Post by RPankn on Dec 8, 2005 22:05:16 GMT -5
Testing for college students?
Thu Dec 8, 6:49 AM ET
If Charles Miller has his way, the national panel he leads for Education Secretary Margaret Spellings could be in for some rough going.
The Commission on the Future of Higher Education gathers in Nashville today for the second of five meetings. Miller, whose push for greater accountability in the public schools forged a national movement, is preparing to repeat his efforts in higher ed.
"I think there's some fear when I show up," he says. [Yes, fear of how everything you touch turns to crap.]
Miller may create the same kind of stir he did in Texas when he pressed for testing of college students, similar to the high-stakes testing used in public education. He still thinks it's a good idea. "Student learning is where some of the biggest anxieties are," he says. "There's a lot of skepticism about what's being taught and learned."
He says it's "highly probable" the commission will recommend testing. "Measuring what students learn is always a good idea," he says. [Multiple choice tests cannot determine what one has learned, only how good they are at memorization of factoids.] "One of the things that can develop a better higher education system is for students to learn critical thinking skills. The way to find out about those skills is to test them." [Is this as*hole freakin kidding?]
A report is due Aug. 1. Miller has asked for subcommittee recommendations by the end of January.
"I think he wants this to succeed badly. He's very serious about this," says Patrick Callan of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. He warns that achieving consensus among "very independent people" may be a challenge.
Travis Reindl of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities says Miller and Spellings "want to see some progress ... but they can't be the only ones pushing the rock. They need partners, and my scan of the landscape says they don't have all the partners ready to go." [What the hell is that supposed to mean? This idiot supports this b.s.? Where the hell did all these pod people come from?]
Miller acknowledges that the group is just a starting point. "I think there will be some controversy. There will be some arguments and some anxieties. A high level of that is not necessarily bad."
news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20051208/ts_usatoday/testingforcollegestudents
Thu Dec 8, 6:49 AM ET
If Charles Miller has his way, the national panel he leads for Education Secretary Margaret Spellings could be in for some rough going.
The Commission on the Future of Higher Education gathers in Nashville today for the second of five meetings. Miller, whose push for greater accountability in the public schools forged a national movement, is preparing to repeat his efforts in higher ed.
"I think there's some fear when I show up," he says. [Yes, fear of how everything you touch turns to crap.]
Miller may create the same kind of stir he did in Texas when he pressed for testing of college students, similar to the high-stakes testing used in public education. He still thinks it's a good idea. "Student learning is where some of the biggest anxieties are," he says. "There's a lot of skepticism about what's being taught and learned."
He says it's "highly probable" the commission will recommend testing. "Measuring what students learn is always a good idea," he says. [Multiple choice tests cannot determine what one has learned, only how good they are at memorization of factoids.] "One of the things that can develop a better higher education system is for students to learn critical thinking skills. The way to find out about those skills is to test them." [Is this as*hole freakin kidding?]
A report is due Aug. 1. Miller has asked for subcommittee recommendations by the end of January.
"I think he wants this to succeed badly. He's very serious about this," says Patrick Callan of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. He warns that achieving consensus among "very independent people" may be a challenge.
Travis Reindl of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities says Miller and Spellings "want to see some progress ... but they can't be the only ones pushing the rock. They need partners, and my scan of the landscape says they don't have all the partners ready to go." [What the hell is that supposed to mean? This idiot supports this b.s.? Where the hell did all these pod people come from?]
Miller acknowledges that the group is just a starting point. "I think there will be some controversy. There will be some arguments and some anxieties. A high level of that is not necessarily bad."
news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20051208/ts_usatoday/testingforcollegestudents
