Center Point Assessment Solutions, Inc.

10/07/2019

If only this was the worst of it. If only.

Please, please, please--we really have to do better.

A math question comparing the weight of three hypothetical Grade 4 girls offended one Utah student enough that she refused to answer it, while the company that supplied the curriculum work said there is ‘no value judgment’ in the question.

03/15/2018

My favorite line: "Alignment studies are wonky."

States should not use the SAT or ACT to measure high school achievement because those exams don’t fully reflect states' academic standards, and could distort what's taught in the classroom, according to a paper released Tuesday by Achieve.

02/25/2018

When it's all about the test scores.

An education professor, who worked as a teacher in Atlanta Public Schools during a cheating scandal that began in 2009, explains what factors and forces lead educators to fake academic success.

01/02/2018

Privately, I'm sometimes critical of EdWeek. Not today. A thoughtful piece near the end of a heated, tumultuous year.

Inspired by Susan Cain's 2012 book, Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking, teachers in New York City and elsewhere are developing learning environments that give a voice to silent students.

12/25/2017

"Questions like, 'is it ethical?' or 'is it appropriate?' simply aren’t part of the equation, because ROI always wins out."

Everywhere you turn online, you’ll find products that congratulate, motivate, and engage you. But they often forget one thing: context.

10/17/2017

Small business social networking still has a long way to go.

The consistent error seems to be over-reach: they assume all small businesses would be better off mingling with each other no matter what, sharing referrals over cocktails and hitting the local Chamber of Commerce business brunch scene.

In reality, however, the carpet installer down the road is unlikely to be able to share business referrals with me. And I can't really help the canine hair salon next door. So the niche players remain on the sidelines, for the most part.

Essentially, this is evidence of companies that want to grow far more than they want to solve SMB problems. If you've ever thought perhaps LinkedIn wanted your contact list far more than they wanted to actually help you land a new gig, you know the feeling.

08/18/2017

For the record, I know nothing about this particular assessment, so I offer no commentary about it whatsoever. But I did--on one single occasion--attempt to administer an assessment in a Kindergarten classroom. Seeing those kids take the test right in front of me was eye-opening, to say the least. I left with serious questions about the value of testing kids so young. So, so many variables go into any given student's score, especially at that age.

Generally, if the program benefits teachers I'm all for it--my hat is off to any program that truly supports the day-to-day work of educators.

The way the information is reported, however, is pause for concern. It plays directly into the public's misconception about student learning as something that can be measured as easily as height, weight, and distance from point A to B.

Educators said the results of Mississippi’s statewide assessment of learning in pre-K and kindergarten show that the majority of the state’s youngest students have made significant gains during the…

08/07/2017

Right, so aside from the notion of whether or not it makes sense to accept opinions offered by professionals whose industry training has little to do with early childhood ed and does not require a four-year degree, maybe we could all just pause for a moment and consider what this particular phrase implies?

"Despite home price tags near or above a million dollars, Lofton found low standardized test scores."

Thanks Nancy Sipe for sharing the article.

Real-estate agents, knowingly or not, can sway families' opinions on schools. So, school officials in Pasadena, Calif., decided to ask agents to help build a better district image.

07/28/2017

A nice list of company names you'll never hear. There may be no better illustration of how the K-12 assessment industry is its own special animal; so often, the "normal" rules of business just don't apply.

06/21/2017

Tools. We've got tools now. All of us. Finally.

About a month ago I was driving my kid to school when I got a ping to change something in the online app we built. I pulled into a parking lot and made the update in 5 minutes using nothing more than an iPhone 5c!

After lagging other industries by years (if not decades) we can do so much more than before. By tablet. By phone. By cloud.

But that doesn't mean we should be just be smitten with what we've already got. If anything, it ups the ante in favor of more change, more often.

01/26/2017

Why standards matter--even when they feel "academic."

A few Fridays ago I was in line at the grocery down the street at 7 a.m., bag of rock salt under my arm, pull-to-refreshing a weather app…

11/16/2016

I'm part of an industry which is essentially preoccupied with aiding and assisting others as they attempt to wield the levers of "formal education."

But for me it's the other part—the informal aspect of education—where the real action happens.

Are we getting any better at bridging the gap between formal and informal education? Are we even asking the right questions about what 'getting an education' means?

Sometimes, I wonder.

It almost doesn't matter what the question is, really. Everyone is an independent actor, now more than ever, with access to information, to tools, to the leverage to make a difference. Instead of being a cog merely waiting for instructions,...