tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10536145.post7711432127058048270..comments2023-10-08T09:01:17.216-07:00Comments on The Murgatroyd Blog: A Testing time for the Minister of Education in AlbertaStephen Murgatroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14407855028282306596noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10536145.post-61446579395670308692009-03-18T04:52:00.000-07:002009-03-18T04:52:00.000-07:00This is the discussion I had with Dave - he needs,...This is the discussion I had with Dave - he needs, politically, something to replace Grade 3 testing. When I suggested that learning instead of testing was enough I got that smile you get when you know this is the wrong answer. We are actually working on this with Dave...Stephen Murgatroydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14407855028282306596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10536145.post-9472567497414824152009-03-17T19:16:00.000-07:002009-03-17T19:16:00.000-07:00Stephen, I couldn't agree with your statements on ...Stephen, I couldn't agree with your statements on the removal of standardized testing more. I find it so refreshing for someone to show a deeper understanding for why standardized tests are not a valuable tool for ensuring educational accountability.<BR/><BR/>Have you read Alfie Kohn's books The Case Against Standardized Testing, The Schools Our Children Deserve and The Homework Myth? He's actually cited quite often by the ATA's Real Learning First movement.<BR/><BR/>Also, I met with two MLAs recently and they both said they would vote against this bill. Each gave their own reason. One, teachers have not provided any reason for why these standardized tests are harmful, and secondly, teachers have not provided a plan to replace the grade 3 Provincial Achievement Tests with something else.<BR/><BR/>I was quite discouraged to say the least.Joe Bowerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10821597812084858612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10536145.post-61494308232213882052009-03-17T10:14:00.000-07:002009-03-17T10:14:00.000-07:00I've noticed that we seem to spend a lot of time (...I've noticed that we seem to spend a lot of time (which requires a lot of bodies) and $$ creating what are intended to be "perfect" resources, or perfect web tools,perfect projects so that "anybody" should be able to use them. In Sask, I get more of a feeling that edtech community more focused on "teach a person to fish", and they can sustain themselves vs. "give a person a fish", (or barrel of fish) which doesn't last as long and could create a dependency. There has been and is fabulous work being done by some alta ed groups, but sometimes seems to get caught up in the bureaucracy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10536145.post-7723929500706649392009-03-17T09:31:00.000-07:002009-03-17T09:31:00.000-07:00Sorry, I had a typo and it was 250 not 2540...corr...Sorry, I had a typo and it was 250 not 2540...corrected. Good points - thanks for commenting.<BR/><BR/>By the way, Saskatchewan has app. 50 people in it Education Ministry...versus 800 FTE's in ours...I know we're a bigger Province, but really!Stephen Murgatroydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14407855028282306596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10536145.post-39787968441663345172009-03-17T08:35:00.000-07:002009-03-17T08:35:00.000-07:00That would be refreshing. (In point 4 about reduc...That would be refreshing. (In point 4 about reducing size I assume 2450 was supposed to be 250 which would probably be about right if they relaxed a bit and didn't feel the need to re-create every tool and resource inside their own walled garden. There is lots of stuff out there and teachers and students need to learn how to find,filter,aggregate,reuse,remix and republish content in the wild using the tools everyone else is using. Not so sure the whole quality control/safety thing is as big an issue as it is made out to be.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com