holding my eyelids up with toothpicks

[framefolly]

Sorry for the image. It feels true, though.

I'm thankful that we've had a very wet year in Arizona, so that I saw a completely different desert when I took my guests to the Desert Botanical Gardens today. The saguaros were positively FAT! The ocotillo that usually looks dead (but isn't) was garnished in tiny green leaves all up and down its spiny

Comments

[zandperl]

It's even worse when you teach students with GEDs.

But since that's supposed to be the purpose of standardized testing in K-12, I think we can both attest to the fact that it isn't effective. The most obvious culprit is that students don't retain the material past the test date, but there are other flaws with the process as well. One thing that I've heard and I'm curious how truthful it is, is that the K-12 tests do not test the same skills as we higher ed professors feel are useful. For example, the standardized exams could test memorization of historical facts while college history profs prefer students to understand cause and effect. Or the K-12 exams could test the scientific method while college science profs prefer they know topics like evolution and global warming. Or the big one I see is that students seem to know facts and skills only in one context, and not be able to use those same skills in another context, like using writing skills in EVERY other class they take.

Which reminds me, I've just volunteered to be on a "Writing Across the Curriculum" committee. I feel strongly about the importance of writing in other courses (my mother would be proud); I hope I really do have the time and schedule to be on the committee.

[framefolly]

Sometimes I also think that writing is very recent, evolutionarily speaking, and that most people's brains aren't built to edit their words very carefully... ;)