Yet again inference scores stink.
From what most people tell me, we are teaching inference this way:
Take what the text says.
Add it to your schema.
Then wave your magic wand and viola - you have an inference.
Except that's not how it works on the good ole STAAR test.
Reason One: Students use schema to make connections and comprehend the basic text. They absolutely cannot use schema to answer the questions because all answers must be grounded in the text. No personal schema allowed. That wouldn't be fair.
Reason Two: Students aren't making inferences on STAAR. They are PROVIDED with inferences and must select one based on what the text validates and reject the ones the text can refute.
When assessed, readers are presented with inferences. To be successful, they must not use personal schema and ground their choices by validating or rejecting the answer choices with specific text evidence.
Requiring people to Not use schema may be part of the problem. Testmakers claim we don’t all have the same experiences so using schema slants the outcome. But it takes a special thinker to switch off schema; to learn to think one way in everyday life and a different way for a test.
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