I have a great collection of tapes from the ’60s – for a reel to reel machine yet. I keep telling myself I need to take the time to digitize this material. The Washington Post has an article on the process. My problem is actually that one of the heads on my player is going out – how do you find a reel to reel player?
I am a member of AERA and I happen to be poking about the organization’s web site when this piece caught my eye. This is one of several “research points” made available to the general public to describe what research has to say about some important educational policy issue.
This comment concerns the issue of Standards and Tests. My interpretation is that contrary to what some might imagine educational practice is being guided more by tests than by standards. For example, the report cites research suggesting that “teachers allocate their time to emphasize the subjects on state tests at the expense of nontested subjects.”
The article also concludes that “the most challenging standards and objectives are the ones that are undersampled or omitted entirely … [and those] that call for high-level reasoning are often omitted in favor of much simpler cognitive processes.”
Don’t do what I say, do what I test!
See my own comments on this problem:
What I wish the National Techology Plan would have said
High Stakes Testing
Wonder how Google works? Susan Kuchinskas of InternetNews provides some insights. The piece provides some information about both the hardware and software employed. Pretty cool if you are interested in this kind of thing.
AT&T has created a demonstration of new text to speech technology. You can try this out yourself. There are important applications for this technology in compensating for disabilities – to speak or read for those who cannot speak or read for themselves.
The new report contends the law leads to unintended consequences and that the federal government is indifferent to them – the lowering of academic standards, increasing segregation in school and the driving away of top teachers from needy schools. It claims the government is also violating the Constitution by coercing state compliance.
Chair of the House Education Committee (John Boehner) claims states want the money, but not the high standards that come with it.
Associated Press Article
CNN analysis
Committe Executive Summary
I have decided to turn off the comment option. While I can prevent spammer comments from being presented as part of the blog, I cannot prevent the accumulation of spam comments waiting for my approval. The automatic spam generation programs create a large volume of traffic that is of no value and slows down server functions.
I would be happy to read your comments if you send them to me directly.
Academics are beginning to think carefully about the potential value of blogs. I value the work of those who can structure information and ideas in ways that are complete and meaningful.
Here is a paper from Martin R??ll that offers a nice perspective on the value of blogs for knowledge workers.