students are so passionate about what they are undertaking,” he says. “When I lectured at UCL (University University London), college students would frequently talk or text their way by way of lectures. It takes place at every single university with complete-time students. Right here the college students are much more committed. They have created sacrifices to be here and most have presently worked a complete day just before attending their evening lectures and seminars. They don’t come to university to get it easy they come to learn.”

The attraction for academic employees, he says, is the hours. The concept of teaching for 3 hrs in the evening may possibly look perverse to some, but numerous academics favor it as it leaves the rest of the day free to devote to their investigation. No worries for them about attempting to squeeze some time in the library for the duration of their lunch break. Birkbeck requires its research responsibilities just as seriously as its educating – and none much more so than Latchman. When he’s not operating the school or educating students, he can be identified in his investigation lab. At UCL.

“There are some extremely good factors why I have maintained my lab at UCL [Latchman taught there for numerous years just before moving to Birkbeck],” he points out even ahead of I have a opportunity to increase an eyebrow. “I did not want it to seem like I was favouring myself at Birkbeck by bringing over lab technicians and a secretary with me. That type of factor can be effortlessly misinterpreted as selling your own pet projects when you are master. If there’s a clear separation among my own study and any choices I have to make about other people’s, there is significantly less possibility of a conflict of curiosity.

There can not be several Birkbeck employees members who would accuse Latchman of lining his very own pockets. Definitely not individuals who have been to his office, which is certainly at the shabbier finish of vice-chancellor perks. And specifically not individuals who have had the misfortune to use his toilet. With its chipped tiles and shower only just clinging to the wall, it truly is a single that even Network Rail would feel about upgrading. “Mmm,” he says non-commitally. “My chair of governors has said it’s about time we did something about that.”

There is some thing determinedly old college about Latchman. He is nobody’s fool and is open to new tips about how best to run an academic institution, but he has some guiding ideas about the proper way to do issues from which he refuses to budge. I would picture which is what attracted Latchman and Birkbeck to one yet another. And these concepts extend to his personal reseach. His operate on the HSV virus as a gene treatment vector for treating melanoma showed such promising early benefits that his investigation crew was spun out into the firm NeuroVax, with Latchman as co-founder along with his collaborator, Rob Coffin. In excess of the many years, NeuroVax changed its name to BioVex and in 2011 the business was purchased by the US pharma giant, Amgen for $ 1bn.

So how much of this $ 1bn did Latchman pocket for himself? “It truly is humorous you must request that,” he smiles. “Significantly less than $ one,000″. Are you kidding? Is this some tax-dodge? “Sadly not. It really is just the way items are. Cancer therapies need huge clinical trials and these are massively expensive. Each a single demands a key injection of money and the investors know they have the analysis staff more than a barrel because without having the income, the project ends proper there. So every single phase of the way, the percentage of the solution that the inventor develops is diluted.

“I’ve been talking to a variety of people in government to see if a mechanism could be place in location to guarantee a researcher always held on to at least 5% of the organization, but it really is not going to assist me. The cash would have been great, but I’m not that bitter as I never did the analysis to get wealthy anyway. I did it to support produce a therapy that would make a distinction to people’s lives.”

Which is rather much Birkbeck’s own philosophy. The possibilities are that Latchman will remain at the school for at least one more decade. “It is the college’s 200th aniversary in 2023,” he says. “I also reach my retirement age that 12 months. That would seem fitting somehow.” In the meantime, Latchman will preserve on undertaking what he’s constantly accomplished. Educating, researching and administrating. And coaching his 5-12 months-old son chess. “I never let him win,” he says firmly. “When he does beat me, he needs to know that he’s done so fairly and squarely.” So are you any excellent at chess?’ I ask. He shrugs. “Not actually. But I am better than a five-year-old boy.”

Professor David Latchman is master of Birkbeck, University of London – stick to it on Twitter @BirkbeckNews

This material is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Seeking for your subsequent university part? Browse Guardian jobs for hundreds of the newest academic, administrative and analysis posts

David Latchman: "our students don"t come to take it easy, but to learn"