I came across the following article via Facebook. javascript:mox(); . I found it to be quite interesting. The title is somewhat misleading as they aren't actually talking about multiple choice testing as done via No Child Left Behind. Nope, instead they are talking about the old fashioned essay tests of my youth which are really just narrations that are graded. So, when you read this article and they are talking about the essay test just substitute the word narration in your head. 

I find it particularly interesting that the researchers compared essay tests to concept mapping. Concept mapping is a technique that was taught in EVERY single one of my teaching methods classes and was used extensively by my children's public school teachers. I confess to using it extensively my first two years homeschooling---until I realized it wasn't really helping my kids learn. I will say that concept mapping was effective for my son since writing was such a struggle for him but it wasn't nearly as useful for my girls who love to write. 

Like Howard Gardner, I had to do some serious rethinking of my methods and their outcomes. I'll have to look around and see what else he has to say about this study but it has definitely motivated me to do narrations with my kids.