Noam Chomsky on the dangers of standardized testing

[marmar]

[daleanime]

1. K&R....

[chervilant]

2. If you haven't already done so,

I recommend that you watch "The Century of the Self," available online free.

[Lionel Mandrake]

3. Noam Chomsky is always provocative,

and that's a gppd thing. Here he compares the Educational Testing Service and similar companies to Madison Avenue, PR, etc. That seems a bit of a stretch, but it's worth thinking about.

When maximizing test scores becomes the sole purpose of teaching, then the testing has gone way too far. When the time taken by testing becomes a significant fraction of the time spent in a classroom (as it often is at the college level), this also indicates that the testing has gone too far.

But I think that testing, in moderation, can benefit both teachers and pupils. (Here I part company with Noam Chomsky.)

[americannightmare]

4. Testing is regurgitation and....

largely forgotten immediately. Even the study guides for something like the GRE are about learning to navigate the test, jumping through hoops as it were, not actually showing proficiency. The only way people truly learn something is through reading, writing and reflection. Which is why our educational system cannot produce students who are ready to learn critical thinking in college, let alone experience it in high school. The vocationalization of our university system is at the heart of anti-intellectualism and our educational downfall - and thus our ultimate downfall.