Elections in Florida have grave consequences and one of the worst will be student essays will now be graded by computers. In an effort to save money, probably so the state can funnel more into charters and vouchers, the department of education in all their wisdom, or lack thereof, has decided to have this years common core essay test graded by computers.
Students can be retained, teachers can be fired and schools can be closed are just a few of the high stakes possible outcomes.
from the Palm Beach Post: Many educators are horrified.
Students can be retained, teachers can be fired and schools can be closed are just a few of the high stakes possible outcomes.
from the Palm Beach Post: Many educators are horrified.
“Personally and professionally, as a parent and as an educator, I do not want machines scoring students’ writing in Florida because the technology required to grade students fairly and accurately does not exist and because using what does already exist will only promote an inadequate, reductive understanding of writing,” said Paul Corrigan, an English professor at Southeastern University in Lakeland. “In a time when almost everyone in the larger discussions on education agrees that writing skills are as important as ever for students to develop, we shouldn’t hand off the assessment of writing skills to computers that simply are not up to the job.
“The way we test inevitably shapes the way we teach,” he said. “Writing, which requires nuance, thought, and creativity from students, requires humans to teach and to assess.”
Sadly this will not be the last affront to public education.
I was glad to see that there will be one computer and one human scorer. I know few people in DCPS, including AP English teachers, who use basic good grammar. I have often wondered about the qualifications of the people who score the writing exams. I know a few who do and their own command of the English language had me concerned.
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