Charlie DePascale

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Later this week I will be participating in NEERO 2021 – the 52nd annual conference of the New England Educational Research Organization. This will be my 30th NEERO conference. Starting with the first time I made the trip to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and the Sheraton Harborside Hotel in April 1989, NEERO became a special partContinue reading “Where Everybody Knows Your Name”

Coming Full Circle To The Road Not Taken

It has been a long and winding road that has taken me to this place where I am making presentations and writing about things like pedagogical content knowledge and assessment to inform teaching and learning. Thirty-eight years ago this month I stood figuratively before two roads diverged, sorry that I could not travel both, tryingContinue reading “Coming Full Circle To The Road Not Taken”

Fidem Scit

My unshakable faith in the value of a Boston Latin School education The school that I love has come under attack. As has been the case periodically over the past forty years, the primary issue is admissions testing, specifically concerns about unequal representation and inequities resulting from admissions testing. Added to the mix this timeContinue reading “Fidem Scit”

Morbid Math

“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty—a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show.” – Bertrand RussellContinue reading “Morbid Math”

The One Constant Through All the Years

Opening Day! Is there a two-word phrase that fills the mind and soul with a greater sense of excitement and hope for what lies ahead – Free Samples, Half Off, I Do, I’m Pregnant, Leave Meeting? No, nothing comes close to the start of baseball season. Coming out of hibernation to reconnect with an oldContinue reading “The One Constant Through All the Years”

Our World Turned Upside Down

The world turned upside down – the phrase referenced in Hamilton to describe the impact of end of the American Revolution seems an apt choice to summarize the current state of affairs in K-12 large-scale testing and educational measurement. The field still cannot seem to get out of its own way when discussing whether annualContinue reading “Our World Turned Upside Down”

Is It Still The Same Boat?

You pick up a lot as you journey through life; and you never know what will be valuable and what will be worthless. Never in a million years would I have guessed when I signed up for an introductory philosophy course my final semester in college that I would encounter a thought experiment that wouldContinue reading “Is It Still The Same Boat?”

What’s Happened, Happened

Spoiler and content warning: This post includes details from the film Tenet and a discussion of the future of large-scale testing which may upset the reader or spoil the movie if you have not seen it. The Armageddon and the Apocalypse are not for the faint of heart. I am not a movie guy byContinue reading “What’s Happened, Happened”

Nothing New Under the Sun

You may view state testing as a monolith, an impersonal political, corporate structure indivisible and uniform, a large single upright block of stone with columns of ovals etched on it and a Pearson logo laser engraved in the bottom left corner. But you would be wrong. The block of stone could just as easily bearContinue reading “Nothing New Under the Sun”

Shove Those Deficits Up Your Assets

I have seen the light! Praise be the ivory tower, I have seen the light! Enough already with talk of learning loss, achievement gaps, and labels like substantially below proficient. Cast off the cloak of deficits and wrap yourself in the warmth of potential and growth. I confess that it took me too long toContinue reading “Shove Those Deficits Up Your Assets”