Last week one of my students popped off that the our state standardized test "is to show if the teachers are doing their jobs or not." I know she's not really the one who said it, that one of her parents probably said it and she just repeated it. Still, I didn't give the most polite response.
And yesterday as I walked around my students' desks as they took the test we've all been preparing for, I watched a nightmare unfold throughout the day as a child here and another child there rushed through the test, didn't use a single flippin' strategy I taught them, and basically failed the test before my eyes. Although most of them did fine and will pass, it's the ones that chose to do nothing that will do the most harm - to our district, our school, and to my credibility.
Alan reminded me that in a couple weeks when the results roll in, there'll be success stories to celebrate. But unfortunately, the system doesn't work that way. We'll focus on the failures, including the ones who tried so, so hard and just couldn't quite "get it."
3 comments:
Why can't the state just look at grades throughout the year instead of making such a big fuss over this SPECIAL test? Or is it really special?
Kinda reminds me of when we had to take the EIT exam at Tech. It was a requirement to graduate, but for the foreign students it was meaningless. I seem to remember some of them coming in the morning of the test still drunk from the night before and finishing in 30 minutes.
I have always been a fan of doing away with standardized tests, especially for students with learning disabilites, poor test takers. In my opinion, the tests seem to stress everyone out. I can attest to this. After countless tests during my 16+ years of education, I knew that I would likely never pass the CPA exam (due to the aforementioned reasons), alas, here I am, with no CPA certificate. I really wish the persons who invented these tests would re-evaluate the way students learn, rather than pressure them each year with a test. Not only do you have to pass a test to complete the next grade, but you have to pass a test to get into college, not to mention any special certification you might need when you are finshed. OK, sorry about the rant, but it really irked me that a student (parents) would have the gall to tell you something as awful as that!!
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