Sharon
Posts:
384
From:
NYC
Registered:
6/26/05
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Re: Possible non-release of regents exams
Posted:
May 18, 2011 6:38 PM
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IMHO things are going from bad to worse. Personally, I am totally disgusted.
Tzippy
-----Original Message-----
From: Westendorf, Neal <nwestendorf@taconichills.k12.ny.us>
To: nyshsmath <nyshsmath@mathforum.org>
Sent: Wed, May 18, 2011 6:30 pm
Subject: RE: Possible non-release of regents exams
This is unacceptable. The memo http://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2011Meetings/May2011/511p12ccra1.pdf
<http://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2011Meetings/May2011/511p12ccra1.pdf>
states
The Department will explore longer term actions steps to address future
funding shortfalls due to the uncertainty of the fiscal condition of the state
and this program.
o Revise the current practice of the public release of exams after
administration. Exams will be kept secure to allow items to be reused, thus
producing savings on development costs.
That has been the case for several years for the RCT. The problem is that when
I am done grading an exam (which I am not allowed to see), I can only report a
score. I cannot do an item analysis nor provide the teacher and the student
with feedback on areas of strength and weakness. As Tom points out, we may
recall certain kinds of questions that need to be included in our courses. Then
again, we may not and the students certainly won't when they are prepping for
their next shot at the exam - a year later. We and they need to see copies of
the exam.
Ok, the financial state of the state is a mess and the department needs to
control costs (by shifting them to the local districts when they issue keys and
instructions only electronically). This proposal would only make it tougher for
our weakest students to prep for graduation requirements. It would make our
tough job all the more difficult as well.
The only way around this might be a combination of a pool of similar questions
available publicly AND a very specific item analysis of the exam errors that
would facilitate remediation and preparation. How do you work with this item
analysis on a part 2,3 or 4 question?
Neal
Taconic Hills
________________________________
From: owner-nyshsmath@mathforum.org on behalf of bettyjspace-1@yahoo.com
Sent: Wed 5/18/2011 5:26 PM
To: nyshsmath@mathforum.org
Subject: Possible non-release of regents exams
Tom,
In reply to your comment about the release of exams. You may recall that the
recent January exam in physics was a "secure exam." Teachers were supposed to
grade the papers using the answer key, without ever seeing the actual exams.
Betty
________________________________
From: "TKENYON@crcs.wnyric.org" <TKENYON@crcs.wnyric.org>
To: nyshsmath@mathforum.org
Sent: Wed, May 18, 2011 4:27:53 PM
Subject: RE: Field Test Question
I note this document mentions that they'll stop releasing exams. Why not?
Teachers are going to see them. Ask me in September what questions were on the
Geometry Regents this June and I'll probably be able to recall the majority of
them. Some, I won't commit to memory, because there's nothing special about an
(for example) inverse/converse/contrapositive problem. Toss on something in a
style that I didn't specifically teach (i.e. June 2003's question on the
Pythagorean theorem applied to a 3-dimensional problem), and I guarantee it'll
be on my mind all summer to make sure that my students can do that problem the
following year. Don't allow me to ever see the problems, and, in the case of
that 2003 problem, I might teach for 10 more years, wondering "why the heck did
85% of my students get a Pythagorean theorem problem incorrect? Just what the
heck is the problem??" Thus, how am I supposed to improve my instruction?
Sure, some exams keep the questions a secret - AP, SAT, etc. But the same
companies that make those exams also publish books with questions similar to
those that students can expect on the exam.
-Tom Kenyon
CRCS Mathematics/Physics
tkenyon@crcs.wnyric.org
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