Standardized test cheating by teachers?? This cannot be.

[MadImmortalMan]

Or you could just do it in a proctored generic online way like Prometric or whoever. No need to make a huge deal out of when and where to take the test.

[Iormlund]

The exam venue is assigned randomly by a computer so that each school ground hosts students from dozens of different schools. 

That would only work in a crowded city with great public transportation.

Not really. We've been doing the same thing for decades, regardless of where you live. I took my exams at the local medical school.

[grumbler]

Not really. We've been doing the same thing for decades, regardless of where you live. I took my exams at the local medical school.

Every year?  Starting with the second or third grade?

I'm not sure you are comprehending the nature of the problem.

[Monoriu]

Or you could just do it in a proctored generic online way like Prometric or whoever. No need to make a huge deal out of when and where to take the test.

Bureaucrats are skeptical of IT solutions.  They want to have paper they can fall back to.  Before I worked in the IT department, I thought this kind of thinking was silly.  Now that I've worked with IT people for a few years, I begin to see the bureaucrats' point 

[MadImmortalMan]

Or you could just do it in a proctored generic online way like Prometric or whoever. No need to make a huge deal out of when and where to take the test.

Bureaucrats are skeptical of IT solutions.  They want to have paper they can fall back to.  Before I worked in the IT department, I thought this kind of thinking was silly.  Now that I've worked with IT people for a few years, I begin to see the bureaucrats' point 

Alas. When will we ever be free of the chains of paper? Throw all the printers in the ocean, I say. They are a curse and a disease.

[Ed Anger]

Or you could just do it in a proctored generic online way like Prometric or whoever. No need to make a huge deal out of when and where to take the test.

Bureaucrats are skeptical of IT solutions.  They want to have paper they can fall back to.  Before I worked in the IT department, I thought this kind of thinking was silly.  Now that I've worked with IT people for a few years, I begin to see the bureaucrats' point 

Alas. When will we ever be free of the chains of paper? Throw all the printers in the ocean, I say. They are a curse and a disease.

The paperless office is an illusion.

[MadImmortalMan]

The paperless office is an illusion.

Only because of luddites who fear change and other luddites who legislate barriers to evolution.

Bring it all down!

[Ed Anger]

Be sure to print out your proposal before submitting. Thanks!

[Iormlund]

Not really. We've been doing the same thing for decades, regardless of where you live. I took my exams at the local medical school.

Every year?  Starting with the second or third grade?

I'm not sure you are comprehending the nature of the problem.

Not anymore, now it's just one three day marathon before university. But we could just as well take one every single year.

As for the nature of the problem, it seems to be a lack of proper guarantee that the test results are in any way meaningful. Which basically invalidates any point the tests were designed to address. Fewer, objective tests > frequent, irrelevant ones.

[grumbler]

As for the nature of the problem, it seems to be a lack of proper guarantee that the test results are in any way or form meaningful. Which basically invalidates any point the tests were designed to address. Fewer, objective tests > frequent, irrelevant ones.

The purpose of the frequent testing is to give the illusion that education can be measured like auto mileage or batting average, and rewards and punishments can thus be fairly assigned.  Once some of the especially stupid politicians joined the especially stupid "education analysts" in believing this to be true, the few valid tests were dropped and frequent bogus testing became the gospel.

No Child Left Alive might be the poster-child for this movement, but it isn't unique.  And no one wants to measure the validity of the testing because (1) everyone knows it tests only what is easy to test, not what is important to test, and (2) validity isn't necessary - all that is necessary is a process (of any kind) that can be made to sound good.

[derspiess]

Be sure to print out your proposal before submitting. Thanks!

Better yet, make sure you print out that 140-page manual that will likely be out of date by the time you actually have to reference it. 

[garbon]

Throw all the printers in the ocean, I say. They are a curse and a disease.

Hear, hear!

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/printers

[crazy canuck]

Grumbler, what were the valid tests and what, in your view, is important to test for and how does one do that?