From: cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net   
      
   In article <10h8bgq$k7on$1@dont-email.me>,   
   Dave Froble   wrote:   
   >On 12/3/2025 9:07 AM, Simon Clubley wrote:   
   >   
   >> BTW, I was interested to read about the issues and tradeoffs around   
   >> the stopping of standardised testing during the application process   
   >> in some higher education establishments a few years ago.   
   >   
   >Nothing wrong with tests.  They can be helpful.  But let me tell you what is   
   >wrong with depending on tests.  SOME PEOPLE JUST DON'T DO WELL WITH TESTS!   
      
   Hear, hear.  Tests are _a_ way to measure progress of a group at   
   scale, but they're terrible for measuring individual progress.   
      
   Let's be honest: we use tests because we haven't figured out a   
   better way to measure relative progress across a group.  But   
   that doesn't mean that tests are a _good_ way to go about this.   
      
   >Case in point.  My son always had problems with taking tests.  I don't   
   >understand it, but that was a problem for him.  Does that make him less than   
   >those who do well with tests?   
      
   Nope.   
      
   >Now he is a NRC licensed reactor operator at a nuclear power station.  Yes,   
   >there was testing, and it was difficult for him.  But testing is not how the   
   job   
   >is learned.  People actually practiced the job under close supervision before   
   >they were trusted to do the job.  Perhaps still a type of testing.   
   >   
   >Lately, when special operations are required, He is the one called upon,   
   because   
   >he is trusted to perform the job correctly, over most of the other operators.   
      
   Good for your son; it sounds like he's doing very well for   
   himself.   
      
   >I guess what I'm trying to say is while tests can be helpful, they are not   
   >necessarily the only way of determining competence.   
      
   100% this.   
      
   I served in the Marines with a bunch of folks who were   
   incredibly smart and talented.  A lot of them didn't go to   
   college or get a university education; some did, but it was a   
   struggle.  A lot overcame some seriously hard backgrounds.  One   
   guy was probably the most intelligent people I've ever met; he   
   had no inclination to continue his education, as he much   
   preferred working with his hands (I don't know whether he went   
   to a trade school after the Marines, though).   
      
   Being in the same room as some of those folks was an incredibly   
   humbling and instructive experience about not judging people on   
   superficial criteria...like artificial indicators of academic   
   performance.   
      
   	- Dan C.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)