“Test.” The word has come to personify what is wrong with our education system, its link to short term memorization, student anxiety, and an often invalid reflection of learning, has left a bad taste in many mouths. The fact that testing has become synonymous with No Child Left Behind has not helped its cause. I must admit that prior to reading this chapter I had been fully convinced by the propaganda against tests. The unit that I have developed is completely void of any form of test; this is especially significant considering as a student I prefer test taking to any other mode of assessment, give me those short answer/multiple choice/true or false questions all day long. In my pursuit to make sure that my classroom is inclusive to all types of learners, not just those similar to me, I have overcompensated and limited the opportunities for those students like myself.
Chapter Six of Fair Isn’t Always Equal reads as a great How-To on test creation, refocusing the view on tests while incorporating clever tricks of the trade. One of my favorite recommendations being to include student’s names and hypothetical situations that include their interests or real life facts. I think this is a clever idea to add much need humor and interest. While reading this chapter however I was not thinking about how I might use these skills and hints so much as how I am now more likely to never write my own test and rather follow in the steps of my in-field mentor. My first week in the placement I had a conversation with my mentor in which he detailed his process for incorporating tests into his unit, one which involves having the students create the questions. After writing numerous tests himself he was astonished at the time it took and amount of content review it entailed. Noting the rich process, he turned the test production over to the students. He noted that the students thought he was insane at first but the end product offered a much better opportunity to assess knowledge opposed to that of just an exam.
There is a bigger picture to be found in this chapter, much more than just cleaver tricks for formatting true or false questions, rather this chapter brings light to the fact that we as teachers need to adjust our intentions when creating a test. Historically the aim has been to trick or confuse the student, the thought being the more confusing the question the higher level of thinking it requires. In reality the more confusing the question the less accurate it is at reflecting knowledge of its answer. As teachers we need to be creating tests that work to help the students succeed, such tests are: short, formatted for efficient grading, tiered, and state questions that are simply worded while still being authentic to instruction. Much like with rubrics, test creating is an art, some are better than others but there is no perfect test, you should however be constantly refining yours to get it to that point.
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