Charlie DePascale

Looking Back on the Memory Of

With my daughter successfully defending her dissertation (Way to go, Dr. Mary, PhD!), my thoughts this week were filled with memories of my own graduate school experiences: my defense, dissertation, and most of all, my advisor, John Stecklein. Also stirring those memories this week are the accomplishments of another young woman, his granddaughter, Lee Stecklein,Continue reading “Looking Back on the Memory Of”

Second Thoughts

Eugenics. It’s the original sin of measurement and testing. Our Curse of Cain. Our Cross to Bear. Of all of the controversies included in Historical and Conceptual Foundations, eugenics may be the one most directly related to testing and the use of tests. It is also the controversy that receives the most direct attention inContinue reading “Second Thoughts”

The Man in the Mirror

You may fool the whole world Down the pathway of years And get pat on your back as you pass But your final reward Will be heartaches and tears If you’ve cheated that guy in the glass. I will say upfront that among my favorite memories from my years in large-scale testing are the conversationsContinue reading “The Man in the Mirror”

Reliability: Measurement’s Middle Child

Validity. Reliability. Fairness. Reliability is one of the big three foundations of educational measurement and testing. It’s right up there with a chapter of its own in the Part 1 of the joint Standards along with Validity and Fairness. We’re supposed to love and respect them all the same. But we all know that ReliabilityContinue reading “Reliability: Measurement’s Middle Child”

Train Problems

Are train problems still a staple of the elementary and early secondary school curriculum? I hope so. Sure, problems based on train travel were already an anachronism by the time I was solving them in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Trains? Who was thinking about trains when people were flying to the moon andContinue reading “Train Problems”

The “Standard Setting”-ification of Society

Friends, psychometricians, countrypersons, heed my call. If as the poet says, the evil that men do lives after them; then it’s time to face the music, man. We got trouble my friend, right here, I say trouble, right here and it isn’t pretty. Why sure, I’ve set standards on large-scale tests. Certainly mighty proud I sayContinue reading “The “Standard Setting”-ification of Society”

I’m Feeling ’22 (Taylor’s Version)

2022. It’s finally here. The one thought that kept so many of us going these last two treacherous, dangerous, and often reckless, years was that if we could just hold on a little longer, we would be happy and free to shamelessly quote Taylor Swift for an entire year. Everything will be alright if weContinue reading “I’m Feeling ’22 (Taylor’s Version)”

A Testing Time for All of Us

‘Tis another year of testing, and all through the landEv’ry creature is stirring, it’s quite out of hand;The mockings they’re flung with nary a care,Of whether they’re valid, or whether they’re fair. The children, mere pawns in this high-stakes game;Are still not Proficient, the tests are to blame.They take too much time, they cost tooContinue reading “A Testing Time for All of Us”

Yes, Virginia

VIRGINIA, your friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see on cable news and read on social media platforms. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by our little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether in red states or inContinue reading “Yes, Virginia”

Maybe It’s Time for a Diorama

Back in my youth, when it was fashionable, if insensitive, to celebrate Christmas unabashedly in public elementary schools, a good part of the curriculum and instruction after Thanksgiving was devoted to holiday activities. There was practicing for the Christmas “pageant” (music), making a Christmas ornament or a gift for Mom (art), and Christmas-themed writing, spelling,Continue reading “Maybe It’s Time for a Diorama”