Damon,
Thank you for your thoughtful response. In terms of the Python tests, I
as well would hope that all my students (13- to 15-years-old) could answer
questions based on the content shared - kind of in the spirit of the
Computing for All/Core Knowledge (NoChildLeftBehind-ish? - not playing
"gotcha", but here is the information we expect you to know, do you know
it? can you apply it?) approach (along with opportunities for students to
display and be recoginized for comprehension and ability above and beyond
what was expressly expected within the realm of the standard curriculum) -
as you indicated in the phrase "training program" in the first paragraph
of your response. As far as the assessment of the distributed
ability-related issues (primarily expressed in your second paragraph), I
will definitely leave that to the education psychologists and what is
attempting to be measured - perhaps that of which is beyond the
curriculum.
Thanks again,
Scott
damon bryant said:
>>Could it be argued that the goal be for all students to score 100% on the
>>desired content?
>>
>
> I would argue that it should be one of the goals in designing and
> implementing a training program. The test could have a different purpose.
> What we all have experienced in teaching students is that ability is
> distributed; more than likely that distribution is normal for whatever
> reason, and the variation of scores within the distribution can be tight
> (e.g., SAT quantitative scores at Rice) or loose (e.g., SAT quantitative
> scores at a junior college, assuming that the SAT is a requirement).
>
> Psychological tests and measures can give us an indication of where
> students
> stand in a distribution (norm-referenced testing) or where each student's
> achievement level is relative to some absolute performance criterion
> (criterion-referenced testing) before, during, or after training. In other
> words, it depends on the purpose of testing, which is determined before it
> is designed and is a major evaluation point of its validity or accuracy in
> doing what it purports to do.
>
> Damon
>
>
>
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