tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29571009.post8866162479223550663..comments2022-03-02T17:47:57.151-08:00Comments on Edmonds School District Weblog: Don't take a ride from a blind cabbie.ESD15.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13226260553219032275noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29571009.post-55348339691636310622008-07-24T22:59:00.000-07:002008-07-24T22:59:00.000-07:00I know someone who corrects the writing portion of...I know someone who corrects the writing portion of state "high stakes" tests for Pearson. He operates under a confidentiality agreement so he can't reveal which state's tests he corrects (but he laughs when I mention that Pearson corrects the WASL). Training was minimal, in his opinion (he was a retired community college instructor), and feedback on how well or badly he was doing his job was non-existent until after the tests were corrected. He found it very difficult to perform the task without that feedback. He became fearful that he was doing it wrong and felt that his scoring was inconsistent.<BR/><BR/>The second season he worked there (it is seasonal work), he was made a supervisor. In that capacity, he witnessed a heated discussion between Pearson management and the representative of one of the states that they were working for. The subject of the discussion was to what standard the tests would be corrected (to simplify for you: grade easy, medium, or hard). Eventually he was called upon to give his version of what he witnessed (which didn't come out well for the state rep who was pompous and overbearing, in my friend's opinion).<BR/><BR/>Correcting a test like the WASL is not totally objective no matter how much OSPI tells you that it is. While there can be some agreement as to what is desired at various levels, the test is being "graded" by a human who may apply "rules" unevenly even as the process tries to minimize the variation. One "strickly enforced" rule is that if the prompt asks for a letter and the student writes a poem (even an excellent poem), s/he gets a "0" because s/he didn't follow the rules. <BR/><BR/>How many great writers or inventors or politicians succeeded by not following the rules? Oops, sorry Einstein, you get a "0" because you didn't follow the rules. You, too, Galileo. Go to the back of the class. We only want people who will do what they are told. <BR/><BR/>Creativity? Naw, that's for art and music; we're cutting class time for those subjects so we can concentrate on English, reading and math. (Sarcasm follows) Besides how many musicians does the world need anyway?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com