CB> not produce quality, 
CB> testing 
CB> only finds defects.
 MS>     Every other producer tests its product before 
 MS> selling it, be the product cars or computers.  
 MS> Those manufacturers think testing produces 
 MS> quality, and are willing to spend many millions on 
 MS> testing for that reason.
Actually, I have never seen a quality check statement on a Deming managed 
product I have owned.  Yet, I have seen quality checks in inferior products, 
mostly because they have inferior processes-therefore they rely on checks 
that find inferior goods and either remake them or scrap them, this increases 
the costs to the prospective buyer. Also, a company cannot run quality checks 
on every product, so some defects slip by, this also increases costs.  That 
millions should be spent on new product development, not on correcting what 
should have been done right the first time.  Do you enjoy sitting in a 
waiting room at an auto dealer while your defective auto is fixed?
 MS>     And don't say education is "different".  Schools test now as exit 
 MS> exams in every course: if the kid doesn't pass his 
 MS> tests in required courses, he gets a failing grade 
 MS> and cannot graduate.  
 MS>     The only difference between the current 
 MS> practice (exit exams on a step-by-step basis 
 MS> within each course) and the proposed exit exam for 
 MS> graduation is that the proposal is for an exit exam 
 MS> covering more than one course.
Again, this will not help the state to raise standards, it will only find the 
failures of the system.  Tests create defects!
How often does your client give you a test?
 MS>     Cheating has gone on since their were math quizzes.  Is that a 
 MS> reason to abolish math quizzes?  I don't think 
 MS> there's any kind of school test, quiz, or homework 
 MS> that some kids haven't cheated on for decades.
CB> Yuck--I hope they drop the idea of an exit test--won't work.
 MS>     Exit tests could build public and employer 
 MS> confidence in public education by convincing the 
 MS> public and employers that a kid who got a HS 
 MS> degree actually _retained_ some of what he once 
 MS> learned.
So, why not drop tests and develop portfolios, projects, etc as exit 
requirements.  What the student is capable of doing will be far more evident 
than a test that any dummy can score 25% without knowing anything.
 
Example:  Most tests of this sort are multiple-guess, most have four 
choices.  I can take any multiple-choice test in the world, randomize my 
answers and score close to 25%.  I have done this in a class and have since 
done this with my own students to prove to them it was possible.
 
Now, if the person taking the test is halfway literate, the average can be 
raised to between 50-75% by tossing out the two choices that typically don't 
make sense and chosing between the remaining two. By literate, I mean in the 
language of the test--English, etc..
 
I have done this to pass tests in college--easy, yet many people place great 
confidence on a measure that is basically unreliable.
 
Tests will not improve education.
--- Maximus 2.02
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