Oregon State Tests To Allow Spell Check In 2011

The Oregon Department of Education no longer feels its students need to be able to spell, at least when it comes to state exams.

Oregon students will have the option of first spell checking their work before submitting state exams in 2011, reports the Oregonian.

The move is supposed to help the assessments focus less on typos and more on their writing skills. "We are not letting a student's keyboarding skills get in the way of being able to judge their writing ability," said state Superintendent Susan Castillo. "As we're using technology to improve what we're doing with assessments as a nation, we believe that spell check will be one of those tools."

The new rules only apply to middle and high school students, according to the Tri-City Herald.

However, not all Oregonian lawmakers are so keen on the idea, which was presented Tuesday to the Oregon House Education Committee. "I don't think it's in the best interest of our kids," said Rep. Rom Maurer, who ran against Castillo in May. "That's just my philosophy."

While the new system will help students identify misspelled words, it won't correct things like missed punctuation and bad grammar.

"Students must still know how to recognize a correct word and correct spelling," said Tony Alpert, director of assessment at the state Department of Education. "We're giving one additional tool to students to identify potential misspellings. It's consistent with how we might expect kids to learn how to use the technology in life."

Comments

[David Austin]

09:24 PM on 12/20/2010

The stupidization of America continues.

[Mark Santeramo]

06:36 PM on 12/20/2010

Absolutely shameful. As a teacher myself, the #1 and #2 issues amongst a majority of students today is their inability to spell words properly without a spell check, and I am talking BASIC words, very simple conversational words that they use everyday yet when prompted cannot spell; and the second would be grammar and sentence structure; if you ask a child to write an essay these days, what you would get back is three sentences and a whole bunch of questions about what thye were to do on the assignment. It's unexplainable to someone who does not have the experience in the classroom, however, believe me when I say it, that the deficiency in regards to spelling and literature amongst the middle grades and high school is absolutely intolerable. OUR CHILDREN CANNOT SPELL OR WRITE A COHERENT SENTENCE, LET ALONE A PARAGRAPH AND ESSAY.

And it's not necessarily laziness, either, it's that these kids just do not know what they are doing! They have been getting passed along grade after grade without teachers, guidance counselors, or administrators taking responsiblity for their actions. There is zero accountability between those three groups and therefore the child suffers due to their inability to do their job properly. And do not get me started on the parents. WE CANNOT EVEN GET 50% TURNOUT TO OUR PARENT TEACHER NIGHT AND I WORK IN A VERY NICE SUBURBAN TOWN IN BERGEN COUNTY, NJ.

Parents not involving themselves in their child's education should be a crime, period.

[dmessy]

06:22 AM on 12/20/2010

Like it or not there are very pratical reasons for having spell-chec­king on tests. Many state tests are scored in parallel by a person and a computer. Each grades on similiar things but in very different ways. Spelling, however, has been one of the few weaknesss on the technology side becuase it introduces a degree of error unlike things like gammar and content. Seldom is it the point of these tests to actually "score" for spelling, so having a spell checker is not a big deal. It all depends on what is being tested.

[McHale Ann Haiman]

09:28 PM on 12/19/2010

I misspell things a lot, and it bothers me when I do so I often say things a different way or I have to use my best estimation skills to fix it. Allowing children to use spell check on a test is kind of like saying there will always be someone there to do things right for you and you don't need to worry when in reality they do need to worry. I also agree that a keyboarding class would be helpful to many students because they don't teach students to "LOL" faster, but build real skills and that is what school is for.

[icstars]

03:28 PM on 12/19/2010

Why don't they just allow dictionaries? We all know spell check doesn't find all typos. Or should I say, we ale know spell check doesn't fine all types?

Proofreading is a critical skill, as is being able to recognize your mistakes. This is why I think the dictionary is far superior to an automated spell checker. As a bonus: over time people who use dictionaries become better spellers. Trust me on that.

[plthomas]

08:05 AM on 12/20/2010

"As a bonus: over time people who use dictionari­es become better spellers."

Authentic use repeated = true learning and understanding

Rote memorization = misleading temporary evidence of knowledge

Better than spellchecker OR a dictionary? Peer reviewing of original writing and teacher reviewing of original writing to help people grow in their ability to see where work needs editing/revising. . .

[Linda Williams]

03:06 PM on 12/19/2010

wut? kant spale enee moor? Hew cairz if thay kan spale?

[DonJM]

12:04 PM on 12/19/2010

It might help if the students had a keyboarding course. I wonder if the state requires one. In this computer-driven society, keyboarding skills are a necessity.

[SouthpawSass]

09:57 AM on 12/19/2010

Before teachers unions got big, teachers were the spelling checkers...

[Lauren H]

09:48 AM on 12/19/2010

As a current 9th grade student I can see both the positives and negatives to allowing spell check.
Pro: I know a lot of my friends are awful spellers. I'm talking about mistakes such as "sience" and "scocial studies", along with "derrastic" and "oquard". (all of these real mistakes I've seen made while peer editing in class.) At some points it angers even me as a student to see this blatant disregard for the will to learn even the most basic rules of literacy, so I can sympathize with the teachers and administrators for wanting to ease the process of grading papers with spelling errors.
However,
Con: if we encourage this spell checking behavior we are (perhaps even unconsciously) promoting and condoning this, let's face it, horrific spelling. Which I'm not 100% sure is something I want to do.
But then again, why do I get a say in this? Ohio test administrators are going to do whatever the heck they want to, regardless of possible consequences. Unless, of course, there are reprcussions for their actions (ha!).

[60256]

10:01 AM on 12/19/2010

As a current senior in high school, my state does not have tests on the computer that require writing. It is only multiple choice. The writing portion is done on paper, as it should be. The fact that some of your friends are awful spellers is their own fault, and Oregon's scores should not be padded like that.

I for one know that on AP Board exams you have to write your essay in pen so you can't even erase something, you have scribble it out. That is how state tests should be too.

[plthomas]

02:40 PM on 12/18/2010

Of course spell check should be used, but this thread exposes the flawed and superficial attitudes far too many people have about language. Spelling is mere memorization; not all that impressive if you can spell, not that damning if you can't.

Spell check can no more "cause" bad spelling than a calculator can "cause" poor math skills. In fact, properly integrated into schools, both TOOLS can be very effective for helping any child acquire both skills in authentic situations. . .

Surface features (spelling, grammar, mechanics. usage) ALL come from authentic and rich experiences with language—NOT from rote memory and direct instruction. This fact of literacy instruction is supported by research reaching back into the early 1900s. . .

If you taught 10 new words a week for the ENTIRE 12 years of formal schooling, and if students memorized all of them (unlikely), you would have contributed only about 6% to the average child's vocabulary. . .Serious (inefficient) waste of time. . .Language acquisition is way complex than teaching children to spell in isolation. . .

[icstars]

03:33 PM on 12/19/2010

Spelling isn't mere memorization! Wow. Try watching the national spelling bee sometime. Those kids spell words they have never seen or heard before!

[plthomas]

08:02 AM on 12/20/2010

Spelling bee. . .another piece of evidence that we completely misunderstand "smart". . .That IS memorization. . .of hundreds of words (there is a whole industry of study guides, etc, for this BTW) AND little systems about spelling that they use to spell those words. . .

[llisa]

03:33 PM on 12/19/2010

Excellent.

My daughter has a Masters in a technical field that she would not have if she had been born a generation earlier. She is dyslexic. She is very intelligent, memorizes technical terms and their spelling, but can get tripped up on spelling everyday words. She knows how to use punctuation, capitalization, etc.

In her work, she uses a laptop. Without the spell-check feature, her reports would look very unprofessional, and she probably would not have advanced so far in her career (if she had managed to get a job at all).

This is real life. In high school, her teachers realized that the dyslexic spelling was not a reflection of her intelligence. Her junior year, she began using a word processor (yeah, before computers were ubiquitous). We are both grateful that her teachers recognized her abilities, even through her handicap, and allowed her to use the tools necessary to succeed in school and in life.

She never used a spell checker on written testing, but I agree that when the technology is going to be used throughout their working lives, they should be taught to make use of it correctly and be allowed to use it as they would use it at a job.

Seriously now, how many of us even balance our checkbooks without using a cheap calculator?

[laaambchop]

04:53 PM on 12/19/2010

I do.

[Mountain Momma]

07:15 PM on 12/20/2010

People who have never known someone with a learning disability don't truly understand it My daughter has a learning disability in written language - it means she can't spell her way out of a paper bag. She has a vocabulary level years ahead of her peers, but she can't spell those words correctly. She does well on spelling tests that are multiple choice (choose the incorrectly spelled word). Because of her vocabulary and reading level, she knows when a word is misspelled, she just can't come up with the correct spelling. I've seen her write an essay where she wrote the word "white" four different ways, trying to hit on the correct spelling and never getting it. She is an amazing writer - creative, artistic, and downright lyrical at times. But it frustrates her because she can't spell the words she wants to use, and because spelling is scored in the state writing assessments, she is always marked as "approaching standards." Even her teachers roll their eyes at the tests because she is hands down one of the best writers in her class.

Thank God for spellcheck.

[pickle541]

02:34 PM on 12/18/2010

Yes and no. Yes when the essay is planned, organized and written at home and then submitted. Just like using a dictionary. No if it is a seated, timed essay. Examiners determine if spelling is important in the assessment. Usually 1-2 mistakes are allowable, but many more would be counted off.

For standardized testing, a few bugaboos arise- If all students use spell check, there will always be different versions of spell check out there, giving some students an extra advantage. Spell check is customizable, allowing you to add words to the database that others don't have. Imagine entering all of the vital vocabulary into spell check/dictionary function so that you can bring it up instead of studying it. That would be cheating.

[iridium53]

02:18 PM on 12/18/2010

Should a state test, any test in school, allow spell check?
NO.

Facility with language, the English language, is a key determinant of success in the United States. Spelling and grammar are essential.

[cooperone]

12:47 PM on 12/18/2010

As a long time public school teacher my traditional roots tell me to say "no" to spell check, but this is 2010 and spell check is not only available, but used often. So, I believe they should be able to use it........of course, I continue to believet that there is way too much pressure placed on our kids when it comes to standardzed testing; but that is another topic for another day.

[Shana Donohue]

10:34 PM on 12/17/2010

The world we live in has spell check, which is only a problem when the writer has absolutely no idea how to spell a word, or chooses a word from the list that is spelled correctly but doesn't fit the sentence. "Wow!" Jim exclaimed, "there desert recipe is the best one four red velvet cake that I've ever red!" Good luck with spell check on this one, though Word for Windows 7 does have a new blue squiggle for words that seem out of place. If the kids have this feature, then "their" may be trouble.

[Andy Clark]

09:24 PM on 12/17/2010

What a travesty. Their job is to wade through the spelling and grammatical errors to accurately assess these students' language skills. This is a crutch, and a blatant abuse by Oregon to hopefully inflate their reading scores.

[Jeremy Orozco]

02:00 AM on 12/18/2010

Sad to say, I really didn't learn too much in my california public high school. Spell check would make it that much worse. Is this a step above teaching ebonics in the Oakland school district?

[reasonnotfaith]

04:54 PM on 12/18/2010

You really have no idea what you're talking about. I'm an Oregonian, with my child in public school, and guess what? His teachers do grade spelling. In fact, my son is instructed in spelling, and brings home work for us to do together. And his teachers grade essays and papers for spelling, grammar as well as a host of other characteristics. All this info is available on the state department of education's website, btw.

The Oregon state assessment is NOT graded by the students' classroom teacher, so your argument is pointless.

By the way, the OAKS (Oregon state assessment) is better than most out there. I say this as someone who has developed assessments for multiple states and is aware of the costs, pros and cons of each type of assessment. Unlike most states, Oregon requires more than a multiple choice exam. In the writing assessment, students are given a topic to write about in a given length of time. Those essays are then packed up and sent to the state for grading by humans, not machine. All in all it is a very expensive proposition-- and the reason most states opt for cheap to build, administer and score multiple choice or machine scored tests.

So, once again, in Oregon it is NOT the teachers' job to grade these tests. The state does. Teachers do grade plenty of papers and essays that are not the state test. And they DO grade for spelling and grammar in these tests.