Check out My Very First Powerpoint...On Teacher Evaluation and Non-Traditional Testing

Here is the presentation I made this morning to the Columbia/New York Times conference for education reporters on testing. It details how I reported my April 2011 feature for The American Prospect, "The Test Generation," which is about two different models in Colorado for evaluating teachers and measuring student growth--one of which includes a controversial effort to administer pencil-and-paper tests in art, music, and physical education. I think you'll get the most out of the Powerpoint if you read the article first. Enjoy...and if you have questions about my reporting process or about teacher evaluation, please leave them in the comments section!

Comments

[Eric]

Strong, detailed information - crammed onto slides in a less than effective PPT manner. You didn't need to tell us this was your first PPT show. We could clearly see that.

Check out the assertion-evidence style of PPT used by leading engineering, science, and many, many government agencies. http://writing.engr.psu.edu/teaching_slide_design.html

As somebody who shares your progressive values and concerns about the tyranny of standardized testing, I think it behooves you to make your case in as effective a manner as possible.

Shalom

[Dan McGuire]

Well, it's the article and the work to produce the article that are profound.

I'm a new fan of your writing.

Dan McGuire
Twitter - @sabier

[Dana Goldstein]

Very kind, thank you Dan! I am sure my PPT technique could be improved....I'll make more slides next time with less information on each one.

[Ktice007]

Interesting. I am a music teacher, so I find the assessments in the area of art very interesting. While I agree that the 1st grade writing prompt is too difficult, the difficulty comes in not in writing the question, but in measuring the answer. Even if one asked the student the question and had them reply verbally, how would each answer be evaluated?