Social discussion of CS in K-12

[Charles Schultz <sacrophyte AT gmail.com>]

Good day, CTRL-Shift! :)

Today I had an opportunity to sit in on a class that was "practicing" for a PARCC test. I will say right up front that based on my own personal experiences, I have a huge dislike for standardized testing. But it was very interesting watching a group of kids from an adult perspective.

It is my desire to start a discussion on PARCC in general, but standardized testing in general, and depending on a multiple-answer test to properly assess a student's academic achievement. When I observe kids doing code.org, the assessment is immediate, fun and intuitive. That is not what I saw today. When I hear you all talk about collaborative spaces and computational thinking, I grow encouraged that education is moving forward in exciting ways. But how does PARCC testing fit into the domain of computational thinking?

I have a host of personal thoughts based on my past experience and my opportunity today. And I know Travis Faust has some strong opinions on this topic as well. *grin* I ask of the group, what do you think?

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Charles Schultz