Charlie DePascale

If a Tree Falls, is Johnny Proficient?

The loss of state assessment results in the wake of COVID-19 does not have to mean a loss of information about student proficiency Given that the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting nearly all aspects of our lives, it is not a surprise that it has brought a critical nationwide, federally mandated data collection effort to aContinue reading “If a Tree Falls, is Johnny Proficient?”

A Useless Test Bias Argument

Charlie DePascale “Criticizing test results for reflecting these inequities is like blaming a thermometer for global warming.” That was the viral moment from the recent NCME statement on admissions testing. The line clearly was intended to go viral and it did go viral; well, as viral as any technical defense of standardized testing can goContinue reading “A Useless Test Bias Argument”

I’m With The Band

Harvard University Band Charlie DePascale ’81 This weekend the Harvard University Band celebrates its 100th anniversary. Along with meeting my wife, my time in the band remains one of the two happiest memories of my four years at Harvard. Actually, my memories of the band begin with the end of my juniorContinue reading “I’m With The Band”

A good day ruined

Charlie DePascale After a wonderful late summer day spent enjoying a rare weekday afternoon baseball game in Boston, I sat down last night and looked at my Twitter feed. There among the trending items was this headline The University of Texas’s Secret Strategy to Keep Out Black Students Without even clicking to look at theContinue reading “A good day ruined”

Is this person college-and-career ready?

Charlie DePascale Now that the administration has dropped efforts to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census, perhaps there is space on the form for the proficiency question, “Is this person college-and-career ready?” For persons 18 and under, the question would be, “Is this person on track to college-and-career readiness?” Think aboutContinue reading “Is this person college-and-career ready?”

Is NAEP the Gold Standard?

By any metric, 2017 was, and continues to be, a very bad year for NAEP. Troubles began in April 2018 with the utter fiasco that was the long-delayed release of the 2017 Reading and Mathematics results. Seldom in the course of human history have so many good statistics been sacrificed in the name of preservingContinue reading “Is NAEP the Gold Standard?”

IASA – Refreshing our Memory

Charlie DePascale This year marks the 25th anniversary of the 1994 reauthorization of ESEA, known as the Improving America’s Schools Act (IASA). Throughout the year, I will explore how various aspects of that law shaped my career, educational assessment and accountability, and K-12 education, in general. All of this will be done, of course, withContinue reading “IASA – Refreshing our Memory”

Three Little Words

Charlie DePascale Life is full of three-word phrases. Some tend to have profound and lasting consequences that extend far beyond what may have been intended when they were uttered. Phrases such as I Love You, That Looks Safe, and for those among us wavering on new year’s resolutions, Just One Bite might fall into thisContinue reading “Three Little Words”

Look What You Made Me Do

A 2018 Blog Year in Review Charlie DePascale We have reached the end of 2018 and another year of posts on Embrace the Absurd. When I look back at the ten essays posted this year, I think that the phrase that best sums up this year of posts is look what you made me doContinue reading “Look What You Made Me Do”

A Letter to Santa

Dear Santa, I am the next generation of large-scale assessment and I am 4 1/2 years old. I have been very good this year. At least I have tried very hard to be good. I have been reliable and fair. I think that I have been valid, but Uncle Steve says that’s not for meContinue reading “A Letter to Santa”