Assessment – Page 18 – Embrace the Absurd

Why is this time different?

The K-12 testing industry survived, even flourished, during past economic downturns. There are signs, however, that this time might be different. There have been two major economic downturns in the past twenty years: the bursting of the Dot-Com bubble in the early 2000s and the Great Recession of 2008. Much like the proverbial cockroach inContinue reading “Why is this time different?”

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 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?”

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”

If I Did It

Confessions of a Psychometrician By OJ Simpsons Paradox with Charlie DePascale Charlie – As we waited six long months for the release of the 2017 NAEP results, some wondered whether we would ever know the whole story; what really happened that February when NAEP reading and math went digital. Now that those results have beenContinue reading “If I Did It”

Implausible Values

Equating in the early part of the 21st century Charlie DePascale Our field is facing a crisis brought on by implausible values. The values which threaten us, however, are not the assessment results questioned above. Those are only the byproduct of the values which our field and society have adopted with regard to K-12 large-scaleContinue reading “Implausible Values”

A cautionary tale

Charlie DePascale Earlier this month I traveled to Lawrence, Kansas to attend the NCME special conference on the confluence of classroom assessment and large-scale psychometrics. In a panel discussion titled, “I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore” Kristen Huff, Karen Barton, Paul Nichols, and I shared the perspective that when bringing together classroom assessmentContinue reading “A cautionary tale”

Do Your Job ™

Thinking again about the role of state assessment programs Charlie DePascale This week, most of the nation is focused on tournament brackets and one type of madness in March. Some of us, however, are also celebrating our own special version March Insanity. Over the next twelve weeks, millions of students across the country will participateContinue reading “Do Your Job ™”

Citius, Altius, Fortius

Charlie DePascale We have barely recovered from the withdrawal symptoms that accompany the end of each Olympics games, and suddenly summer is over and another school year is upon us. As our attentions shifts back to designing new and improved school accountability systems under ESSA, this is a perfect time to reflect on lessonsContinue reading “Citius, Altius, Fortius”

We hold these truths to be self-evident…

Charlie DePascale (assisted by the words of Thomas Jefferson) We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When in the course of human events, significant resources are allocated to educationalContinue reading “We hold these truths to be self-evident…”