Class Struggle: testing


Posted at 12:13 PM ET, 02/14/2012

Admissions 101: How badly do school test-tampering scandals hurt college applicants?
By Jay Mathews
Selective colleges are more likely to believe the information they receive from school officials with a history of candor and clarity in their transcripts and other data.

By Jay Mathews  |  12:13 PM ET, 02/14/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Admissions 101 | Tags:  testing

Posted at 12:56 PM ET, 08/31/2010

America's best teacher and the L.A. Times
By Jay Mathews
Once the Los Angeles Times announced it was going to release its analysis of how much value each one of 6,000 L.A. elementary school teachers had added to their classes, based on test scores, I knew I had a good test of the validity of their project. I have spent much time in room 56 at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School in Los Angeles, where fifth grade teacher Rafe Esquith has proved himself to be, in my view, the best classroom teacher in the country, and certainly in his city.

By Jay Mathews  |  12:56 PM ET, 08/31/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Jay on the Web | Tags:  Testing L.A. Times teacher assessment project, but Esquith still thinks the Times project has problems, he does, many mediocre teachers at his school get high scores, will America's best teacher Rafe Esquith do well

Posted at 07:30 PM ET, 07/08/2010

Intriguing alternative to rating schools by tests
By Jay Mathews
Foote said, compared to averages for New York City high schools in general, "consortium schools post a lower dropout rate, higher college-bound rate, and higher daily attendance." I would like to see comparison of academic results, but the consortium schools are excused from the state standardized tests, and the regular schools don't require a literary essay, a research paper, a science experiment and a higher math application with external evaluation, more's the pity.

By Jay Mathews  |  07:30 PM ET, 07/08/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Trends | Tags:  28 schools in New York state, New York Performance Standards Consortium, assessing high schools without standardized testing, assessing with independent review of essay, better results than similar schools in New York City, reports and science experiments

Posted at 12:52 PM ET, 06/04/2009

Extra Credit: There's a Place for Cut-and-Paste Learning, And It's Not Fourth Grade
By Washington Post Editors
Dear Extra Credit: Because you asked, I think I can give you a fairly clear example of how the emphasis on testing is taking over instructional methods. I have three children in Fairfax County schools. When my sons (now...

By Washington Post Editors  |  12:52 PM ET, 06/04/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Extra Credit | Tags:  testing