I support a simple form of standardized testing for the education system.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

It's simple. It's not culturally, ethinically, or gender biased. And there's only one question.

Do you support standardized tests for use in determining merit pay, school funding, real-estate prices, or anything other than a tool for the teachers themselves to use at their discretion?

If you answer no, you pass the test and get ten merit points.

If you answer yes, you fail the standardized test. Miserably. And should not have any say, or respect, whatsoever when it comes to education.

If you're insulted and feel that the claim that anybody who supports standardized testing is a fucking moron is a unfair blanket accusation, no it is not. It is simply a standardized accusation.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. Standardized test (fill-in-the-bubble) do indeed suck.

Extended response tests on the other hand are an accepted, proven way to measure achievement, and they should absolutely be used.

Problem is that they cost a hell of a lot more to implement. Massachusetts has them - and pays about $5 per student. Compared to North Carolina's $0.50/student for the bubble tests - you can see where the problem might be.

[Hangingon]

5. Extended response questions do cost a lot to grade.

The answer depends on the rubric established to grade the answer. Graders are usually not higghly paid folks who apply the rubric. You can get no credit for a response that is correct but does not follow the rubric.

[One_Life_To_Give]

2. Should a Surgeon be Board Certified

based purely upon the input of some school without any standardized reference?

Extremes of anything generally back for bad decisions.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. Oh, doctors. That's a great idea.

Doctors should be paid based on how healthy their patients are.

The doctors with healthier patients should be paid more. Pediatricians in the highest bracket. Gerontologists and oncologists obviously should start doing a better job.

[Johonny]

6. actually you will find

societies with socialize medicine do give doctors economic advantages in bonuses for getting patients to stop smoking, lose weight etc... you know use sound doctoring advice in their practice.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

9. Indirectly, that's sort of true.

You don't make any money off a dead patient. As such, you lose income whenever one of your patients kicks off.

In all seriousness though, doctors can and do have their licenses pulled for malpractice. Teachers, on the other hand, get sent to a rubber room and are paid their full salary.

[Johonny]

4. There is nothing wrong with standardize testing

It certainly helps maintain and ensure the states standards are effectively being taught. Standardize tests were created not to find out how great someone was or how intelligent someone was, but to identify areas of poor performance. They in general do a great job at this. There are many social-economic factors involved in poor test scores. Certainly merit based raises based across the whole school system is ill advised, but there is no reason it shouldn't be part of an evaluation of teachers merit. If one teacher consistently passes fewer students than their fellow teachers in the same school, it certainly ok to question their teaching abilities compared to their peers. The problems associated with standardized tests are rarely with the tests, but often the application of the data obtain from the tests. I support standardize testing and believe it does serve social sciences greatly and if that makes me stupid by the standards of your test then I don't care because your test is pointless and unsound.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

7. +1, although the tests themselves are in dire need of improvement.

We should be moving all of our tests towards aligning with PISA or TIMSS. Bad tests wind up fulfilling the argument of forcing teachers to teach to the test. Good tests measure a student's grasp of the material, not their memorization of it, and allow teachers to ply their trade as they see fit (within the structures of a solid set of standards, of course).

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. There is nothing wrong with my standardized test.

In certainly helps maintain and ensure my standards are effectively recognized. My standardizes test were created not to find out how great someone was, but to identify an area of poor performance. It in general does a great job at this. There is no socio-economic factor involved in a poor test score. Certainly a swift kick in the teeth based on test performance is well advised. If a grown adult fails the test it is certainly ok to question their critical thinking skills compared to their peers.