Today one of my honor students, we will call him "A," asked me what we we are going to do for the rest of the year. Keep in mind the rest of the year is 4 weeks... one month... about 120 instructional hours. I responded that we were going to learn about Reconstruction. To which Student A replied, "Miss, we've already taken the test. I thought we were done. Isn't the rest of the time just movies or review?"THE TEST...
That's right folks, it is C.S.T. time. Student A's comment made me think about my experience testing as a kid. I don't remember thinking the school year was over when the test was over. Anyone else? Were the test as high stakes as they seem to be now? I was met with deafening silence Monday morning as my Advisory students sweated out the time until "The Test" began. Have my Omaha friends taken "The Test" yet? Just curious about other people's memories or experiences with "The Test." Oh and just in case you are interested in testing yourself and seeing if you have met all the standards an 8th Grader in California should, here is a link to some release questions...
2 comments:
My first experience with "the test" as a mother was when Lisa was in 1st grade. This was the grade where Lisa learned to be lazy, because she was so far ahead of the rest of the class- she and her friend would go read (giggle)in the cubbies in the hall everyday because they had done everything. She came home in tears because there was a big test coming and if she didn't pass she couldn't go to 2nd grade. This child had gotten nothing less than a 98% all year and she was stressed she wasn't going to pass 1st grade. REDONKULOUS. What were these teachers telling my child. I immediatly told her that it wasn't about her, but about a grade for the TEACHERS, and that was why they were so stressed. If the kids in the class didn't do well the teachers would get in trouble- which was why we did our best because we didn't want our teachers to get in trouble.
Now- there are teachers today that my sweet little Lisa might sabatoge, but she has just come to realize the test is what it is and the teachers are going to freak. She will do her best and enjoy a couple of days with NO HOMEWORK!!
So far, I've gone through the same routine with all three of the older kiddos and expect to go through it again with C.
Yes we've done THE TEST here, and there was much moaning and groaning- but I'll let the kiddos give their opinion, I'm just glad it is over! And they all did very well on it.
I guess I should have made a full post.
Love,
Anne Nicole
Unfortunately the test is less about the students or the teacher although it purports to be the measure and more about buearacracy and following federal mandates (often unfunded) about assessment/outputs, responsibility measures for things funded by taxpayers etc. All this sounds reasonable on paper, however, in all areas these outputs are often developed by folks not really still in the trenches and often try to be a one size fits all when we know the world is not one size fits all!
Good work to the kiddos and the teachers this year for surviving the testing process and good luck keeping all engaged in REAL learning (not just learning to the test) for the rest of the year.
Post a Comment