Oregon Students Will Be Able to Use Spell Check on Writing Tests

by Terrence O'Brien on December 17, 2010 at 05:20 PM

It was bound to happen eventually. Oregon, one of the first states to offer online testing and digital writing exams, has decided that students will be allowed to click the spell check button while taking their state-wide writing tests. State Superintendent Susan Castillo told Oregon Live, "We are not letting a student's keyboarding skills get in the way of being able to judge their writing ability," implying that the spell check will primarily be used to catch typos -- not compensate for poor spelling skills. Department staff supporting the move point out that the spell check will not correct grammar errors or misused homonyms and punctuation. Students will still be required to identify the correct word when presented with options and differentiate between words that are commonly mixed up like "their" and "they're," "to" and "too" or "effect" and "affect."

Still, some worry that offering the tool will encourage students to ignore their spelling skills. If a student knows they will simply be able to hit a button and identify and correct words they've misspelled they'll be less inclined to try and remember the correct spelling. The state is addressing some of those concerns by only offering automatic spell check to students in grades five and above, saying that children in the fourth grade and below are still learning the fundamentals of spelling (though they'll still be able to use paper and electronic dictionaries).

Tags: education, oregon, school, spell check, SpellCheck, susan castillo, SusanCastillo, test taking, TestTaking, top

source: Oregon Live

Comments

SeptemberDec 24th 2010 10:49PM

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"not compensate for poor spelling sills."

You might have wanted to try that spell check function...

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FrankDec 25th 2010 8:11AM

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...not compensate for poor spelling sills...
...and identify and correct words they're misspelled...
...use paper and electronic dictionaries).

Oh, the irony. Interesting article, proving the point that even though it may be allowed, the spellchecker will not catch everything. I still don't agree with the premise of allowing kids to use spellcheck on a test... everyone makes typo's; that was already factored into the grade somewhat in my highschool. You don't learn from a red squiggly line on your computer screen, you learn when the report you spent hours and hours on comes back covered in red ink.

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CaitlinDec 26th 2010 12:25AM

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State Superintendent Castillo ("We are not letting a student's keyboarding skills get in the way of being able to judge their writing ability") needs to learn that "student" is singular, and should therefore take a singular pronoun.
Sadly, Terrence O'Brien commits the same error several times in the second paragraph. Are writing standards slipping? I shudder to think that few remain to properly judge.

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Carl TylerDec 27th 2010 5:39AM

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I agree with the others here. Terrence O'Brien AND his editor could really use some help when it comes to spelling and writing. Of all the times to have spelling and grammatical errors in an article. I don't know if this is Mr. O'Brien's first time writing an article, but this is just further proof that relying on a program's spell check capabilities to ensure the proper spelling of words in a text is wrong. Not knowing the basics of something is a great handicap when it comes to doing any task. Students today are getting extremely comfortable with "Net Speak" and other such crutches that do nothing to prepare them for real world activities. These fundamentals do not stop at the fourth grade level either. Maybe texting while driving will eliminate some of them. Susan Castillo should be removed from office as a warning to others who continue to come up with ways to ensure our children are well behind the education level of the children in other countries.

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