Responds to criticism of the authors' Learning Style Inventory. (WD)

The idea that America was being harmed because its schools were not keeping up with those in other advanced nations emerged after Sputnik in 1957, took a firm hold on education policy when "A Nation at Risk" appeared in 1983, and continues today. Policy makers justify this concern by pointing to evidence showing that, for individuals…

Reviews research on two approaches to learning-style-based education and cautions readers to closely examine the various assertions made by researchers in this field. (WD)

Refutes Leslie MacLean and Harvey Goldstein's charges (in the January 1988 "Kappan") that the National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Proficiency Scale is based on a single assumption (reading proficiency) accounting for responses to all reading tasks. Characterizes the scale as developmental, with points corresponding to…

Rebuffs Leslie Maclean and Harvey Goldstein's claims that the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading Proficiency Scale is unidimensional. Critics' confusion may stem from failing to separate what a test measures from a score's usefulness. The Lexile Reading Scale should be integrated with the NAEP scale. Includes eight…

Reading instruction can be transformed into cynical test-beating exercises. Victory arises from frequent practice in taking similar tests. Students who spend most of their time on test-type activities generally do better on reading tests than those who "waste" time reading for information or pleasure. Teachers whose students score highest on…

Reflects on educators' current preoccupation with assessment of higher order thinking skills. Easy-to-mark, forced-choice, pencil-and-paper tests with single numerical scores may trivialize the wonderful complexity of human capabilities. Includes 17 references. (MLH)

Describes several ways to view senior exhibits at an urban high school employing the Coalition of Essential Schools'"graduation by exhibition" assessment method. The coalition advocates a pedagogy combining a personalized, caring environment with a focus on student production. Judges must balance warm regard with cool, critical appraisal…

Heather-Jane Robertson's "In Canada" column in the May 1999 "Kappan" demonstrated a wish to discredit an organization for ideological and personal reasons. Comments concerning the homogenization of curriculum and the impetus of the School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP) to standardized curriculum are pure hyperbole.…

This rejoinder to Grant Wiggins on performance assessment suggests that true educational reform will undoubtedly be evidenced by something more substantial than pocket folders bulging with student work. Labeling performance tests "authentic" does not ensure their validity, reliability, or incorruptibility. Such tests are neither replacements nor…

This study finds that the chief existing teacher evaluation methods (measuring teacher characteristics, student achievement test scores, and teacher performance rating scales) are subjective, open to bias, closed to public scrutiny, and based on irrelevancies. The study advocates evaluation procedures that are performance-based and empirically…

The attorney for the plaintiffs in Debra P. v. Turlington discusses the harmful effects and the arbitrary and unfair nature of minimum competency testing. (Author/WD)