Dr. Andrew Ho, who is a Charles William Eliot Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and holds a Ph.D. in educational psychology and his M.S. in statistics from Stanford University, joins us to talk turkey about the National Assessment of Educational Progress scores that were released late October 2022. Dr. Ho is psychometrician--wait, WHAT?? Yes, it's a very specialized area of study that allows researcher to better understand the psychology of testing. Dr. Ho uses his research to focus on the "Who, What and Why" of testing. Who is testing What and Why??
So Who is NAEP? What are the tests that they do? And WHY are they performing these tests?
Basically, NAEP is a national organization that does standardized testing across specific schools/districts across the nation to get an overview of how students are performing in specific academic areas.
These tests are in ADDITION to the annual, standardized testing that most schools/districts across the nation do every! single! year! (UGH!! We test soooo much!!). The positive piece about NAEP testing is that it provides us with an overview of national learning in math, reading, and science. NAEP tests students in 4th, 8th, and 12th grades.
The most recent scores, post CoVid 19, presented the lowest numbers the United States have EVER seen! This sounds scary and overwhelming!!!
Dr. Ho does such a fantastic job of taking this information and making it meaningful--and even entertaining! We had such a wonderful conversation with him. He puts these test scores into perspective. He gives us a clear understanding about Who, What and Why....and how it impacts YOU and YOUR CHILD.
Dr. Ho has served on the governing boards for the National Council on Measurement in Education and the National Assessment of Educational Progress, so his understanding and insights, professionally, are solid. He is also the parent of 2 students who have gone through this testing over the past 4 years. His perspective as a dad is something every parent can relate to.
He openly shares his thoughts on annual standardized testing, the push for teachers to conform and teach to standards, and ways that our nation could begin to revamp the system.
Dr. Ho aims to improve the design of tests and support educators in finding JOY in teaching again.
Listen to this episode and tell us....
Do the NAEP scores indicate significant losses in the US Education system?
Should we change the way we test?
Maybe fall back onto the NAEP system and take away the annual standardized testing systems that we are currently using--systems that are costing our public education system over 1.7 BILLION dollars every year?
Tell us what YOU think!
Join us EVERY week on our podcast, YouTube, and here on our Blog--we want YOUR thoughts and input!
Hollye and Shannon
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