-tictech message:
The digital divide is real.
To "hold back" those who can to "level" the playing field for those who
presently lack opportunities in technology use is backwards thinking in
itself.
Let's not penalize the students for what they have and use, rather, change
the system and its use of assessment results to unfairly compare kids
(shame).
The DWA can be assessed differently for those who use spellcheck, etc. as a
part of their present day learning.
The DWA can also assessed those who presently don't.
In the ITBS, use of a calculator for some parts is allowed and a different
norm is used.
The same can be done with the DWA.
Kevin
> Kevin Crozier
> Gr. 3 - Lowell School
> Seattle, WA
> kbcrozier@seattleschools.org
> http://www.seattleschools.org/schools/lowell/kevin/index.htm
> "Understand the conflict with your brain, but solve it in your
heart." -Erin Jones
>
> ----------
> From: Graham Ford
> Reply To: tictech@learningspace.org
> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 6:18 PM
> To: tictech@learningspace.org
> Subject: Re: tictech: DWA comments
>
> -tictech message:
>
> I am all for using technology and testing students in "real world"
> conditions. However I think one major sticking point relates to the
> so-called digital divide. I worked last summer for Giant Campus and it
> gave me the opportunity to work closely with wealthier children from
> Bellevue, one kid was dropped off in a Ferrari. In the SPS, I work at
> Highland Park Elementary in West Seattle. I have even toured a variety
> of Washington D.C. schools and there is no school in Seattle that can
> compare with some of the lack of access to technology I saw in some of
> the D.C. schools. My own experiences have given me first-hand
> knowledge of the incredible disparity that exists in the area of
> computer literacy.
>
> The use of the word "assessment" in the name of the DWA says a lot. It
> is part of a greater scheme that is making public education an
> increasingly more competitive environment, be it competition between
> students for acceptance into programs or competition between schools
> for funds. This is a writing test, and the dangerous side affect of
> something such as a spellchecker is that the results are skewed towards
> students with greater access to technology.
>
> For educated adults using a spellchecker is trivial, just like using a
> calculator. But how does it look from the perspective of a child?
> What if we were to go to the other extreme, and compare it to taking a
> college level standardized linear algebra test in which students are
> allowed to use Matlab? We can say "in the real world mathematicians
> use computers and software such as Mathematica, Matlab and Maple all
> the time," but only some students would be proficient at programming in
> Matlab. This is just another divide at a different level, where some
> students would have used and mastered the software and some have not.
>
> It's sad that we have to remove perfectly good tools from such tests,
> but it would be unfair to further set back schools and students that
> are already struggling.
>
> Graham Ford
> Network Administrator
> Highland Park Elementary
> fordgj@u.washington.edu
>
> On Thursday, March 13, 2003, at 01:21 PM, Fisher, Devin wrote:
>
> > -tictech message:
> >
> > I'm not a teacher, but I do understand some of the problems with how
> > technology (everyone must remember paper and pencils are technology,
> > albeit
> > somewhat of an old technology) is adapted for use in the classroom. If
> > I
> > remember correctly, the point of having education is to make our
> > children
(cut - ma)
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