<head><style>body{font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:#ffffff;color:black;}p{margin:0px;}</style></head><body><font color="#000000"><font size="2"><font face="'trebuchet ms', sans-serif">Reading research, however, suggests that in order to understand a reading passage, an individual must have a great deal of background knowledge about syntax, vocabulary and language construction as well as the actual content. This was part of Hirsch's point about cultural literacy/core knowledge. </font></font></font><div><font color="#000000"><font size="2"><font face="'trebuchet ms', sans-serif"><br></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font size="2"><font face="'trebuchet ms', sans-serif">This is one of those situations where it's not exactly either/or. But I definitely agree that if we're trying to find out WHAT kids know, relying solely on the passage won't tell us that. This is why most of the science and social studies/history tests are really reading and thinking/reasoning tests - I wonder how the upcoming common core assessments will correlate with IQ. </font></font></font><div><font color="#000000"><font size="2"><font face="'trebuchet ms', sans-serif">Susan</font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font size="2"><font face="'trebuchet ms', sans-serif"><br></font></font></font><blockquote style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid">-----Original Message-----
<br>From: Will Fitzhugh <fitzhugh@tcr.org>
<br>Sent: May 4, 2013 8:49 AM
<br>To: "ohiogift@lists.service.ohio-state.edu" <ohiogift@lists.service.ohio-state.edu>
<br>Subject: [Ohiogift] Fwd: Questions on a Passage
<br><br><zzzhtml><zzzhead></zzzhead><zzzbody style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><br></div><div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Begin forwarded message:</font></div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></font><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><b>From: </b></span>Diane Ravitch<br></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><b>Date: </b></span>May 3, 2013 10:03:16 AM EDT<br></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><b>To: </b></span>Will Fitzhugh <<a target="_blank" href="mailto:fitzhugh@tcr.org">fitzhugh@tcr.org</a>><br></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><b>Subject: </b></span><b>Re: Questions on a Passage</b><br></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><b><br></b></font></div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Exactly right. <br><br>No question required prior knowledge. </font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br><br>Diane Ravitch<br><br></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">=============</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></div><div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">(in response to her blog about</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">a new fifth-grade ELA exam</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">described in the <i>New York Daily News</i>)</font></div><div style="font-size: medium; "><br></div></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></div><div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 1.0px 73.0px; text-indent: -73.0px; font: 16.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Palatino" size="4"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span style="color: #7f7f7f"><b>Subject: </b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span><b>Questions on a Passage</b></font></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 69px; text-indent: -69px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Palatino" size="4"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span style="color: #7f7f7f"><b>From: </b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>Will Fitzhugh <<a target="_blank" href="mailto:fitzhugh@tcr.org">fitzhugh@tcr.org</a>></font></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 1.0px 73.0px; text-indent: -73.0px; font: 16.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Palatino" size="4"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span style="color: #7f7f7f"><b>Date: </b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>May 3, 2013 9:53:35 AM EDT</font></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 69px; text-indent: -69px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Palatino" size="4"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span style="color: #7f7f7f"><b>To: </b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>Diane Ravitch <<a target="_blank" href="mailto:gardendr@gmail.com">gardendr@gmail.com</a>></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 69px; text-indent: -69px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Palatino" size="4"><br></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 69px; text-indent: -69px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Palatino" size="4"><br></font></div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br>On May 3, 2013, at 9:53 AM, Will Fitzhugh <<a target="_blank" href="mailto:fitzhugh@tcr.org">fitzhugh@tcr.org</a>> wrote:<br><br></font><blockquote type="cite"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Ah, the tried-and-true "questions on a passage."<br></font></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Where would the College Board (and everyone else)<br></font></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">be without it?<br></font></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">It has the great advantage of not requiring the student<br></font></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">to have gained any knowledge to that point. Everything<br></font></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">he needs to talk about is IN the passage.<br></font></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">More support for a content-free education.<br></font></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Will<br></font></blockquote></div></div><br></div></div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Palatino; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Palatino; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Palatino; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Palatino; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div class="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; "><span class="" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: medium; "><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 14px; ">“Teach by Example”</span></span></div><div class="" style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; font-size: 14px; ">Will Fitzhugh [founder]</div><div class="" style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; font-size: 14px; "><i class="">The Concord Review</i> [1987]</div><div class="" style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; font-size: 14px; ">Ralph Waldo Emerson Prizes [1995]</div><div class="" style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; font-size: 14px; ">National Writing Board [1998]</div><div class="" style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; font-size: 14px; ">TCR Institute [2002]</div><div class="" style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; font-size: 14px; ">730 Boston Post Road, Suite 24</div><div class="" style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; font-size: 14px; ">Sudbury, Massachusetts 01776-3371 USA</div><div class="" style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; font-size: 14px; ">978-443-0022; 800-331-5007</div><div class="" style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; color: rgb(21, 15, 133); font-size: 14px; "><span class="" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(56, 99, 187); "><a target="_blank" href="http://www.tcr.org/" class="">www.tcr.org</a></span><span class="" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">; <a target="_blank" href="mailto:fitzhugh@tcr.org" class=""><span class="" style="text-decoration: underline; ">fitzhugh@tcr.org</span></a></span></div><div class="" style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; font-size: 14px; ">Varsity Academics®</div><div class="" style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; font-size: 14px; "><a target="_blank" href="http://www.tcr.org/blog">www.tcr.org/blog</a></div></span></div></span></div></span></span>
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<br></div></div><br></zzzbody></zzzhtml></ohiogift@lists.service.ohio-state.edu></fitzhugh@tcr.org></blockquote></div></div></body><pre>
Susan R. Rakow, Ph.D.
Clinical Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Program in Gifted Education
Department of Curriculum and Foundations
Cleveland State University
2485 Euclid Ave., EB374
Cleveland, OH 44115-2214
216-523-7296
s.rakow@csuohio.edu
“Modern cynics and skeptics see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing.” -John F. Kennedy
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