Comments by "Christian Baune" (@programaths) on "CNBC" channel.

  1. Standardized tests are a good thing. Notice how Belgium is above USA ? That's partially because we use a mixture of teacher assessment and standardized assessment. So teacher can adapt the curriculum and test on what they taught, but they also have to ensure the basic material is covered too, as at the end of the second, the assessment is standardized. That means that not everyone learn the exact same things, but everyone has the same foundations. When I recruited, I also used what we call a "protocol". Each question is rewritten and each stimuli/guidance is also scripted. So each candidate will have the same guidance, if required. Even type of wrong answers and associated questions. It is done that way because the interviewer can have its own biases and memory is a bristle thing. Then the result is summarized as a unique number that can be used to order candidates regardless of gender, religion etc. And yes, there are candidates that were hyper stressed and there is room to handle that. That may sound weird, but in the end, you want someone who is capable. At least, capable of the bare minimum. Someone who can actually learn and imagine solutions to novel problems. And quite important too, understand said problem. It's even why there are wordy math problems in the curriculum where the solution is in the text! We also introduced a "formative" testing. Which are mock tests. So students get also used to the pressure and get a first view on their knowledge and can remediate with help of the teacher. If you pass all mock tests, the real test is just a formality. And on top of that, we have "exercisation". Which is where student are left alone to solve a set of problems with few curve balls and the teacher is only there to give explanations and do differentiation.
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