Have been following with much interest the discussion about retention.
If you will please pardon the impertinence of a wounded high school
person, I wonder (a) just how it is that you could evaluate "what
they know", an essentially unobservable trait, as opposed to "what
they do," which is all one can reasonably observe; and (b) just what
it is that distinguishes the practice of (say) community college
teachers from HS teachers in re measurement.
I certainly decry much of the witchcraft that passes for measurement
in my little HS corner of the world, but I would very much doubt it
limited to this corner. I, for one, do not grade on attending class,
doing projects, and handing in homework. But I DO evaluate that home-
work, evaluate those projects, and evaluate their calculus skills via
the traditional paper-and-pencil testing. Absent mind-reading, I
know of no other window to "what they know."
If you mean to suggest that we in K-12 education are too prone
to using input-measures (I came, I sat, I listened) rather than
output-measures (I can solve X problems), I am in total agreement.
However, I would suggest this to be almost a social problem rather
than just an educational problem.
-- Chris Olsen
Home School
George Washington High School
1750 34th St. S. E. 2205 Forest Dr. S. E.
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403 Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
(319)-365-7473 (319)-398-2161
> <snip> It seems obvious to me that the high schools are
> evaluating what the students do - handing in homework, attending class,
> doing projects, etc - rather than what they know.
>
> wayne
>
> Wayne F. Mackey
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