Mort Sherman of American Association of School Administrators responds to Henry Braun and suggests life beyond the efficiently scored tests that we are so dependent on. Particularly, he calls for a closer look at students' dispositions such as persistence, self regulation, and self evaluation.
Henry Braun of Boston College concludes that the rich data generated by international large-scale assessments, in conjunction with other relevant evidence, provide unique insights that can challenge unmerited complacency and establish worthy benchmarks for educators and policymakers to aim for.
The horse-race mentality dominates the conversation about international large scale assessments (ILSAs). However, the assessment design of ILSAs is simply incomprehensible to the lay audience. It's time to start a conversation among the measurement experts, politicians, and the educators.
Oren Pizmony-Levy of Teachers College, Columbia University reports that in the past two decades research-oriented rationale of international large-scale assessments was replaced by a more policy-oriented rationale, one that reinforces the "horse race" discourse.
Jeff Charbonneau of Zillah High School responds to Susan Fuhrman and calls for a system that looks at the entirety of the student experience. One that uses tests as a small fraction of the whole.
Susan H. Fuhrman of Teachers College, Columbia University, recommends moving to a matrix sampling design for school accountability can provide good information on school progress without narrowing the curriculum.
Steven Ladd of Elk Grove Schools, California responds to Neal Kingston and concludes: focus on test scores detracts attention from the serious underrepresentation of low-income populations in STEM and a growing gap in income and access.
Neal Kingston of University of Kansas warns: No one test can serve multiple purposes equally well. We need to choose the most important goal for a testing program and focus on achieving it.
Michael V. McGill of Scarsdale Public Schools, New York responds to Edmund W. Gordon and emphasizes: the "science" of measurement adds value to education only when it's applied in a spirit of humility and guided by sound human judgment.
Edmund W. Gordon of The Gordon Commission calls for assessment FOR education.
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