This presentation uses the example of the great giraffe challenge riddle to demonstrate the problem with test validity when it comes to attempting to standardize writing assessment.

1. The Great Giraffe
Challenge Riddle
…and Standardized
Testing

2. My name is Diane Phelps. I
have a PhD in English
Education. My specialty is the
instruction and assessment of
writing. Today I flunked the
following Facebook riddle…

3. I received this riddle from a high school classmate who studied
Engineering and who also holds a degree in corporate finance:
My new profile pic is a giraffe because I answered a riddle
wrong. The deal is I give you a riddle. You get it right you get
to keep your profile pic. You get it wrong and you change
your profile pic to a Giraffe for the next 3 days. MESSAGE ME
ONLY SO YOU DON’T GIVE OUT THE ANSWER.
Here is the riddle: 3:00 am, the doorbell rings and you wake
up. Unexpected visitors, It's your parents and they are there
for breakfast. You have strawberry jam, honey, wine, bread
and cheese. What is the first thing you open?
Remember... message me only. If you get it right I'll post your
name here. If you get it wrong change your profile pic.

4. What does
the fox say?

5. Without revealing the “correct”
response, what follows are just some
of the answers floating around in
cyber space…

6. Nothing! You can’t make
me get up in the middle
of the night!
Well, if I woke up, and then I heard the
doorbell…I must have opened my ears
first…
It’s my parents at 3am? It
must be bad news…
The bottle of wine!
sssd
How do I know what time it
is? How do I know my parents
are there? How do I know
what they want for breakfast?
• How
I would open my MOUTH
to YELL at my parents for
bothering me!!!
But what if it’s not my parents? I think I
would open my shot gun case!

7. There is no wrong
answer because
language can be sly.

8. Writing is socially
constructed and
culturally embedded.
This riddle reminds us
that reader background
knowledge varies and
item context can be
subjective.

9. We need to keep
these things in
mind when we
stick our necks out
discussing
education reform!
Maybe I ought to
change my profile
picture to a fox…
swwww

10. Did you correctly solve the
“great giraffe riddle”? Do you
think it is valid?