What Would Mark Twain Think Of Common Core

[Morris816]

Paraphrasing the title of an interesting article at The Atlantic.

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/07/what-would-mark-twain-have-thought-of-the-common-core/374114/

This part really drew my attention:

The first "anchor standard" for writing at the grade 11–12 level declares that students will "write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence." This goal will be assessed by Pearson, one of America's three largest textbook publishers and test-assessment companies. Pearson will, at least in part, be using the automated scoring systems of Educational Testing Services (ETS), proprietor of the e-Rater, which can "grade" 16,000 essays in a mere 20 minutes.

Les Perelman, a retired M.I.T professor, has earned a reputation for exposing the flaws of what he calls "robo-grading." In an April interview with The New York Times, he claimed that ETS privileges "length and the presence of pretentious language" at the expense of truth, stating, "E-Rater doesn't care if you say the War of 1812 started in 1945." He watched the e-Rater return high scores after he submitted nonsensical passages—for instance, the claim that "the average teaching assistant makes six times as much money as college presidents ... In addition, they often receive a plethora of extra benefits such as private jets, vacations in the south seas, starring roles in motion pictures." These sentences hardly adhere to the stated goal of "valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence" of claims. Perelman observes, "Once you understand e-Rater's biases … it's not hard to raise your test score."

 

[doctorquant]

Gaming high stakes examinations is getting to be a huge issue. Prospective college students from China, for example, spend a couple of months -- and a princely sum, you can be sure -- at test prep centers. They come out with high verbal scores on the SAT (or the TOEFL) but they can't remotely speak English.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_20/b4228058558042.htm

Xie has taught the oral section of the TOEFL for New Oriental for three years. Searching for patterns and clues, he's taken the test six times and pored over websites where Chinese students share test questions. His research enabled him to sort the questions used to measure English speaking ability into categories such as "People," "Places," and "Events." He then designed speeches that students can memorize and recite with minor variations in response to any question. For instance, a typical "Places" item might require students to describe their favorite park. Xie suggests the response: "You know, there is a river in the park. After dinner, I want to walk along the bank, and the breath of fresh air can really refresh my mind."

If students are asked about their favorite restaurant, they substitute, "You know, there is a river next to the cafe. After a cup of coffee, I want to walk along the bank, and the breath of fresh air can really refresh my mind." For favorite country: "You know, I rent a house in America. Beside my house, there is a river. After dinner ... ."

 

[Bob Cook]

Gaming high stakes examinations is getting to be a huge issue. Prospective college students from China, for example, spend a couple of months -- and a princely sum, you can be sure -- at test prep centers. They come out with high verbal scores on the SAT (or the TOEFL) but they can't remotely speak English.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_20/b4228058558042.htm

Xie has taught the oral section of the TOEFL for New Oriental for three years. Searching for patterns and clues, he's taken the test six times and pored over websites where Chinese students share test questions. His research enabled him to sort the questions used to measure English speaking ability into categories such as "People," "Places," and "Events." He then designed speeches that students can memorize and recite with minor variations in response to any question. For instance, a typical "Places" item might require students to describe their favorite park. Xie suggests the response: "You know, there is a river in the park. After dinner, I want to walk along the bank, and the breath of fresh air can really refresh my mind."

If students are asked about their favorite restaurant, they substitute, "You know, there is a river next to the cafe. After a cup of coffee, I want to walk along the bank, and the breath of fresh air can really refresh my mind." For favorite country: "You know, I rent a house in America. Beside my house, there is a river. After dinner ... ."

This might help explain why the Chinese get such high test scores but haven't taken over the world (yet).

Perhaps it's appropriate that the higher of my high school son's two AP test scores came in the class taught by a teacher who spends her summer grading them.