Testing: A Personal History (That's my new blog!)

After a long long time of consideration, scribbling and dictating notes. and just generally dithering, I've decided to start a new blog entitled: Testing — A Personal History. The link is here to my first installment. This project has occupied me off and on for several years and I've now reached the point that Vladimir Nabokov described for one of his characters, "This research had long entered the charmed stage when the quest overrides the goal."

The goal in this case — exploration of the different experiences that individuals encountered with testing — remains important to me. As I point out at the link to the first post below, part of that importance arises from my continuing belief that educational measurement matters a great deal as we try to move forward and improve learning for everyone in this country and around the world. Even though I currently and prospectively spend most of my time as playwright or producer of theater, talking about testing constitutes unfinished business for me. Another part of that importance stems from a curiosity as to how others view testing. That's why this blog not only welcomes but solicits every type of view. And a final aspect that renders the goal important is my own need to exorcise some of the demons around testing that boiled up in me during almost two decades (somewhat) at the center of that world.

I hope very much that you will read the post. I pray that you'll consider writing something regarding your own views about testing -- a test that changed your life for better or ill, or just a response to some of the things that I will be writing about on subjects ranging from heritability, fairness, validity, reliability, and learning. In almost all of those topics, I continue to be a nonexpert, but I also continue to be deeply interested, which is why I cannot yet let go of testing.

BTW the baby in the post is NOT me!