Elizabeth Stage from the National Research Council comments on current assessment practices used in the nation's schools. Excerpted from Gateway to the Future: Exploring Science Through Technology, produced by NCREL and the Great Lakes Collaborative (1993).
"One of the barriers to teachers and students doing what teachers want to do in classrooms is the intrusion of a lot of current testing. A study by George Madaus at Boston College showed pretty clearly that standardized tests in science keep teachers and students working on low-level vocabulary activities instead of doing hand on investigations. Getting rid of the barrier is one reason for assessment reform, but also giving kids and teachers and parents and the broader policy community a good way of figuring out what's happening is a reason for assessment reforms."
Date posted: 1995