Re: Reforming Education

Lee Daniel Crocker (lcrocker@mercury.colossus.net)
Thu, 7 Oct 1999 08:51:08 -0700 (PDT)

> > I scored well enough on the SAT at age eleven; should I have been
> > admitted to Harvard?
>
> Is this a reductio attempt on MY argument??? I argued that standardized
> testing AND teacher's evaluations were necessary. (And Harvard wisely
> looks at both.) If anyone's argument is susceptible to this kind of
> criticism, it's Lee's argument, which depends on standardized exams ALONE
> for the allocation of credentials.

Just to clarify, I have never, and would never, argue in favor of "standardized" exams. What I argue for is private credentialing organizations, who can choose their criteria any way they like. They don't have to have exams at all if they don't want to. The whole point is that by competing in the free market, they will have to develop whatever methods of testing produce the desired results or else they go out of business.

--
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC