"Essay Vs. Multiple Choice Thinking"

The homeschooling blog called Education Conversation by Tammy Drennan is one of my favorites. I've read all of the posts she has up so far. She doesn't really post very often - I suppose that's just the busyness of life getting in the way.

There is a post from January 12 of this year that I thought was particularly good. It compared "multiple choice thinking" to "essay thinking" - the premise being that many tests given in schools that supposedly test knowledge - especially those state tests - really are poor measuring sticks for what students really know. I used to have a teacher that used to use the phrase "multiple guess" instead of "multiple choice" - which I have always thought was an accurate description.

Tammy Drennan gives her take on multiple choice tests and says that, if it were up to her, she would give essay tests. Here are some of the questions she would ask:

1. How did America become such a land of growth and opportunity in the 200+ years it existed before mass compulsory schooling became common?

2. Read over the journals or diaries of some American young people who lived from the 1600s to the mid-1800s. What do you think about their writing and the level of maturity in their thinking?

3. Thomas Paine’s long pamphlet, “Common Sense,” written in 1776 to convince Americans that they should choose freedom from England, was a runaway best seller when it was published. It was written at a time when there was very little government involvement in education; almost all schooling was a private matter. It sold more copies per person than the Harry Potter books ever did. Read it and summarize Paine’s main points.

4. Before the government takeover of schooling, education was a growing concern among citizens, and options for schooling were expanding at every level of education and society. Who were some of the major historical figures who were unhappy with this state of affairs and what reasons did they give for wanting to impose their own education ideology by way of government compulsion?

5. Nazi Germany, Communist Russia and Communist China, among other tyrannies, all considered government control of education essential to maintaining power over citizens. If a country finds itself in danger of losing its freedom and most children already attend state schools, what do you think are the odds that parents will remove their children before it’s too late? Support your answer with reasons.

6. Many people believe that education and values cannot be separated. For instance, if history is taught without judgments about the right or wrong of events or actions, children will come to feel that there really is no right or wrong. If science is taught without exploring the ethics of certain practices (i.e., cloning), children grow up with the risk of using science for harm. If literature is an exploration of the human condition, conclusions – and judgments — must be drawn about the authors’ world views. In other words, education has a purpose beyond simply knowing facts and gaining skills to make money. Do you believe this is true? If so, do you believe the government should make the decisions about what values should be taught in relation to the subjects being studied? Why or why not?

If my test-takers were short on time, I would ask them to answer, at length, just the last question.

If it were me, I would also add after every math problem on the test the word "why?" or "how do you know this is true?" - but I'm sure there would be a lot of failing grades. :)