-=> Quoting Wesley Jones to William Lipp <=-
 WL> I've seen this approach fail too often.  The result
 WL> is often "teaching to the test."
 WJ> It seems only lazy or unethical folk would "teach
 WJ> to the test."
Calling them names doesn't help the situation.  They're just ordinary
fallible human beings.  When push comes to shove, when jobs or
raises depend on scores on a particular test, and when a non-educational
gimmick can juice those scores, many people will succumb to juicing
the scores.
 WJ> If they are prone to that attitude
 WJ> just imagine how they might teach without any testing.
Whoa!  I've forgotten exactly what "this approach" was, but I didn't
mean to support a complete absence of testing.  I was pointing out a 
problem that often occurs when much depends on results of a particular
test - I bolstered the argument with examples from education and industry.
We need some form of evaluation that is not overly suseptible to being
juiced.  The industrial example I gave managed this problem by changing
the test every few years so that older juicing techniques would no
longer increase the score - perhaps such a active management is all we
can expect to get.
 WJ>  ! Origin: Resurrection Bay BBS Seward, Alaska 907-224-8919
I was in Seward a few months ago!  Was in Anchorage on business and
drove over for a day trip.
 
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