Cool Story Time.

[Tails82]

Tails is going to write another chapter and wave is going to do nationstates on Friday. Do not forget

[Tails82]

It's coming. Essays, yknow...

[Tails82]

-Chapter 95b-

"Wave!" Espeon called out as she ran through the snow, looking for the aforementioned character. "Wait for me! I want to come with you!"

Silence. No one answered.

"He couldn't have gotten far" she said to herself, walking on. "Wave? Where are you?"

She listened for an answer. Still, none was received.

"Hmm...maybe I haven't been listening properly."

Espeon cleared her mind and waited. And soon enough...

"I'm over here" a voice said inside her mind. And right away she knew where to go.

----

Wave waited for Espeon to arrive. These past few days had been difficult for him. Ever since he had received an unexpected message...

"Wave, I'm here!" Espeon said.

"Dunno" Wave replied for some reason.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Espeon asked, concerned. "What's on your mind?"

"You know what's on my mind..."

"Yes, but it's nice to ask..."

Wave stared off into the distance. "So you know all about the letter. The one I received from Tails a few days ago..."

Espeon nodded. "Still, it's just a letter..."

"It's NOT just a letter, dammit!" Wave lost his temper but quickly calmed down in Espeon's presence. "Sorry...but it's been haunting me ever since I first laid my eyes on it." Wave's eyes widened. "I just...can't get my mind off...the role of assessment in education and the debate over whether a formative or summative approach is preferable!"

"Why not?" Espeon asked.

"Dunno. I'm crazy. Whatever." Wave took out the letter. "Would you like to see it?"

"Um...okay..." Espeon sat down as Wave lay the letter on the ground before her.

"Read it." Wave said.

"I don't know what that would accompli-"

"READ IT!"

Espeon looked down at the letter and began reading. "Assessment may take place in several different forms and situations, and is not merely limited to traditional exams. Assessment can be administered by a teacher in the form of norm-referenced or criterion-referenced tests, or it may take place in the form of self-referenced assessment performed by students. Tests are meant to be valid, reliable and usable. Student learning is best determined when tests contain material relevant to the curriculum, produce similar results over time, and remain relatively simple to administer. Tests may be referred to as diagnostic, formative, or summative. These categories refer to the different stages of instruction in which assessment may be performed. Various forms of assessment can be used, as teachers are not limited to a single form of testing. However, there are concerns that some forms of assessment may be overemphasized, at the expense of others. Critics of standardized testing claim that state and national standards have increased the focus on summative assessment, leading to situations where rote memorization is taught, while little or no efforts are made to help students develop their analytical skills or a deeper understanding of the curriculum. Some believe that a deeper emphasis on formative assessment is needed, while others argue that higher standards, supported and-"

"enforced by summative assessment, would allow for greater accountability and reform efforts." Wave interrupted. "Educators continue to look for a proper balance among various forms of testing, although it is unlikely that disagreements will end, due to differences among school environments and changing trends in the educational system over time" he repeated from memory.

----

"Waiter!" Tails shouted.

*sigh* "what do you want now?"

"I want...a bowl of cereal! And some dry white toast, please. And another root beer."

"Don't you think you've had enough, sir?"

"Ah'll tell you when ah've had enough!"

Tails chuckled as he waited for his cereal.

"Hey, buddy" he said to the guy sitting a few seats away from him. "I got three words for you: you are now my rival."

"I don't even know you, man" the dude answered.

"Oh, so you think you're better than me, huh? HUH? Are you a Communist or a homosexual or something? Or a...communist, that...shoots homosexuals from his eyes?" Tails stumbled out of his chair and approached the guy. "Well I got news for you, pal. I could kick your butt in a test of wits any day! Heck, I know more about tests themselves than you do. I know em like the back of my 3094313ing hand! Don't even get me started on tests!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!" Tails answered while he tried but failed to break his root beer bottle against the counter. "Did you know that assessment can be diagnostic, formative, or summative? Diagnostic tests are administered before instruction occurs, in order to determine the background knowledge that students may have. Larson & Keiper (2007) state that, “depending on the results, a teacher is able to determine the course content that needs to be learned” (pp. 79-80). A diagnostic test could be used to shape curriculum based on the degree of prior knowledge students display. Formative assessment takes place during instruction, as a way to monitor student progress. According to Larson & Keiper (2007), “Formative assessments often are not graded…when teachers monitor students’ progress, and are able to identify where students are having trouble, they can make necessary instructional adjustments” (p. 80). Formative assessments allow teachers to determine if students are struggling with a particular concept, which review or other forms of instruction may help clarify (Garrison & Ehringhaus, 2010). Summative assessment is used at the end of instruction, allowing educators to assess the degree of learning which has taken place. Harlen (2005) states, “there are various ways in which the information about student achievement at a certain time is used. These uses include: internal school tracking of students’ progress; informing parents, students and the students’ next teacher of what has been achieved; certification of accreditation of learning by an external body; and selection for employment of higher education” (p. 208). The distinction between diagnostic, formative and summative assessment is often blurred, as some argue that diagnostic testing is a part of formative assessment (Larson & Keiper, 2007), while others believe that formative testing is a part of summative assessment (Taras, 2005)."

Tails took a deep breath. "Validity, reliability, and usability are the main criteria for judging the effectiveness of a certain test (Larson & Keiper, 2007). Validity, according to Steedle, Kugelmass & Nemeth (2010), “often refers to construct validity [sic] – whether the scores from a test are valid indicators of what the test purports to measure” (p. 35). For example, a test containing questions involving the American Revolution would be seen as valid if it claims to measure historical knowledge, while it would not be a valid indicator of mathematical knowledge. A test is said to be reliable when test scores remain consistent across repeated administrations (Steedle, Kugelmass & Nemeth, 2010). Reliability is important because if test results are inconsistent, it may undermine claims that the test is an objective measurement of student learning. Standardized tests tend to have a high degree of reliability, according to Larson & Keiper (2007); however, “reliability is a concern when teachers grade an essay. If the teacher does not have a rating scale…then grading will be less reliable. This is sometimes referred to as ‘subjective’ grading” (p. 74). Tests would not be reliable if students display similar amounts of knowledge but receive vastly different grades. Usability refers to the simplicity in which a test is administered. A written exam would be a more usable form of assessment than a presentation, since written exams tend to take less time to administer and grade. However, presentations would likely be viewed as a more valid form of assessment (Larson & Keiper, 2007). Now if you'll excuse me, there's a Big Mac with my name on it."

"Bowl of cereal."

"Whatever, it's all good."

----

Espeon continued reading. "Assessment can also be referred to as norm-referenced, criterion-referenced or self-referenced. Pellegrino, Chudowsky & Glaser (2001) state, “Under the ‘norm-referenced’ testing tradition…students’ performances are interpreted in terms of the performances of other students on that same test” (pp. 136-137). Norm-referenced tests are competitive. An average score is determined based on students’ performance, and students would achieve high grades or low grades if they performed better or worse than the average score, respectively. According to Larson & Keiper (2007), “this approach is not used very often by teachers. Rather than having students compete against each other for a grade, teachers would rather have them focus on meeting specific criteria” (pp.81-82). Criterion-referenced tests are designed to measure whether a student has met an adequate level of knowledge based on a set minimum level or standard (Larson & Keiper, 2007). Nitro is silly. Brown (as cited in Ratcliffe, 1992), describes criterion-referenced assessment as “Assessment that provides information about the specific knowledge and abilities of pupils through their performances on various kinds of tasks that are interpretable in terms of what the pupils know or can do, without reference to the performance of others” (p.171). Criterion-based assessments are not competitive, since a student’s grade is not influenced by the scores of other students. Assessments may also be self-referenced. Larson and Keiper (2007) define self-referencing as “an assessment by the student against himself – or, more particularly, against previous best performances…self-referencing is most relevant to helping students meet individual goals” (p. 82). Students measure their performance on previous tests and seek improvement over time. There is currently a debate over the emphasis placed on summative assessment. National and state assessment standards have grown in recent years (Kuh & Ewell, 2010). Jen give me pics. With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, which required all states to develop their own forms of assessment in order to measure yearly progress, there has been a debate over the validity of standardized tests in measuring student achievement. Proponents of standardized testing believe that higher standards would lead to greater educational progress. Wiggins (2010) states, “despite the constant criticisms leveled at state tests, local assessment is arguably the far weaker link in the whole chain of would-be reform…in terms of Bloom's taxonomy, most teacher questions only hit the first two levels (knowledge and comprehension) instead of the higher levels (application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation)” (p.1). Some argue that the data collected from standardized test scores allows for greater accountability and improvement in scores over time, as struggling schools are identified more easily and efforts can be made to fix perceived problems. Stiggins (2004) believes, “the demand for accountability is helping educators clarify achievement expectations. This has already produced dividends in the form of focused standards – a solid foundation for greater student success - and the development of standards-referenced tests” (p. 23). Standardized tests help provide a measurement of student learning based on a uniform set of standards for achievement, and establish a more concrete record of student progress which increases transparency and accountability...wave, do I have to keep reading this?"

"Yes" Wave said as he rocked back and forth. "Read. Read until it is done. Then perhaps repeat it."

Nitro slid in through an invisible door. "Look over here, it's everyone's favorite social democrat wanting more time in the story!"

"Oh good" Espeon said. "I was getting bored of this. You can read it now."

"If it means more time in the spotlight, I'm game." Chromes took a look at the letter. "Others believe that the emphasis on standardized tests is an incorrect means to assess student learning. Critics of the standardization movement argue that standardized tests may not accurately reflect the knowledge that students possess, and alternative testing such as performance-based or formative assessments are more representative of student abilities (Tashlik, 2010). wtf is this shit?" Nitro asked.

"Read it or leave the chapter" Wave growled.

"Fien jeez" Chromes grumbled. "There are concerns that teachers may find themselves focusing on recitation and rote memorization of test contents, rather than encouraging students to develop analytical skills and a deeper understanding of course concepts. Dixon (1978) states, “schools should be held accountable for attainments much broader and more vital for successful living than the data of norm-referenced tests…standardized tests have led to a distortedly narrow interpretation of school accountability” (p. 297). While the push for standardization and accountability has grown, critics of standardized testing believe that the tests ignore several areas of student knowledge, and therefore are not valid indicators of overall student achievement. There are also concerns that standardized testing can have a negative effect on student motivation, and favor some students over others (Harlen, 2005). Some educators state that there are better ways to measure student learning than high-stakes testing. Phyllis Tashlik (2005), believes that a greater emphasis on performance-based assessment is needed: “Instead of relying on the results of a standardized exit exam – an incomplete and not always reliable quantitative representation of what students know and can do – the performance assessment system requires and is capable of producing more and varied comprehensive data, which lead to a better understanding of students and their accomplishments” (p. 56). She's right, we should spend less time on answering sex ed questions and more time learning how to properly use a condom in the field. Rather than focusing on norm-referenced summative testing, criterion-based performance assessments may be a more valid representation of student learning because they are designed to measure tasks that have practical applications outside the classroom (Larson & Keiper, 2007). Authentic assessment may be helpful in some aspects, but summative tests also contain benefits. Pff...either way, they suck. Some educators believe that a proper balance can be found between formative and summative assessment. Garrison & Ehringhaus (2010) state, “when a comprehensive assessment program at the classroom level balances formative and summative student learning/achievement information, a clear picture emerges of where a student is relative to learning targets and standards” (p. 3). Student ability can be most accurately measured through a combination of assessment methods, from standardized tests to self-assessment (Stiggins, 2004). Good enough?"

"I don't think you read that word-for-word" Wave replied. "No matter. You can fix it when you reread it."

*groan*

----

"Hey, that was pretty impressive back there" the waiter said as he handed the cereal over to Tails. "You may be an annoying dick but you sure know your tests."

"Well, I spose..." Tails said in between cereal mouthfuls.

"Hey, wanna know a secret?" the waiter whispered. "I...have an assessment fetish. Every word you said back there...aroused me. In a sexual manner."

"If only my teachers were more like you."

"Hey, if you don't mind...can you tell me your opinion on how the issue can be resolved, in less than one page?"

"Certainly" Tails said. "While educators recognize the importance of both formative and summative assessment, debate will continue over what qualifies as a proper balance between the two forms of testing. The proper balance between different forms of assessment can vary among different classroom environments and, due to the changing nature of the educational system and society itself, there will probably never be a simple answer to the issue. It is important to remember that a single testing method does not hold all the answers. While a certain form of assessment may have its flaws, these difficulties may be overcome through reform efforts rather than a complete rejection of the testing method in question. The best way to assess student learning is through a variety of methods, employing formative assessment to measure student progress during instruction and summative assessment to determine student learning once instruction has taken place. Other methods, such as diagnostic testing and self-referenced assessment, may also be employed as useful assessment tools."

Tails went back to his root beer, while the waiter went to go find a chance of pants.

----

"Assessment is meant to be valid...reliable...and usable" Nitro droned. "Diagnostic, formative and summative forms of testing can be used to measure student learning. Tests may also be referred to as norm-referenced, criterion-referenced or self-referenced. Each assessment method contains strength in some areas but weaknesses in others. Traditional written tests, for example, may be reliable and easy to administer, but will not be as valid as a well-designed performance assessment. In return, a presentation may be a more accurate measurement of student learning but will take longer to assess than a written exam, and may not be as reliable. There is a debate over whether some forms of assessment, such as summative or standardized testing, are being overemphasized at the expense of others. Proposed solutions to the issue call for a greater focus on formative, authentic, or criterion-based assessment. While many agree that reform is needed, it may be difficult to determine the proper balance between different forms of assessment, since varied learning environments and changing societal trends would make it impossible to develop a system that is uniformly effective. Teachers will continue to weigh several factors, from national and state standards to the individual needs of their students, and will need to employ the various forms of assessment at their disposal in order to determine the best combination of methods that enhance student achievement. Can I go home now?"

"Read the works cited."

"Do I really have t-"

"READ. THE WORKS. CITED."

"Okay...

1) Dixon, N. (1978). “Testing – Its Impact on Expectations, Practice, Accountability.” Educational Leadership, 35 (4), 294-297.

2) Garrison, C. & Ehringhaus, M. (2007). “Formative and Summative Assessments in the Classroom.”

3) Harlen, W. (2005). “Teachers' Summative Practices and Assessment for Learning.” Curriculum Journal, 16 (2), 207-223.

4) Kuh, G. & Ewell, P. (2010). “The State of Learning Outcomes Assessment in the United States.” Higher Education Management & Policy, 22 (1), 9-28.

5) Larson, B. & Keiper, T. (2007). Instructional Strategies for Middle and High School. New York, NY: Routledge.

6) Pellegrino, J., Chudowsky, N. & Glaser, R. (2007). Knowing What Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Essessment. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

7) Ratcliffe, M. (1992). “The Implementation of Criterion-Referenced Assessment in the Teaching of Science.” Research in Science & Technological Education, 10 (2), 171-186.

8) Steedle, J., Kugelmass, H. & Nemeth, A. (2010). “What Do They Measure? Comparing Three Learning Outcome Assessments.” Change, 42 (4), 33-37.

9) Stiggins, R. (2004). “New Assessment Beliefs for a New School Mission.” Phi Delta Kappan, 86 (1), 22-27.

10) Taras, M. (2005). “Assessment – Summative and Formative – Some Theoretical Reflections.” British Journal of Educational Studies, 53 (4), 466-478.

11) Tashlik, P. (2010). “Changing the National Conversation on Assessment.” Phi Delta Kappan, 91 (6), 55-59.

12) Wiggins, G. (2010). “Why We Should Stop Bashing State Tests.” Educational Leadership, 67 (6)."

-end of chapter 95b-

[Preventing Google Doxxing]

._.

[Tails82]

Still got it.

[Mastery]

Hey, where's my anarchist representation. ._.

Overall this was one of the best parts of the story.

[Laharls_Wrath]

I laughed out loud

[Pyro ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ ✔]

Aaaaaaaaahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahah

Tails is a crack up dude.

[thewave]

What the FUCK happened here?! What the fuck did you drink? No wait, have you been on crack Tails?! What the fuck is this crap about?!

......I want a normal chapter. Like the early ones.

[Preventing Google Doxxing]

Fuck.

[Tails82]

It's impossible to please someone who thinks everything will only get worse. Tell you what, I'll mail the next chapter to you ok waveo? ^_^

[Preventing Google Doxxing]

Can you give me the version where everyone dies in the end?

[Tails82]

idk maybe.

That was a 168/170 performance btw. -10 for lateness.

[Pyro ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ ✔]

Were is the Tails movie animated using MS paint???

[Tails82]

Not in existence...yet.