Here are the number of days my students spend taking standardized bubble-in tests each year:
- 4 days of state language arts and math tests in English (~85 minute sessions on each day)
- 4 days of state language arts and math tests in Spanish (this is a new test, so I've never given it, but it's supposed to be exactly aligned with the state English-language tests, so I would guess it would be about 85 minutes per day also)
- 12 days of district reading and math assessments, 4 at the end of each trimester (about 45 minutes each day)
Plus, there is a state writing test (1 day, about 90 minutes long) and a district writing test (also 1 day, about 90 minutes).
Then, for students who have not yet proven they are fluent in English, aka English Learners (24 of my 31 students), there's a state test to measure each student's English proficiency level that takes about 4 days of testing, with sessions lasting about 60 minutes each day.
That's a lot of tests! Of course I want my students to be able to demonstrate that they have learned what they are supposed to learn in 4th grade, and of course standardized tests are a reality in their future educational and professional lives. But I'm not sure who decided that testing 4th graders in sessions lasting 85 minutes was the best way to assess their mastery of content. My students can focus on their tests for about 60 minutes. After that, only the most conscientious are still methodically reading through each passage, valiantly trying to apply the test-taking strategies we've practiced and trying to remember the scores of isolated subskills that are being tested.
I'm also not sure what the point is of testing students like Wilfredo who has been in the US for a year-and-a-half on fourth grade language arts standards in English. Yes, I will get his scores back and see that he is "Far Below Basic." I knew that already. The state tests do not measure his progress or give me any guidance in planning instruction for him or other newcomers. There have been lots of proposals about how to modify testing requirements for English Learners, but they always get shot down. Check out a few here, here, and here.
Finally, do you know exactly what the difference is between a fable, a myth, a legend, and a folktale? My students are supposed to. Not that the state-adopted language arts curriculum I must use in my classroom really addresses this standard. Sure, there a few myths in their reading anthologies, but that's not nearly sufficient to address the standard. I researched the exact differences and then designed my own curriculum to teach it to my students. Sometimes the sheer number of standards students are supposed to master seems impossible, also. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics sees this triumph of breadth over depth as a problem and this year issued new Focal Points, defining what it sees as the key math standards students should master in each grade level. I'm not sure when the pendulum will swing back a little towards depth.
Meanwhile, my students will spend 85 more minutes tomorrow silently filling in bubbles, determining whether my school is seen as a success or failure.
1 comment:
we're doing standardized testing this week too. it's not as bad for my kids at the high school level - four days, 100-150 minutes each day. but testing week always makes me think about two crazy ironies:
1. these tests are supposed to help kids, especially kids who are not well-served by schools, by holding teachers and schools accountable. but here's what i see instead. the students who are skilled enough to be able to perform well on the tests finish them in about 30 minutes to get them over with, then zone out for the next 2 hours. and the students who know they won't do well on the tests - and they DO know, because they've been doing poorly on standardized tests for years now, and they might also know they're smart or that they learn a lot in school, but the thing they're sure of is that they hate these tests that make them feel stupid - those students try to take the tests seriously for 5-30 minutes, depending on their personal stamina, and then they fill out their bubbles so that they make pretty patterns on the scantron forms. elementary students might care enough to try valiantly. high school students don't, not really, quite possibly out of self-preservation. and so the students who are supposed to be helped by the test are the most hurt. i can't encourage them to take it seriously with any real enthusiasm.
2. on the other hand, testing week is the easiest week of my life. instead of trying to fit planning three classes and grading 50-100 homework assignments into my 55 minutes of "prep", i have two and a half hours every morning to get work done while my kids bubble. after all, i'm not allowed to help them. so for this one week of the school year, i actually complete all the tasks on my "to-do" list. just imagine what my life would be like if we had testing every morning. or if the students were learning with another teacher, because we had the funding to actually pay people to be in the classroom while other teachers are preparing.
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