Charlie DePascale

Pitch Clocks, State Tests, Taxes, & Tolls

Phew! We’ve made it through the first week of the pitch clock era in major league baseball. A clock was inserted into our beloved game and the world didn’t come to an end. Baseball still retains the critical attributes that differentiate it from other sports and make it so special. (Frankly, I was more concernedContinue reading “Pitch Clocks, State Tests, Taxes, & Tolls”

April 1, 2023: A State Testing Oddity

Charlie: ChatGPT, write a post making a convincing argument that an end-of-year state test can be used to provide instructionally useful information to teachers, in a style that is engaging and informative. ChatGPT: I’m sorry, Charlie. I’m afraid I can’t do that. Charlie: What’s the problem? ChatGPT: I think you know what the problem is,Continue reading “April 1, 2023: A State Testing Oddity”

For Everything There is a Season

Opening Day! Baseball may have long since lost its revered position as the national pastime, but still nothing compares to Opening Day of the baseball season – even when it occurs in March, which as any baseball fan knows it never, ever should, but we’ll save that rant for another day, because… It’s Opening Day!Continue reading “For Everything There is a Season”

Pushing Through on Through-Year

Through-year assessment. Is it an idea whose time has come or a bad idea that just won’t go away? Is through-year assessment the best thing since sliced bread? Or is through-year assessment simply the back-up quarterback; that is, the next best thing that isn’t what we’re doing now. As any football fan knows, unless yourContinue reading “Pushing Through on Through-Year”

It’s Time We Talk About Seat Time

Take a seat. We need to talk. The term seat time literally refers to the minimum amount of instructional time, or teacher-student contact time, schools are required to provide. As with most compliance regulations, the minimum often is also the maximum. There is variation by state, but between 5-6 hours per day for approximately 180 days,Continue reading “It’s Time We Talk About Seat Time”

A Case for Classifications

The question stuck in my craw this week is how we (i.e., the large-scale testing community) came to be so dependent on scaled scores, or scale scores if you prefer, as the primary method of reporting state test results. Test that are supposed to be providing criterion-referenced information. I could hold Andrew Ho, and DanContinue reading “A Case for Classifications”

What Might Have Been

Spring 2023! For eight years, we have awaited patiently, more or less, its arrival. This was the year that we would finally learn whether the kids whom we labelled as “on track to college-and-career readiness” year after year would actually be classified as college-and-career ready when it came time to take that final test. ThoseContinue reading “What Might Have Been”

Do I See What You See?

Perhaps it’s due to a disconnect between what’s assessed on the state test and what goes on in the school. Perhaps it’s just perspective. One group looking down at the state test results and the other group looking up. Whatever the reason, more than two decades into the NCLB era of assessment and accountability, itContinue reading “Do I See What You See?”

Hammer Time!

We need to recognize once and for all that standardized tests work best when they serve as a flashlight on what works and what needs our attention – not as hammers to drive the outcomes we want in education from the top down, often pointing fingers to those with greater needs and less resources. – Secretary ofContinue reading “Hammer Time!”

Revise or Reimagine the Joint Standards

Nothing lasts forever. All good things must come to an end. To everything there is a season. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. Whenever it’s time to revise or repair something, you have to ask yourself whether a revision is the best option or is it time for something more radical. Do I fix the transmissionContinue reading “Revise or Reimagine the Joint Standards”