Tests, we all love tests!

[Tank]

Creativity. Give them 100 lego bricks and see what they make.
Critical thinking. Do they believe in God? If 'Yes' fail.
Resilience. Drop them repeatedly. If >5 without crying = pass.
Motivation. Attempt to set them on fire. If the don't run = fail.
Persistence. Give them a scrambled Rubic's cube. Attempts to solve for < 30 minutes = pass.
Curiosity. Stop talking. Wait longer than 2 minute for them to ask a question = fail.
Question asking. Ask the 'Why?' Does not respond with a question = fail.
Humour. Ask them to tell a joke. Not funny = fail.
Endurance. Can they site through a republican debate? If yes = pass.
Reliability. Tell them to go to the same place at the same time once a day for 7 days. Failure to arrive 7 times +- 10 minutes = fail.
Enthusiasm. Ask them to talk about their favourite subject. If you lose the will to live they pass.
Civic-mindedness. Take them out and drop a piece of litter. Pick up = pass.
Self-awareness. Ask them their name. If known = pass.
Self-discipline. Give them a cane. Hits somebody else = fail, hits themselves = pass.
Empathy. Cry, asking what's the matter = pass, leaving = fail.
Leadership. Give them a dog see if it will follow them.
Compassion. Show them a hurt puppy. Failure to care = fail.
Courage. Point gun at them. Shit themselves = fail.
Sense of beauty. Ask them to choose between a picture of a rose and a brick. Brick = fail.
Sense of wonder. Show picture of Universe. If smile = pass.
Resourcefulness. Give them a Brazil nut and no nut crackers. Opened in < 1 minute = pass.
Spontaneity. Introduce them to a work colleague. Interaction = pass.
Humility. Insult them. They insult you back = fail.

[Crow]

Some can't be measured and quantified as it is subjective, creativity, sense of beauty and humour are the three obvious ones. However the majority of the rest can quite easily and could be highly complex to the depth they analyse such traits, many could possibly tied into the same test as they aren't that different.

[Asmodean]

Let's see how an Asmo might do in one of those things...

Creativity. Give them 100 lego bricks and see what they make.

Assuming identical bricks, a scale model of an Asmo. Complete with His divine Eyebrows, naturally.

Critical thinking. Do they believe in God? If 'Yes' fail.

But He is God, and, as such, not required to believe in the like.

Resilience. Drop them repeatedly. If >5 without crying = pass.

Asmos bounce. A well-known fact, that.

Motivation. Attempt to set them on fire. If the don't run = fail.

Asmos are made from asbesthos. Pretty fire-proof.

Persistence. Give them a scrambled Rubic's cube. Attempts to solve for > 30 minutes = pass.

An enterprising Asmo might not need 30 minutes.

Curiosity. Stop talking. Wait longer than 2 minute for them to ask a question = fail.

He finds the test irrelevant to what's being determined and grumpily REFUSES to acknowledge it as valid. 

Question asking. Ask the 'Why?' Does not respond with a question = fail.

He might just tell you exactly why.  Ask Him no questions to which you don't want an answer.

Humour. Ask them to tell a joke. Not funny = fail.

He is Omnifunny and will SMITE those who think otherwise, so... He passeth by virtue of a high enough body count. 

Endurance. Can they site through a republican debate? If yes = pass.

He can. He once got a yes/no "debate" going for a better part of 48 hours straight with no food, limited water and no defecating. It was a brain-numbing experience, but He won. Also, this says something about His capacity to persevere and tolerance for boredom.

Reliability. Tell them to go to the same place at the same time once a day for 7 days. Failure to arrive 7 times +- 10 minutes = fail.

He is punctual, but that does not make Him reliable. Ask Him to screw the same person for a year, then give Him a better option after a week. See what happens then.

Enthusiasm. Ask them to talk about their favourite subject. If you lose the will to live they pass.

He would SMITE them with His infinite understanding of ratties. 

Civic-mindedness. Take them out and drop a piece of litter. Pick up = pass.

He would, but not out of civic-mindedness. On that, He would fail miserably given a proper test.

Self-awareness. Ask them their name. If known = pass.

The. There. He passeth with flyingeth colorsest. 

Self-discipline. Give them a cane. Hits somebody else = fail, hits themselves = pass.

The thought of hitting people with canes warms the bowels of His cold, dark, misanthropic heart. However, He would not use the cane as a weapon because He hath no arms with which to swing it.

Empathy. Cry, asking what's the matter = pass, leaving = fail.

He hath NO idea of how to deal with people crying except for two memorable occasions, so He would attempt a stealthy retreat.

Leadership. Give them a dog see if it will follow them.

Would follow. Would die in His honor too. He is charismatic enough to get them to follow... Keeping them following, however, is another story. That's where leadership comes in. Again, faulty test.

Compassion. Show them a hurt puppy. Failure to care = fail.

He failest. 

Courage. Point gun at them. Shit themselves = fail.

He would likely be at least moderately concerned about the possibility of holes in His Divine Hide and, more importantly, the potential for singing of His Divine Eyebrows. Soil Himself, however, He would likely not.

Sense of beauty. Ask them to choose between a picture of a rose and a brick. Brick = fail.

Sorry, neither. The brick might be a mummified relative of sorts and He does not find roses particularly beautiful. Give Him a HUGE super hi-def picture fo the Sombrero galaxy in stead.

Sense of wonder. Show picture of Universe. If smile = pass.

He would not smile, but would be mildly fascinated if the picture was previously ungazed upon.

Resourcefulness. Give them a Brazil nut and no nut crackers. Opened in < 1 minute = pass.

He would use the palms of the hands He doesn't have to crack it. Failing that, He'd beat it with a minion. Would take longer than a minute, but be vastly satisfying.

Spontaneity. Introduce them to a work colleague. Interaction = pass.

He would interact if introduced to someone. Politeness, not spontaneity, dictates that one must.

Humility. Insult them. They insult you back = fail.

He would pick apart your insult, decide whether or not it was well and truly deserved and either take it into consideration or let it drip out of the other ear. He would most likely not insult back, but is also one of the least humble individuals He knows.

There. Parade rained upon, Asmo all self-congratulatory over it, all is well. 

[Magdalena]

These particular ones are so accurate:

Resilience. Drop them repeatedly. If >5 without crying = pass.

Asmos bounce. A well-known fact, that.

Motivation. Attempt to set them on fire. If the don't run = fail.

Asmos are made from asbesthos. Pretty fire-proof.

Humour. Ask them to tell a joke. Not funny = fail.

He is Omnifunny and will SMITE those who think otherwise, so... He passeth by virtue of a high enough body count. 

Endurance. Can they site through a republican debate? If yes = pass.

He can. He once got a yes/no "debate" going for a better part of 48 hours straight with no food, limited water and no defecating. It was a brain-numbing experience, but He won. Also, this says something about His capacity to persevere and tolerance for boredom.

Self-awareness. Ask them their name. If known = pass.

The. There. He passeth with flyingeth colorsest. 

Self-discipline. Give them a cane. Hits somebody else = fail, hits themselves = pass.

The thought of hitting people with canes warms the bowels of His cold, dark, misanthropic heart. However, He would not use the cane as a weapon because He hath no arms with which to swing it.

Compassion. Show them a hurt puppy. Failure to care = fail.

He failest. 

Courage. Point gun at them. Shit themselves = fail.

He would likely be at least moderately concerned about the possibility of holes in His Divine Hide and, more importantly, the potential for singing of His Divine Eyebrows. Soil Himself, however, He would likely not.

Sense of beauty. Ask them to choose between a picture of a rose and a brick. Brick = fail.

Sorry, neither. The brick might be a mummified relative of sorts and He does not find roses particularly beautiful. Give Him a HUGE super hi-def picture fo the Sombrero galaxy in stead.

Resourcefulness. Give them a Brazil nut and no nut crackers. Opened in < 1 minute = pass.

He would use the palms of the hands He doesn't have to crack it. Failing that, He'd beat it with a minion. Would take longer than a minute, but be vastly satisfying.

Humility. Insult them. They insult you back = fail.

He would pick apart your insult, decide whether or not it was well and truly deserved and either take it into consideration or let it drip out of the other ear. He would most likely not insult back, but is also one of the least humble individuals He knows.

There. Parade rained upon, Asmo all self-congratulatory over it, all is well. 




I'm sorry, I got a little carried away.

[Icarus]

Measuring the progress of the student is essential to ensuring that progress is made and identifying the particular strengths and weaknesses of the student. Professional teachers have been doing that rather well, and unceremoniously for a very long time. Now, here in the Sunshine State, our teachers are on the verge of Palace Revolt.  The states pols in their infinite wisdom, have mandated absurdly frequent standardized tests for all students.

It seems that entire schools are graded for adequacy based on test results. Teacher professionalism and adequacy are also judged on the basis of test grades weighed against test grades of other schools. That is a crock of shit that the pols do not seem to understand, or they are choosing to ignore reality. We have schools in poorer districts that have students from functionally illiterate families. The offspring of those families are genetically capable of doing well. They may not have sufficient or intelligent  encouragement from their families. Some do, many do not. Teachers are sorely handicapped in terms of recognition for their efforts because the poorer performing kids lower the test grade average and the teacher is blamed for those shortcomings. That ultimately affects the teachers pay scale and even their careers.  A brilliant teacher with a traditionally underperforming student body is doomed.

It has been shown again and again that too much testing is counter productive. Florida teachers are forced into teaching to the test rather that educating their students with the three Rs and the rest of the ordinary subject matter. Our state pays multi millions of dollars for some presumed wizardly, usually out of state, business organizations who administer the tests. My legislators are shit for brains types who have about as much qualification for  legislating educational practices as they have for legislating deep space exploration.

I was in the first grade 79 years ago. The teachers must have been pretty good because I went on, later in life, to qualify for Mensa membership.  Those old teachers were allowed to teach. A pox on the house of the son of a bitch who first coined the phrase: Those who can do, those who can't teach.  and a triple pox on house of the genius politicians who want to test, test, test.

Rant finished.....temporarily.

[Asmodean]

I absolutely agree with the sentiment in Icarus' post.

Although the Old World education system works somewhat differently, here, we have had our share of debate on whether or not grading the student's performance from the third grade or some such was the right thing to do. Perhaps it is, but I think the politicians tend to micromanage when it comes to education. Give the teachers their resources and let them do their job.

All this whining about how kids over here are useless at mathematics and other exact sciences, for example... Well, they are useless at the kind of stuff they can easily let a machine do for them, and do it faster and better at that. I went to university with hundreds of those kids who were apparently useless at exact sciences, and you know what..? Almost none of them were. Let the teachers teach. The kids will do allright.

Some say that laptop and smart phone generations fail to produce the kinds of minds that came before them. Einsteins and Hawkings and Hubbles. Well, there are a lot of young people, now standing on the shoulders of giants, who will one day become giants themselves. Renown and acceptance as an authority on the many worlds of science rarely happens before you are at least in your fourties. Humanity evolves, at least in those parts of the world not ruled by vengeful gods and power-hungry despots, and given half a chance, we will do better than our parents did. And the road to doing better... For most of us, it starts at school. Let the teachers teach, and politicians, leave them kids alone.

[Crow]

Rant finished.....temporarily.

Good rant, I enjoyed it.

[Tom62]

Rant finished.....temporarily.

Good rant, I enjoyed it.

Me too.

[Guardian85]

Rant finished.....temporarily.

Lovely rant. The world should have more of those.

[Magdalena]

Sense of beauty. Ask them to choose between a picture of a rose and a brick. Brick = fail.

Sorry, neither. The brick might be a mummified relative of sorts and He does not find roses particularly beautiful. Give Him a HUGE super hi-def picture fo the Sombrero galaxy in stead.

[Asmodean]

Ye olde regular HD, but yeah, beats the shit out of bricks and roses.