Conclusions that computers can score as well as humans are the result of humans being trained to score like the computers (for example, being told not to make judgments on the accuracy of information). 

Computer scoring systems can be "gamed" because they are poor at working with human language, further weakening the validity of their assessments and separating students not on the basis of writing ability but on whether they know and can use machine-tricking strategies.

The promise of the Common Core is dying and teaching and learning are being distorted.  The well that should sustain the Core has been poisoned.

Whether or not learning the word ‘commission’ is appropriate for second graders could be debated—I personally think it is a bit over the top.  What is of deeper concern, however, is that during a time when 7 year olds should be listening to and making music, they are instead taking a vocabulary quiz.

Real learning occurs in the mind of the learner when she makes connections with prior learning, makes meaning, and retains that knowledge in order to create additional meaning from new information.  In short, with tests we see traces of learning, not learning itself.

It has nothing to do with videos, or homework, or the latest fad in education. It has everything to do with who owns the learning.

No. The thing that I didn’t expect was that my students created flexible groups, depending on what they were working on. They found peers who were working on the same concept they were, so that they could help each other. Sometimes they realized who they couldn’t work with on a particular day, and found a different group of peers to work with instead. And to solidify what my students were learning, we engaged in hands-on activities and labs that actually used the Chemistry concepts they were studying.

That was a much more useful (lazy/efficient) reflex in the paper days when publication entailed filtering.

only a small percentage of Wikipedia users even know what the Talk pages are.

but with a conscious mindfulness of their strengths and weaknesses.

What transformation does is shift the pattern of addiction altogether; changing the habits of your heart was the true genius of these social change giants.

The Internet, then, is great for spreading awareness and it can be quite powerful in terms of its impact as well.  Where it lacks, though, is the third element -- transformation.

focus so narrowly

measure only “low level” thinking processes

they put the wrong people — test manufacturers — in charge of American education

Supporters for Klein quickly rallied around the 23-year school district veteran, raising more than $99,000 early Thursday in a campaign on Indiegogo.com. “She doesn’t earn nearly enough ($15,506) to deal with some of the trash she is surrounded by. Lets give her something she will never forget, a vacation of a lifetime!” the campaign urges. A Facebook support page called “Kindness for Karen” had more than 2,000 "likes" late Wednesday. “I wanted to make sure that she doesn’t lose faith,” the page’s founder, Kendra Fee, told the Daily News. “There are way more people who have her in their hearts and want to support her, and there’s a lot more kindness in the world,” said Fee, of Rochester, who doesn’t know Klein.