Frederick Kelly

Along the lines with Sir Ken Robinson in his Changing Education Paradigm, in regards to the current educational model, “It grew out of the Industrial Revolution era where it was effective for the teaching of the masses. Conformity was an effective means for the time. However, the current view of conformity as being the method for student success, accreditation and funding ceases to be effective in teaching and learning. (Robinson, K., 2010)”Changing

Changing Education Paradigms

In this talk from RSA Animate, Sir Ken Robinson lays out the link between 3 troubling trends: rising drop-out rates, schools' dwindling stake in the arts, and ADHD. An important, timely talk for parents and teachers.

The mere origins of grade schools reflect this same sentiment, “Around the turn of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution was going full-bore. Piece-work payments were becoming increasingly popular, and many schools were beginning to pay teachers based on the number of students they had, as opposed to a flat salary. “ (Burelle, 2008) William Farish, a tutor at Cambridge University in England in 1792, came up with a method of teaching which would allow him to process more students in a shorter period of time and invented grades. (Burelle, 2008)”

According to Carol Davidson in her article titled, Standardized tests for everyone? In the Internet age, that’s the wrong answer., states,“The country needed to process students quickly and efficiently. If Henry Ford could turn out Model Ts “for the great multitude,” surely there was an equivalent way, Kelly wrote in his dissertation at Kansas State Teachers College, to streamline schooling. What he came up with was the Kansas Silent Reading Test, sometimes called the “item-response” or “bubble” test.

Today, American public school students are still taking versions of Kelly’s test. End-of-grade exams, required under the No Child Left Behind law, are modeled after his idea: Fill in the circles. There is only one right answer. Stop when time is called…The College Entrance Examination Board had adopted Kelly’s test as the basis for its Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). “(Davidson, 2011).

Here is a snippet of one of Kelly’s exam.

Frederick Kelly's Exam Example

Carol Davison work titled, “How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn, “Using cutting-edge research on the brain, she shows how “attention blindness” has produced one of our society’s greatest challenges: while we’ve all acknowledged the great changes of the digital age, most of us still toil in schools and workplaces designed for the last century. Davidson introduces us to visionaries whose groundbreaking ideas—from schools with curriculums built around video games to companies that train workers using virtual environments—will open the doors to new ways of working and learning. A lively hybrid of Thomas Friedman and Normal Doidge, Now You See It is a refreshingly optimistic argument for a bold embrace of our connected, collaborative future.” (Davidson, 2011).

Here is the precursory video discussion on the topic prior to its publication titled, Cathy Davidson on How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn. (Davidson, 2011).

According to Brian Childs, (2012) in his article titled, Standardized Testing Pros and Cons, “Standardized testing has been one of the most controversial subjects in education since its creation during the era of World War I and the Model T Ford. Frederick J. Kelly initially developed standardized tests as a crude measure of “lower order” thinking skills, intended to help streamline America’s quickly expanding public education system, but 14 years later, when standardized tests had become a pervasive aspect of both public and higher education, Kelly disavowed his own creation. Instead, he argued for “liberal, integrated, problem-based learning” as the basis of education. So what are the real pros and cons of standardized education?

He further outlines the pros and cons of standardized testing.

Standardized Testing Pros

• Simplicity
• Objectivity
• Accountability

Standardized Testing Cons

• Outdated Theoretical Basis
• Inappropriate Interpretation of Results
• Persistent Biases
• Distortion of Curriculum (Childs,2012)

There are places where standardized testing may serve its applicable purpose and others that do not as further described by Brian Childs.

Productive Use of Standardized Testing

• One effective use of standardized tests is to identify students who may have learning disabilities and who therefore require special education.

Unproductive Use of Standardized Testing

• An example of a less productive use of standardized testing would be the recent publication of data on the performance of 1,800 teachers in New York City based entirely on their students’ standardized test scores.  (Childs, 2012)

For the online classroom, we find test and quizzes as the most frequently used type of assessment and most often, summative in nature. Outlining some of the issues with tests and quizzes are highlighted by Brian Kelly (2014), in his article, Alternative Assessment Methods for the Online Classroom,

• Test and quizzes typically assess low-level learning. “They address only some of the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, often sticking to the knowledge level. 
• Tests and quizzes often are not aligned with the learning objectives or pedagogies of the course. “When you’re having students do more authentic activities or application activities, you’re working at the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy—synthesis or evaluation—but then you’re measuring the lowest level—the knowledge level—by using a test or quiz,”
• Overuse of test and quizzes can promote cheating. (Kelly, 2014)

Certification Exams for standardized boards and accreditation for many industries are the go to requirement for the standards of achievement for that field. Furthermore, the recruitment and hiring of professionals are based on these exams and their results. The questions are, how accurate are they and what do they actually assess? How true are they in reflecting the necessary skill and qualities of a prospective employee for a company or state?

We see certifications for the IT, Legal, Medical, Educational and other industries. With the myriad of scholarly articles, discussion and analysis that debate the accuracy of these exams is something that needs to be visited and rethought, and, not just for the classroom, but for the state of affairs of a civilized society on the whole.

References

Childs, B. (2012). Standardized Testing Pros and Cons. Retrieved from http://certificationmap.com/standardized-testing-pros-and-cons/

Davidson, C. (2011). Standardized tests for everyone? In the Internet age, that’s the wrong answer. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/standardized-tests-for-everyone-in-the-internet-age-thats-the-wrong-answer/2011/09/21/gIQA7SZwqK_story.html

Davidson, C. (2011). Now You See It. Retrieved from http://www.cathydavidson.com/books/now-you-see-it/.

Davidson, C. (2011). Cathy Davidson on How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGtgwJumlTo.

Kelly, R. (2014). Alternative Assessment Methods for the Online Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-assessment/alternative-assessment-methods-online-classroom/

Robinson, Sir K. (2010).  Changing Education Paradigms. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms.