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Off-Grade Testing

By Dr. Bob Valiant, on November 30th, 2006%

The use of the WASL at grades 3, 5, 6, and 8 is completely inappropriate. The test is instructionally insensitive with only a few items sampling a broad range of EALRS. Because there are so many extended answer items, the total number of questions on any given topic does not . . . → Read More: Off-Grade Testing

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More High-Stakes Mythbusters

By Dr. Bob Valiant, on October 31st, 2006%

THE FOLLOWING WAS PRINTED AS AN OP-ED ESSAY IN THE TRI-CITY HERALD ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2006.

MYTH 1: Since introduction of the WASL and similar high-stakes tests in other states in the mid-1990s pressure of the tests has led to significant improvement in student achievement.

What do investigators report?

. . . → Read More: More High-Stakes Mythbusters

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WASL-Wikiality: Sounds Like a Job for Mythbusters

By Dr. Bob Valiant, on October 10th, 2006%

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia where truth is determined democratically. If enough users agree that something is true, it becomes fact. Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central’s Colbert Report has coined the term Wiki-ality to describe the reality defined by such a process. This article will attempt to show that the WASL is based on . . . → Read More: WASL-Wikiality: Sounds Like a Job for Mythbusters

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Using 21st Century Skills

By Dr. Bob Valiant, on May 16th, 2006%

Elsewhere on this web site we document what experts believe will be the basic skills of the 21st Century. For example the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory has identified digital-age literacy, inventive thinking, effective communication, and high productivity as the new basics. Closer examination of these four skill areas indicates a concentration of skills generally . . . → Read More: Using 21st Century Skills

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Creating a Collaborative Conception: Facility Futures: by Bob Valiant

By Dr. Bob Valiant, on May 13th, 2006%

Introduction

In this era of top-down reform and rapid change in many aspects of education, facility planning might be likened to completing a jigsaw puzzle of a motion picture while the film is still running. Before the pieces for one image can be put in place the projector has moved to the next frame. . . . → Read More: Creating a Collaborative Conception: Facility Futures: by Bob Valiant

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Higher Level Thinking: Collecting and Oorganizing Data by Bob Valiant

By Dr. Bob Valiant, on June 25th, 2005%

Introduction

In the introduction to thinking skills article “HIGHER-LEVEL THINKING SKILLS: BECOMING A SKILLED THINKER”, we discuss three classes of thinking strategies: gathering, assessing or considering, and applying data. In this article we will focus on gathering data.

Among the data-gathering skills, collecting and organizing the data are not often made explicit. Students need . . . → Read More: Higher Level Thinking: Collecting and Oorganizing Data by Bob Valiant

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Driving Over Dooley by Bob Valiant

By Dr. Bob Valiant, on February 25th, 2004%

It was a warm summer day in 1951. The car was a 1938 Chevy and the road was the worst in our area. Seven miles of gravel with hairpin turns, no guardrail and a long way down. Alton said, “You drive.” It was my first time behind the wheel.

. . . → Read More: Driving Over Dooley by Bob Valiant

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