The Future of Standardized Testing | Episode #32 - Tim Coates

Tim Coates is a Sessional Instructor with the University of Alberta and was a Diploma Exam Manager for Social Studies in Alberta for more than a decade. He has also been in the teaching profession for more than forty years. On part two of our conversation, Tim and I discuss the case for keeping standardized testing, the ‘friends of standardized testing club’ that does not exist, developing meaningful assessments, finding different ways to teach the core essay skills, how to teach differently if there were no diploma exam, not ‘teaching to the test’ even in a diploma course, how he would alter his methodology for teaching writing if in the classroom today, the ‘reading comprehension’ criticism of the diploma, why political cartoons became part of the standard and how they may be losing their utility, the concerns and potential opportunities over the diplomas becoming digitized, how even after thirty years away from the classroom, Tim still has nightmares about being in a HS classroom and having nothing prepared, and, much more. Thank you all for tuning in and hope you enjoy the show! Send us a textThoughts shared on the podcast are purely our own and do not represent the views of the Anglophone South School District or the relevant jurisdictions associated with my guests.