I just graded Phillip's math test. They had a graph of spelling scores, and had to read the graph (ie: who missed the most words, which two students missed the same number, etc.) But the last question read, "Who would you rather be?" The CORRECT answer was the name of the kid who scored the most. My son got it "wrong". He chose the boy named Phil, because "it's almost MY name!" And it DID ask his OPINION, rather than a hard fact, lol!!! So no, I did NOT count it wrong!
I had a kid once who was taking a Developmental test. He had four different bugs, and had to tell how they were all "the same". He told me, "YOU SWAP 'EM!" "What do you mean, "swap" them "YOU know! With the bug swapper!" (And he swung his imaginary "swapper" around to demonstrate.) So I gave him credit for that answer, too!
When I had my dd9 tested at the age of 4, she had a section of several questions that were supposed to have certain answers - like "Why do we wear mittens?" I can't remember what all of her answers were, but although most of her answers weren't wrong, she missed them, because it wasn't their right answer. Even the evaluator made a coment about it. She said she hated to count them wrong, but had to based on the regulations.
Eli did the same thing for his Kindergarten evaluation. They asked questions like "why would you take a drink of water?" The "right" answer was, "because I'm thirsty". He said, "because your body needs water to grow strong." His answer was wrong and they marked him off for it. How dumb is that.
VERY dumb! That is how the school system is, though. You get penalized for truly thinking! I DO count those answers as right because they are well thought out and make sense! That penalization for thinking is one reason I'm glad I homeschool! I don't want my kids to be robots that spit out the "right" answer but have no clue why!
This would be a good reason to not have done the S A T testing and all that, when I did testing in 8th grade our teacher said it was 'just for fun' so when it came to putting the sentences in place I had so much fun playing around with the words putting them in the wrong order in my mind, that I did not finish the test... I can only imagine what they thought my brain level was! There was a whole page plus left on the test!
My 8 year old took that same math test last week and answered Rose. When I asked her why she chose Rose, she informed me that although Peter got the most correct...she was a girl and wanted to stay a girl so she picked Rose who got 11 of 12 correct :lol: Rhonda C.
I don't think anyone could disagree with that. After all, the test asked a subjective question, which means you can answer it anyways you like as long as there is some reason behind your answer. And, "it's almost MY name!" seems to be a good enough answer for me.
Exactly how *I* felt about it Biologist! It wasn't an appropriate question for a math test! Welcome, btw!
I agree. I wonder why the early education programs all tend to think children can't have abstract thought. Thank you.
This is great! My sister told me story she was told while in college. A little mexican boy was taking the state test. One of the questions gave the letters octa and asked the student to write the correct word. The little boy wrote taco since this is what he eats in his home. It was marked wrong because the correct word was coat.
That is funny! Whenever I was grading a question like that if they could reasonably justify it I would take it!
I love your DS's creative thinking. We definitely encourage thinking outside the box. I love his very reasonable answer. I often give credit for answers along this line.
AGain, did not read all the posts...sorry. I would not have counted it wrong either. In fact, when my kids had to answer "which one of these does not belong" type things...if they have good reason for what they circled and I find their reasoning logical...I don't count it wrong. I have seen many subjective things forced into right or wrong. I allow for thinking in my house. lol.
I'm the same way. If my kids can give me a logical reason for the answer they gave, I give them credit for it. If the question asks a personal opinion (such as "which would you rather be") there really is no 'right' or 'wrong' answer. The taco/coat thing Patty mentioned was just wrong! Both words use the same letters. Unless there was a piture or a specific theme it was supposed to go with, he should have gotten credit for that answer.
Unfortunately, kids who think outside of the box are often penalized, even in college. My most recent semester of college involved a Comp 2 class. One of our assignments was to write a 3 page paper giving our definition of art. I was given a B on the paper (a rarity for me). There were no grammar errors, no comments on the actual composition, just a note about how the teacher disagreed with my definition. When I asked him about my grade, he was clear that my paper did not give an acceptable definition of art. When I reiterated the words on the assignment list clearly stating that the paper was to contain MY DEFINITION of what Art is (a highly subjective concept) and that is what I wrote, he told me that my definition was wrong. *sigh* The state of our country seems more and more logical to me, based on these kinds of educational values.
