Monday, January 23, 2012

Test Prep is Partially Effective

Kathleen Porter-Magee:

Similarly, Pondiscio derides both “dumb test prep” and “reciting lesson aim and standard.” There is no question that test prep is virtually useless. In fact, the fact that test prep is used so widely, but that reading scores have remained essentially flat for more than a decade, should help demonstrate just how ineffective it is. Why it is still the go-to method for preparing students for state tests is beyond me.

But state test scores aren't flat, they almost always go up at a steady rate, everywhere. Test prep is partially effective, to varying degrees, in the short run, for the specific test in question.

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