CIM and CAM, RIP
Good riddance say most people, although my local newspaper, the
Register-Guard can't bring itself to be honest. The following is from their editorial on the subject:
"From the start, the CIM and CAM have been cited as examples of jargon, fuzz and fog in education, and the public's lack of understanding of the certificates allowed the criticism to stick."
The final phrase is remarkable. Oregon schools have not made CIM, let alone CAM, a requirement for graduation and Oregon universities, not just businesses, disregard them. If the people in the education industry don't think they're worth much, why is the public not understanding the situation if they arrive at the same conclusion.
Castillo's announcement is either sham or saving face. She says that she's going to keep all the great things in CIM and CAM and get rid of the certificates themselves. Say what? If there were great things going on, why would CIM and CAM be disreputable?
Years ago, I read a book by Banesh Hoffmann called "The Tyranny of Testing." He made one simple point which has stayed with me for thirty years. Well understood standardized tests will defeat their own purposes over time. There is an irresistible urge to master the techniques of taking the test, which will provide an advantage to those who do so. Inevitably, everyone who is serious about the results will try to gain this advantage, which will result in absolute test scores rising at the same time that real knowledge is stagnant or declining.
The CIM test questions were widely publicized. "Could you answer these questions?", asked newspaper articles. In fact, they were odd enough that many college educated adults could not, but they followed consistent patterns that could be taught. You might not know how to balance a checkbook, but you could learn how to answer CIM questions about math.
Oregon should abandon (to the greatest extent allowed by federal law) attempts to standardize testing except to evaluate teachers. In this country, a high school diploma is considered essentially a right for anyone prepared to stick it out for 12 years. In fact, any attempt to separate students into successes and failures is likely to be overwhelmed, as CIM has demonstrated. We should give it up. It's not essential and the time and money can be better spent.
Register-Guard can't bring itself to be honest. The following is from their editorial on the subject:
"From the start, the CIM and CAM have been cited as examples of jargon, fuzz and fog in education, and the public's lack of understanding of the certificates allowed the criticism to stick."
The final phrase is remarkable. Oregon schools have not made CIM, let alone CAM, a requirement for graduation and Oregon universities, not just businesses, disregard them. If the people in the education industry don't think they're worth much, why is the public not understanding the situation if they arrive at the same conclusion.
Castillo's announcement is either sham or saving face. She says that she's going to keep all the great things in CIM and CAM and get rid of the certificates themselves. Say what? If there were great things going on, why would CIM and CAM be disreputable?
Years ago, I read a book by Banesh Hoffmann called "The Tyranny of Testing." He made one simple point which has stayed with me for thirty years. Well understood standardized tests will defeat their own purposes over time. There is an irresistible urge to master the techniques of taking the test, which will provide an advantage to those who do so. Inevitably, everyone who is serious about the results will try to gain this advantage, which will result in absolute test scores rising at the same time that real knowledge is stagnant or declining.
The CIM test questions were widely publicized. "Could you answer these questions?", asked newspaper articles. In fact, they were odd enough that many college educated adults could not, but they followed consistent patterns that could be taught. You might not know how to balance a checkbook, but you could learn how to answer CIM questions about math.
Oregon should abandon (to the greatest extent allowed by federal law) attempts to standardize testing except to evaluate teachers. In this country, a high school diploma is considered essentially a right for anyone prepared to stick it out for 12 years. In fact, any attempt to separate students into successes and failures is likely to be overwhelmed, as CIM has demonstrated. We should give it up. It's not essential and the time and money can be better spent.
posted by Rob Spooner at 9:13 AM
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