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KMS5000:

I most certainly agree that we need to be able to inspire the young with science, and "regurgitation of dry facts" is most certainly not ever going to cut it!

Are you a science teacher in K through 12? Unfortunately, I most certainly cannot speak from experience about what "No-child-left-behind" did or did not do in this area. However, having worked with Professor David Hestenes (at Arizona State University) on aspects of science education at the High School level I can most certainly state that simply "having to" asses knowledge and understanding (as opposed to some "cognitive skill") via "multiple question tests" most certainly does not have to lead to a "regurgitation of dry facts" approach to teaching science. (In fact, we most certainly advocated and tried to help facilitate a hands-on approach that provided for the students to take ownership in the scientific knowledge they gained.)

Of course "cognitive skill" and "problem solving skills" are other important aspects of much more than just science. Yes, both science and mathematics (as opposed to just arithmetic) exercise these skill sets greatly. However, the ability to use logical reasoning, clear logical communication, critical thinking, and problem solving (have I missed any important cognitive skills?) are important in so many walks of life. (I would say that unless a person is to simply serve as an automaton all their life, then they need these skills.*)

I expect that assessing such broad cognitive skills is very difficult to accomplish via "multiple question tests", and certainly will never be taught via wrote learning and "regurgitation of dry [or even otherwise] facts". However, IQ, college entrance (SAT and ACT), and graduate entrance tests/exams have been "multiple question tests" for a long time with, apparently, reasonable efficacy.

So the use of "multiple question tests", alone, need not be a problem, unless teachers simply "teach to the test" (as I have seen occur over and over with my children in their High School years). "Teaching to the tests", in order to "get the students though the system" is what I, at least, see as the real culprit in sapping the freedom and creativity out of our educational system. Whether this is school administrators pressuring the teachers, or teachers "taking the easy way out" I don't know. All I know is that this "teaching to the test" approach, however it gets instilled into the educational system, will sap true learning every time.

David

* Of course one could probably get into quite the heated debate over whether "corporate america" (and possibly certain political interests) really, in actuality, desire to mold our young people (future workers and voters) into such automatons. However, I think it best to leave this aspect alone, since I'm sure none of us want such.