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by Dr. John Poulsen and Kurtis Hewson

Abstract

Standardized testing in some circles is demonized as the vilest form of assessment. These individuals point to many problems with how these tests are created and administered, as well how the results are used. In other circles standardized testing represents true assessment whereby individual performances can be compared to other performances in a meaningful manner.  That is, standardized testing is seen by some as a fair form of comparison; others do not. Knowing where standardized testing came from and what were the motivations for its growth, may help in understanding and perhaps in being able to use the results of standardized tests to improve teaching and learning. This article serves as an overview of the history and current realities of standardized testing.

*https://owl.uwo.ca/access/lessonbuilder/item/105407290/group/9fa7e930-23a0-4a01-b2c9-20601d82ab8d/Course%20Content/Week%209%20-%20End%20of%20School%20Year:/Standardized%20Testing%20Fair%20or%20Not%20%20Teaching%20Centre.htm

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The Facts on EducationWhat is the Value of Standardized Testing?

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The Facts on EducationWhat is the Value of Standardized Testing?

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(Week #9 Lecture)

London, Ontario's Child and Youth Network (CYN)
is comprised of more than 170 local agencies and
individuals dedicated to doing what is best for children,
youth and families.

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• Classifications of student
performance that describe and
clarify standardized assessment
results

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Interpreting Standardized Test
Scores
• Does the student’s score make sense?
• How does the score compare to the
student’s other achievement indicators?
• Does the score reveal growth in learning?
• Did the student just have a bad day?

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• Convey positive attitudes about testing
• Teach test-taking skills
• Simulate use of time limits during testing
• Familiarize students with types of questions
used
• Involve students in marking questions of each
type

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• Enhance teaching and learning
• Improve curricular design
• Be minimally intrusive

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Classroom and large-scale assessments should . . .

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Classroom and large-scale assessments should . . .

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• Be based on the same curriculum framework
• Address the same cognitive demands
• Incorporate similar tasks
• Use common standards for judging quality
of work
• Use same benchmarks to represent learning
over time

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• Biased tests
• Stressful for students and teachers
• Results in teaching to the test
• Takes up too much time
• Does not enhance student learning
• Content of tests does not reflect instruction

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•To assess
effectiveness of
instruction

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• Student’s score determined by comparing
performance to that of other students

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• Contain the same questions for all test-takers
• Are administered to all test-takers in same
fashion
• Are scored in systematic and uniform manner
• Are different from teacher-made tests and
aptitude tests

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Different uses including math and literacy
testing at certain grade levels and Grade 12 exit
exams

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Achievement levels of 13 year olds (math,
reading, and science)

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EQAO; How tests are created and assessed.

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EQAO; How tests are created and assessed.

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How EQAO Tests are Created, Administered and Scored

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Have you ever wondered how EQAO tests are created? Did you know that the creation and administration of an assessment involves a three-year process from start to finish? This video explains the key steps that EQAO takes to ensure that its tests are of such high quality.

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Students score is determined by comparing performance to established curriculum.

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Week #9 Lecture

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"Teachers affect eternity; they can never tell where their influence stops."
-Henry Adams

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The road to success is paved with failure.

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There can be no excellence without effort.

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There can be no excellence without effort.

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You must know and understand your own weaknesses and strengths before you can evaluate someone else’s.  Neglecting details will cause failure.

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Character is more important than victory.

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Character is more important than victory.

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Meaningful change is not easy. It requires the ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles and face often daunting challenges. We have the persistence to do what it takes to achieve the results we seek.

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Every crisis creates opportunity; every struggle offers the chance to rediscover. Everything we do is born from the ability to see potential where others can’t.

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Honor means to have strong character!

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Community Service: It is important that as martial artists, we give back to our communities. It is vitally important that as we grow strong ourselves, we in turn help others. Service is helping others without expecting anything in return

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Inner Strength means making good decisions and resisting unhealthy peer pressure.

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Honesty is being truthful and fair!

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Modesty is a quiet confidence within!

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Respect is being nice to others. A true Black Belt will give respect in order to receive respect.

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Perseverance is a persistent determination in reaching goals.
A Black Belt is a white belt that never gave up!

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Responsibility is taking ownership of your actions.

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Integrity is maintaining a strong, steady course of
beliefs and values

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Self-Confidence is believing that you can!

“YES, I CAN AND YES  I WILL!”

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Courage is having the spirit to confront challenges!

The willingness to try, fail and learn on the journey toward creating something new is just as critical as the passion to succeed. There is no substitute for being willing to lead—especially when the territory being covered is new and the outcome is uncertain.

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Self-Discipline is controlling one's behavior and actions!

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How in which we effectively question students and in turn, provide a foundation for student inquiry!

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How in which we effectively question students and in turn, provide a foundation for student inquiry!

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Music Education is a vehicle for social justice!

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Music Education is a vehicle for social justice!

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Great way to engage students in mathematics!

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Great strategy to engage students in the learning process. Once created, it can be displayed around the classroom for students to reference!

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Learning process does not occur when in fight/flight mode

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Learning process does not occur when in fight/flight mode

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Must be one with oneself and the world around them!

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-students require purpose for learning new concepts!
-breakdown the lesson into three parts
-step by step process

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-"Grades are an illusion, passion and insight are reality."

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-"Grades are an illusion, passion and insight are reality."

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-What is school for?
-What school used to be for...(Teaching obedience/respect/compliance, productivity and industrialism)
-interchangeable workers and effective consumers
-The Normal School and its implications (I.e., textbook)
-OPEN BOOK learning
-Access to any course at any time
-precise focused information
-No more multiple choice examinations
-MEASURE EXPERIENCE over GRADE MARKS
-COOPERATION versus ISOLATION
-Lifelong learning
-Death of the 'famous' college

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-10% reading
-20% hear
-30% see
-50% see + hear
-70% say
-90% say + do

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-Be specific!
-Be consistent!

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"Those that have never failed, never learned." -Plato

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1. Set the stage (Recapitulation= draw off of student's 'funds of knowledge'
2. Acquisition
3. Consolidation

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Notes From EDUC 5445: Roman Catholic Schools

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6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students

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Support every student by breaking learning up into chunks and providing a concrete structure for each.

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Students have many different types of learning styles that need to be addressed. Some learn by seeing a problem worked out, others by hearing the problem explained, and some by doing it themselves. This is the basis of say, see, do teaching.

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EDUC 5445: Roman Catholic Schools

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Tools for Teaching - Say, See, Do Teaching

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Identifying similarities and differences eg. Venn diagram
·Summarizing and note taking eg. Mind maps
·Reinforcing effort and providing recognition eg. Goal setting
·Homework and practice eg. simulations
·Nonlinguistic representations eg. Graphic organizers
·Cooperative Learning eg. Jigsaw
·Setting objectives and providing feedback eg. Rubrics
·Generating and testing hypotheses eg. Inquiry processes
·Questions, cues & advance organizers eg. Thinking routines

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-content
-process
-product

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EDUC 5445: Roman Catholic School notes on DI

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EDUC 5445: Roman Catholic School notes on DI

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Variations on a Theme—How Teachers Interpret MI Theory

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Variations on a Theme—How Teachers Interpret MI Theory

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"Do not then train youths to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each."
—Plato

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EDUC 5445: Roman Catholic School's notes on Bloom's Taxonomy

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EDUC 5445: Roman Catholic School's notes on Bloom's Taxonomy

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Quick Review Page: The animated image at the top left of every page is a button that will take you to a page that describes each of the intelligences.

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Simple and Effective Cooperative Structures to try in your classes

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Simple and Effective Cooperative Structures to try in your classes

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Applicibale to the classroom!

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Establish yourexpectations on the first day of class!

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-meditation
-yoga
-mindfulness practice
-relaxing music

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-purposeful talk
-active listening

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-critical literacy
-autonomy
-self-efficacy
-perseverance

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Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations.

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50M views · 129K reactions | Pick a greeting and have an awesome morning...Way to go Mrs. Judy!!! I love my LLE teachers! | Susan Parsons

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Pick a greeting and have an awesome morning...Way to go Mrs. Judy!!! I love my LLE teachers!. 

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Greet students in and our of the classroom

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Greet students in and our of the classroom

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Make connections with your students!

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Model what you expect from your students!

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Grades 1-8

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Identities and Social Locations; Who am I? Who are my people?

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Identities and Social Locations; Who am I? Who are my people?

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Social Foundations: Week 1

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wholeness or inherent integrated system for music/voice education

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wholeness or inherent integrated system for music/voice education

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Lightner's three key elements for effective learning.

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Lightner's three key elements for effective learning.

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B. Lightner & J. Moir: Pedagogy for empowernment

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B. Lightner & J. Moir: Pedagogy for empowernment

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A Pedagogy for the New Science

Lofty Goals

What is the lofty goal for your choir? How does the pedagogy you employ serve your goal?

Here is a possible lofty goal:

The choral setting creates the opportunity to make music in an environment which allows each member of the community to thrive, while the larger community is enriched. The more beautiful the music, the more the members thrive. The more each member thrives, the more beautiful the music.

Premise

It is the basic underlying premise of Sound Music Education - The Pedagogy of Empowerment™ - that by empowering the individual artists, the pedagogy serves the making of great music. All the individual artists come together to create, as a group, the experience we define as choral music.

In the art of singing, the artist is the instrument; the vocal instrument. In order for the instrument of the human system to be able to sing as fully and capably as possible, the human system needs to be able to function freely. To function freely, a person needs to feel empowered within the choral setting.

One aspect of the choral director's job is to create the conditions to allow each singer, each artist, each instrument to function fully with the least amount of interference. In order to do that, the choral director needs to know something about how the human system works to function and to learn.

Underpinning

The underpinning of Sound Music Education - The Pedagogy of Empowerment - is the ongoing curiosity about what allows the human system, in this case the singer, to thrive. At its root, sound music education is curious about how the human system works, how it is designed, how it learns, how it sings.

This core idea is captured brilliantly in the work of Leon Thurman, who for years has articulated the idea of "Human Compatible Learning/Teaching." Human Compatible Learning/Teaching is based on the idea that the closer your learning/teaching is aligned with how things work, the easier, safer, and healthier your learning/teaching will be. Embedded in this idea is the willingness to throw out inaccurate ideas and update one's approach as the science changes. Since science is changing on a daily basis, it is also imperative that the learner/teacher/director states clearly that all she can teach is a current point of view. We have a current point of view that is always subject to further proof.

The pedagogy is based on three pillars:

1. Curiosity about how humans work to learn, to thrive, to sing.

2. Openness (Willingness) to update inaccurate information, no matter how convinced we are of its accuracy, so that our teaching is as aligned as closely as possible with our current knowledge of how the human system works.

3. Clarity that all we have to work with is a current point of view, not the ultimate truth. This point of view is based on the newest science to which we have access.

Making curiosity, openness, and clarity the foundation of our educational system allows us to educate teachers, their individual singers, and their choral community as a whole.

The Pedagogy as Applied to Movement for Singers

The following diagram is the scaffold for understanding Sound Music Education - The Pedagogy of Empowerment:

This pedagogy is about empowering the whole person (triangle) within a context (circle). The triangle breaks down the whole person/the human system into three parts:

The architecture or the structure of the body

What activates and moves that structure (intention/mind)

How the system adapts, learns, and unlearns. This encompasses acquiring skills, as well as how habits are created and changed.

These three aspects of our system serve as a scaffold for our teaching.

In this article we will look at how we can use these three aspects of the human system to explore a pedagogy for teaching fundamentals/understanding of physical structure. I would like to begin by looking at the current common pedagogy about structure. This will help us see the distinction between different pedagogical points of view.

The current and most common idea about physical structure for singing is referred to as posture or alignment. Many pedagogy books start with this topic. Students are often instructed to stand with one foot slightly forward, shoulders back, neck free, in a tall, noble performance-ready stance. One of the challenges of this approach is that people get the idea that there is something called "good posture," and that they should have it.

Many singers come to me for lessons because they want better posture. When I ask them why they want better posture, they look puzzled. Through the lens of the old science, good posture has become a virtue in and of itself, so it takes a few minutes for them to even understand the question. They often start by saying, "Because my voice teacher says I need to improve my posture." I'll ask a series of questions like, "Why would your voice teacher want you to have better posture?" Eventually, we get to the root idea that good posture is supposed to help facilitate good singing.

The premise behind good posture is the idea that the shape of the body (posture/alignment) affects the ability of the instrument to sing. This makes some sense, since we have established that the whole body is the instrument - and it needs to coordinate freely to sing well.

Architecture

Let's apply our triangle pedagogy scaffold. It is essential that we understand the architecture of the body.

It turns out we aren't a postural system.

Current research about human function and design calls into question posture/alignment models. Anatomist David Gorman synthesizes this research into a model he calls the pre-sprung-elastic-coordinating-suspension system (coordinating-suspension system, for short).

The rules of physics for a postural system and a suspension system are TOTALLY different.

Think of two bridges: one built on columns and the other a suspension bridge.

If a construction crew went out to fix a suspension bridge as if it were a column design, it wouldn't work.

But this is exactly what we do when we apply postural instructions onto the human body. From the coordinating-suspension system point of view, you can't create the conditions for easy, efficient singing by teaching good posture!

If the goal of our pedagogy is to serve the artist by aligning our teaching with the way the human system works, it is essential to learn about this coordinating-suspension-system model.

THE TOP CORNER OF THE TRIANGLE: KNOW ABOUT THE ARCHITECTURE, AND KEEP UPDATING YOUR UNDERSTANDING.

Activation

Now let's go to the left corner of the triangle and look at activation. In the postural model, people are told to position (control) a part: bring (for example) shoulders back and down. The implied belief at play here is that you can use your mind to put your body parts in a place and that the parts will stay that way. If you stay in this improved organization, then you will be able to sing better.

Let's investigate this. Try staying in free, good posture and rush. Try staying in good, free posture and concentrate on your E-mails. Try staying in good posture and do just about anything other than thinking about "good posture."

Our architecture is coordinated by our intention, and therefore shifts and changes constantly, affected by what we are attending to. In other words, we are always in the perfect coordination of what we are doing with our intention or attention.

A common singing example of this can occur the moment a singer begins to sing. Just before the beginning of the song, the singer is in the "proper singing stance." Then he begins to sing, and his head moves instantly forward.

If you see this singer from the postural model point of view, you might interpret this event as evidence that he had lost his good posture, or that he has a 'bad or inefficient habit' for singing. You might conclude he needs to learn to keep his head aligned to sing.

The coordinating-suspension system model interprets this event differently: a teacher working form the new science point of view would conclude that the singer began to sing and his attention or intention brought him into this head-forward coordination. If it is true that the singer is in the perfect coordination of whatever he is up to, then it would follow that didn't his head forward. He didn't it; it . This distinction is key to working with the coordinating system. The singer had an intention, and his system coordinated his head forward.If the singer didn't (actively consciously putting his head forward), it makes no sense for him then to actively, consciously keep his head aligned.

In the postural model, a well-intentioned teacher might then go to great lengths to help him become aware of this inefficient habit. Subsequently, he would practice keeping aligned, thinking his head and neck to be free. To achieve this freedom, the singer has two options: thinking of his alignment, which means he isn't focused on the music, or by using lots of tension to position his head. Before you know it, he'll need to work on being free to express the song. Can you see the quagmire of this postural pedagogy?

Like the postural model perspective, the coordinating-suspension system model's perspective, realizes that the head coming forward will interfere with the suspension of the larynx, breath flow, and other parts of the architecture that need to be able to function freely to sing optimally. But unlike the postural model, the coordinating-suspension perspective holds that the problem is not the position of the head. In other words, the position of the head is not a postural problem. If the singer is in the coordination of something that brings his head forward, we need to find out what is going on in his thinking to help him not to interfere with his architecture.

We need to bear in mind that the singer is the only person who has the information about what he is up to. When there is an interference, the singer has the information to make change, even if he doesn't know it yet.

In the empowerment pedagogy, there is a method of inquiry to help teachers and students make sense of interferences. When you see the current organization of the architecture as a function of the person's intention, you can look to the root of the interference. In this way the head-forward issue becomes a vehicle for the student to learn more about how his system works. The more he understands his system, the more he is empowered to make discoveries and choices. Instead of having a bad habit, the student may discover he has an amazing system that gives him useful information.

THE ACTIVATION/COORDINATING CORNER OF THE TRIANGLE: THE ARCHITECTURE EXPRESSES THE ATTENTION AND THINKING OF THE PERSON. REMEMBER: THE PERSON HAS THE INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT SHE IS UP TO.

Adaptation / Learning

So if you aren't going to teach posture or alignment in choir, what do you teach? Learning about the coordination-suspension system model is important. Unlike learning a skill, we are innately designed to have full, easy, buoyant stature. We are designed to stand, sit, breath, move. Being free to sing isn't a skill - it is a birthright .

The pedagogy of stature is mostly a job of removing inaccurate ideas about stature. It is also a matter of teaching more accurate ideas about human design, so that students don't impose misconceptions onto themselves. It is about giving students ways to explore and self-assess. Perhaps most important of all is creating the conditions in the atmosphere of the choral setting in which students feel safe, engaged, successful, and autonomous. These last criteria are what research shows create the conditions for learning.

A basic tool of this pedagogy is creating explorations as a means to teach information about human design. Setting up comparison experiences is one method of exploratory teaching. We can, for example, ask the choir to, "Lean forward, lean back, and come to relative balance." We then ask them for information about the experience: "What was the difference between these three experiences?" Through discussion, we can help them to see the significance of their observations and experience. "Can you see how your system gives you different sensations to tell you about your balance?"

Through the exploratory process, singers learn from their own experience. They not only learn principles about their amazing design, but they can also experience that assessing is fun and useful. Healthy assessment is essential to autonomous learning. Autonomous learning is an essential ingredient for thriving. One four-minute exploration activity in choir per week can add up to significantly increased self-knowledge.

Instead of learning a list of postural instructions, students can learn to self-assess. Here are assessment questions that would indicate a certain measure of self-knowledge. I have put the purpose of the assessment in italics:

Can you tell when you are in even distribution with the contact surface and when you are not? Do this when sitting, standing, crawling. Notice the effect of being in and out of support on your torso volume. This is an assessment about balance and support, the foundation of suspension.

Are you free to move in any direction? This indicates levels of positioning and holding.

Are you free to bounce a ball? Same purpose as above.

Can you tell when you are moving from your joints (hip socket-head to spine joint) or moving from the middle of your spine (neck, waist)? Put another way, "Where are you bending?" This is the key to what posture is generally about: the ability to retain the volume and elasticity of the torso.

Can you tell when you have full volume of your torso, or when you are compressing either in the front (slumping) or back (opening front at expense of back, lifting sternum, noble posture). This is another way to assess torso volume.

Can you tell when you have gained height at expense of freedom of movement/elasticity? This reminds students we need flexibility as well as shape to sing and move freely.

Can you tell when you feel free to breath? Assessing relationship of structure to breath function.

Do you feel more or less human? This is to help detect any rigidity or what we call the "singer's (or conductor's) set".

There are many more useful self-assessments.

Before a student can answer these self-assessment questions, they'll need to know some information about their architecture. Here are just a few useful architectural landmarks:

Identifying landmarks of your horizontal dimension: Where is your pelvic floor, thoracic diaphragm, vocal folds, base of brain, crown of head? We call these diaphragms. When you can feel the relationship of these horizontal dimensional landmarks (diaphragms), you have a means to assess your volume.

Understanding the elastic nature of spine and torso so that you can feel holding and interference.

Do you understand natural sequencing of movement? This is absolutely crucial for conductors!! If you understand this, you will never do another 'shoulder roll' in your life.

Location of hip-socket nearer pelvic floor than waist. Where do my legs begin and end?

Head on spine joint (atlanto-occipital joint) between ears, behind nose, near roof of mouth.

Do you know gravity works in both directions? Can you sense the light contact you have with the planet?

The list of this kind of knowledge is long.

When I work with students, I say to them: "Fundamentally, this work is about developing your own authority in understanding how you work. The key to this kind of empowerment is gaining the information to help you determine for yourself what does and does not work for you, versus focusing on trying to get someone else's (usually the teacher's) perspective right."

THE RIGHT CORNER OF THE TRIANGLE: LEARNING HAPPENS IN THE STUDENT. THE STUDENT HAS TO DISCOVER FOR HERSELF HOW SHE WORKS, WHAT'S TRUE FOR HER.

This article touches on the application of Sound Music Education - A Pedagogy of Empowerment, to our physical structure. I have witnessed educators explore the application of this new material to many aspects of music education. The primary result of updating ideas and pedagogical methods has been more success and inspiration. Best of all, it tends to result in empowered students. Students who leave lessons and choir excited and feeling good about who they are in the world. Students who can learn on their own. They are intrinsically empowered - not empowered by external praise and a teacher-centered pedagogy.

It is an exciting time for research on the human system. As we learn new facts from science, we have the opportunity to examine our practices to reflect the new knowledge. In some cases, as for me in the shift from teaching alignment to teaching suspension, we have to invent new pedagogy. The heart of Sound Music Education - A Pedagogy of Empowerment - is not so much a new method you need to learn; it is a perspective to help you discover the pedagogy that works for you and your students. It is a living, dynamic pedagogy.
Notes:
Thanks to Jen Moir and Axel Theimer for their contributions to this article. Sound Music Education - A Pedagogy of Empowerment™ - is trademark of Babette Lightner and Jennifer Moir, all rights reserved. The triangle scaffold diagram is a copyright of Babette Lightner, 2015. The pedagogy suggested here is an integral part of the BodyMind and Voice summer course with the VoiceCare Network.

Babette Lightner is director of Stones in Water - a Movement Education, Alexander Technique and LearningMethods™ Center in the Minneapolis, Minnesota and western Wisconsin ( www.stonesinwater.com). Lightner is a Registered Somatic Movement Educator, has a degree in Dance, is a Certified Teacher of the Alexander Technique, and is one of four Certified LearningMethods™ Teachers in the US. For ten years she taught in the Professional Actor Training Program at the Univ. of MN. She created human coordination classes for the Music Department at the Univ. of MN and at MacPhail Center for the Arts. Recently she developed a BodyMind and Music class for the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University during a semester residency. She was the Artist in Residence for the Theatre Department at the University of WI, River Falls. Lightner has lectured and taught for many universities, institutions, and organizations including the Guthrie Theater, Sister Kenny Institute, Balk Opera Music Institute, Taipei National University of Arts in Taiwan, and with the internationally acclaimed a cappella group Rajaton. She is on the faculty of the VoiceCare Network ( voicecarenetwork.org). For 20 years Lightner has maintained an individual practice as an Alexander Technique Teacher and more recently has added LearningMethods™ to her work. In this practice she works with people dealing with pain, stress issues, and with performers who want to get better at what they do.

For more information on this work contact Babette Lightner at babette@stonesinwater.com.

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Babette Lightner - The Pedagogy of Empowerment™ | Star of the North

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Lofty Goals What is the lofty goal for your choir? How does the pedagogy you employ serve your goal? Here is a possible lofty goal: The choral setting creates the opportunity to make music in an environment which allows each member of the community to thrive, while the larger community is enriched.