The Alaska Standards Based Assessment were this week and concluded today. John said they were pretty easy.  Whew! It added some serious structure to our usually casual schedule. Testing started promptly at 9 a.m. at a local church. Tuesday was Reading, Wednesday Writing, Thursday Math and today 8th graders also had a Science assessment.
It’s […]

Is it possible to spend $200,000 on a college education and graduate dumber than when one started? Sadly, apparently it is not only possible but it is true.
Last week, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) released the results from their second Civil Literacy test of college freshmen and seniors. The statistically valid questions cover America’s history, […]

I can say with some authority not all research is created equal. One of the hats I wear is that of an engineer. Most of the engineering work I’ve done recently has been university-funded research. All of the research I’ve done has been challenging and downright difficult. I should have been a professional educator […]

Writing my own lesson plans is something I try to avoid and I’ve been pretty successful at that. I know several moms who write their own stuff and relish it. They do a great job! If I had to design a course for an upper-grade student it’s a helpful skill to have. Here’s an article […]

It seems that my post, No Child Left Behind Homeschool, has stirred up some controversy. So, I think I’ll revisit the subject and clarify what I was laboring, apparently unsuccessfully, to say.

We should be glad that kids today for the most part do not have to sit for norm-referenced testing every year. Criterion-based assessments […]

Great post at Why Homeschool last week on standardized tests and what they mean and our attitudes toward them. These tests can provide very useful information on what our kids have mastered and what they still need to work on. In a homeschool environment that’s a practical way to use them.
However, in a classroom, teaching […]

The New York Times highlighted a typical problem in the education establishment. Here’s some of the pertinent stuff:

A student needed a required course to graduate, did not pass the course and, thus, did not graduate.
She came back for a 5th year took the same course and failed again.
For the spring semester she enrolled in the […]

Continuing the theme of standards and testing I recommend that anyone homeschooling their kids who has a doubt or a curiosity over how well their kids are doing at home take a look at their own state’s standards. Use them as part of the planning process.
When we plan for the coming school year part of […]