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Paul B said...
The Singapore assessments are very very good in a lot of ways.
First, they ask really 'clean' questions. When a student gets it wrong you know precisely what their misconception is. I don't have to guess at two or three possibilities...
Second, they have a way of probing very efficiently to a deep level...
Third, they seem to use the absolute minimum of language and never waste time showing off the tester's literary acumen...
Fourth, they don't waste time with milktoast problem sets...
Lastly, they are very comprehensive and synchronous with the natural hierarchy of mathematical concepts...
And oh yeh, as long as I attribute the test it is free, wonderfully formatted, and readily accessible at their website.
December 6, 2008 4:41 PM
Paul B said...
One more thing I forgot to mention...
I used 4A thinking, incorrectly, that this would give me a normal distribution (based on what I thought I knew about their abilities). I was floored by the skew. I think some of it was due to their tendency to give up in the face of minimal challenge, yet even this tells me something.
Paul's comments bring up some challenges we're seeing with some of the Singapore Math materials available in the U.S.
The following information on assessment on Singapore testing comes from Teaching Primary School Mathematics: A Resource Book edited by Lee Peng Yee (ISBN: 978-007-125855-5) and is considered typical of what test scores mean in Singapore schools. I verified this also with my contacts at the National Institute for Education. I'm awaiting confirmation from the publisher if the Primary Math Standards Edition Tests books are written to this marking scheme.
Primary Grades 1 - 4
Mark Range followed by a brief description of capability.
85 % to 100% - The pupil is able to solve unfamiliar problems.
70 % to 84% - The pupil is able to solve problems but has some difficulty with unfamiliar ones.
50 % to 69% - The pupil can complete basic computations and routine tasks.
Below 50% - The pupil cannot complete basic computations and routine tasks to a satisfactory level.
Primary Grades 5 to 6 - regular track
Mark Range followed by a brief description of capability.
97 % to 100% - The pupil is able to solve unfamiliar problems including unguided ones.
75% to 90% - The pupil is able to solve unfamiliar problems including some unfamiliar ones with some guidance.
60% to 74% - The pupil is able to solve familiar problems.
50% to 59% - The pupil is able to solve some basic familiar problems.
36% to 49% - The pupil is able to do basic computation and routine tasks.
20% to 34% - The pupil is able to do basic computation and routine tasks at a lower primary level.
Below 20% - The pupil is not able to do even basic computations and routine tasks to a lower primary level.
The chapter on writing assessments from the book also includes information on what an effective assessment item should look like, how to write a table of specifications and planning unit tests. Teachers are taught how do write assessments in Singapore and rarely rely on publishers' provided ones.
I had a semester class at NAU as well on writing effective assessments. I think the big difference is that I rarely, if ever, had time in my school day to sit down and write my own unit tests with a TOS, so I just used the ones in the Singapore books.
FYI - The Teaching Secondary School Mathematics: A Resource Book is good also!
Singapore Math Placement Tests
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