In case you haven't heard, the test booklets for grades 3-5 in New York State were missing planning pages for essay writing this week. Some may say this is minor, and ask "what's the big deal?"
But if you're someone who uses pre-planning as a strategy for writing coherent, organized essays, then this omission is significant enough it could impact your writing and therefore ultimately, your score.
The State's response was predictably quiet. Late yesterday, they issued a letter of response.
A tad late, I'd say.
What checks and balances does Questar have in place to ensure that tests are published accurately and in their entirety? Who is responsible for quality control? Who is going to check on the validity of test scores in light of the page omission? And who is going to speak out about trust and reliability, in general, when it comes to State testing?
Do you trust the State to do the right thing, as they keep insisting we should? Do you feel confident in the State's ability/intent to make things right? To authentically reboot the process of reform? To genuinely respond to stakeholder concerns by making substantive changes to past bad policy?
I can't say I'm feeling much trust these days.
How 'bout you?
And if you're so inclined, I strongly encourage you to contact your local papers and ask them to cover this story (the one about the missing pages in the NYState ELA 3-5 tests, and the State's rather weak response.)
Better yet, if you live in NY State, call your State representatives.
No comments:
Post a Comment