On 27 Aug 2001 12:11:12 GMT, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (EugeneGall)
wrote:
> David Winsemius wrote
> >Here are the three stated competencies that the test is supposed to measure:
> >http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/01release/
I think it is legitimate for a class-room exam to offer
an item that rewards classroom attendance. BUT (as
someone else suggested) there is a different standard
for state-wide exams of achievement.
If the item on box-plots were more precise and self-honest
(like the way that TV game shows try to qualify their Qs)
I guess it would have to ask, "According to the version
of box-plots described in the H-B textbooks, the line
in the middle stands for <what> ?"
The long version of the question, like I just gave, has
a virtue of cultivating precision. That's either scholastic or
pedantic, but it might qualify as a competency, I think.
Whereas, the short version does not.
Believing blindly that the mid-line *has to be* the median,
because "that's what I was taught" seems to harken in
a dark way back to the religious intolerance of the
founding settlers of Massachusetts. I want any kid to
know that the answer, here, is an arbitrary convention.
--
Rich Ulrich, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.pitt.edu/~wpilib/index.html
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