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Standardized Testing Chatboard

40 Alternative Assessments of Learning - by Charity Preston

by Teachers.Net Gazette

Sep 25, 2014

Assessing students' progress in reading, writing, math, science and social studies doesn't have to depend upon paper, pencil and bubble sheets!

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Welcome to the Standardized Testing Chatboard

by Bob Reap (Teachers.Net)

Jun 3, 2011

Welcome to the Standardized Testing Chatboard. This chatboard is for teacher discussions of standardized testing, high stakes testing, and other topics related to standardized testing.

Bookmark this resource and contribute often!

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Marlene Scholfield I think the problem we are facing with standardized testing is that the students are tested too much and without any feedback from the testing. So then we want them to do really well so we bribe them with something they might want and then we test them.... I am not sure why we are dangling the carrot so far out for them... Maybe we need to rethink ...See More

Jun 3, 2011

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lila On 6/03/11, Bob Reap (Teachers.Net) wrote: > Welcome to the Standardized Testing Chatboard. This > chatboard is for teacher discussions of standardized > testing, high stakes testing, and other topics related to > standardized testing. > > Bookmark this resource and contribute often!

Were your testing dates rescheduled? O...See More

Jun 3, 2011

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Race to Nowhere

by Stellaluna

Jun 3, 2011

Has anyone seen this documentary? I have not, but really want to... but I did see an interview with the film maker. She talked about how the US has not ever had the greatest test scores compared to the rest of the world, yet has produced some of the greatest innovations and technology. She said that China is studying what we were doing in the past ...See More

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DeAnn I have not seen the documentary, but your comments spark interesting thoughts. I think in trying to make sure that all students succeed and no one is left behind, we have settled for mediocre for everyone. That leaves students at the top who would be the innovators and creators without the support they need to grow as well.

Jun 4, 2011

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Jo I've seen Race to Nowhere and the follow on directions that have come from it. Maybe I am different from many, but I didn't take away from the movie the same thing many other people did.

I see two distinct sets of students. Those that are the high achievers. Funny, this concept is pushed so hard on t-net. Nothing but being the best you can...See MoreI've seen Race to Nowhere and the follow on directions that have come from it. Maybe I am different from many, but I didn't take away from the movie the same thing many other people did.

I see two distinct sets of students. Those that are the high achievers. Funny, this concept is pushed so hard on t-net. Nothing but being the best you can be in academics because that should come first is highly pushed. Those that aren't. These sets of students will come into play when I discuss high school.

I saw elementary schools (and do see it now), pushing tons of outside of school work on students. Often times work that the student can not independently do. Often times taking hours on end in elementary school. Not all buy into it. Those that don't are seen as the students whose parents don't care or students that don't care. Problem is, many of these young children are putting in longer days than the teachers are contracted to put in. One can say the Chinese kids do that so what is the problem. The problem is, when we were an innovative,creative superpower the kids weren't getting homework loads like this. The Chinese haven't been an innovative, creative super power in a long time. They tend to take and replicate technology. They are great at doing exactly what they are told. Way different skills sets.

Now at the ms and high school level it is time to choose. Honors/AP or regular education. What a night and day choice for kids. I can speak of our district in saying the only courses that really prepare the kids for college is the honors class. Sure gen ed will give you high enough grades to get into college and mostly OK SAT scores, it doesn't give the skills necessary to do well in college. It is a tough road for those kids to make the leap. Some do well, many others don't, but little do we hear about he drop outs. Now the Honors/AP group end up giving up their lives. The work load is staggaring. These are the kids that Race to Nowhere discusses in HS. Those that are the high achieving students that would be glazed over board in regular classes that get little to no homework. These are the same kids that actually did all of that homework in elementary school because they were told that is what you do. If it is assigned you respect the authority and experience of the teacher and do what is given. These kids are going to school and studying an additional 6-8 hours after school. They also need to be involved in clubs, activities, and now even jobs to look good for univeristy. Since university applictions are up even at state schools, the expectation is top grades, top classes, and top everything if you want to go to college.

That is what the movie is about. The robbing of life experiences for an education that supposedly is "superior" to that of 20 years ago. What they found out is there is no way a student can actually handle the workload without cheating. Since behavior grades are built into so many classes (even AP) and some kids are taking 5 AP classes because there is only gen ed or AP, they can't even decide if the homework assigned is irrelevant to them because they have already mastered the skills. If they don't do the work it is an automatic zero which is mostly unrecoverable. Colleges don't like to see poor grades in AP classes. So, students cheat. APs have become open to all and many kids in the classes don't have the skills. So, they cheat their way through. AT many schools kids aren't even passing their end of the year AP tests. They might have good grades (all assigned by the teacher not specified in the AP program), but they fail the AP test miserably.

So, what happened to college prep classes that had higher level learning, more in depth learning, but reasonable homework loads? What happened to allowing kids to have time to explore, have friends, have family time?

Could you imagine 20 hour days and the expectation to be in the top classes, in sports, in clubs, hold a job, be upbeat and friendly so you have a social circle, hold offices, etc? What does a teacher say to a student when they let something slide? Are they understanding? Why homework over holidays, spring break, winter break, summer?

I'm honestly surprised more kids haven't gone bonkers. If you want HS classes in which your eyes won't glaze over, you must give up your life. If you take less chanllenging ones and you are highly intelligent, you are doing a disservice to yourself. You could do better and you are being lazy. This is what we are telling kids every step of the way. Often it is to motivate the poor performers, but the high achievers hear the message too. The only acceptable thing is to be the best in everything you do. Everything else is failure.

Jun 4, 2011

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Posting on the Standardized Testing Chatboard

by Pat

Jun 3, 2011

The URL says "standardized-testing." The page title says "Standardized Testing." The subtitle says "Post a Message on the Bullying Chatboard." I just want to be entered for the Kindle.

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Bob Reap (Teachers.Net) On 6/03/11, Pat wrote: > The URL says "standardized-testing." The page title says > "Standardized Testing." The subtitle says "Post a Message > on the Bullying Chatboard." I just want to be entered for > the Kindle.

You've posted to the right board - thanks for the heads up, I've fixed that.... :o)

Jun 3, 2011

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Too much testing not a productive use of kids' time

by Dorothy B.

Jun 3, 2011

Why do decision makers ignore all the evidence? Show me one study that shows positive results of all this testing?

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sarah I agree! It wastes so much real learning time! And with 1st graders I have to teach them to take the test....they don't automatically know how to bubble or how to follow a passage in a test booklet; so much time is spent in simply familiarizing students to the format of the test. And I feel that 2 hours (for each test section )of sitting still and ...See More

Jun 3, 2011

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Barbara I agree also. The time spent "teaching how to take the test" and then "taking the test" could be put to much better use.

On 6/03/11, sarah wrote: > > I agree! It wastes so much real learning time! And with 1st > graders I have to teach them to take the test....they don't

Jun 4, 2011

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My own kids are tested a lot and

by Amanda D.

Jun 3, 2011

From the outside looking in, it seems my own kids are always preparing for standardized testing and criteria ref. tests, and end of book tests. Sometimes it seems they spend 1/3 of the time taking tests!

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How do you prepare your students?

by Becky

Jun 3, 2011

What is the best review activity you do to prepare your students for the standardized test in the spring?

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Too much, too fast

by Dana A.

Jun 3, 2011

As a teacher in Louisiana, I've observed that there is a great emphasis put on standardized test scores. I know that we need to assess students' progress, but I wonder if too much emphasis is put on test results. For example, if our 4th and 8th graders do not meet the required scores, they must go through summer remediation and take the test again....See More

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So true for some - Carrie I had to tell one of my ELL students today that she will need to retake all 3 end of grade tests, yes all 3. On one, she only missed the cut off score of passing by 1 point. She has spent a little over 12 hours testing in the last week and will spend another 12 hours re-testing again next week. There will be little, if any difference in her scores....See More

Jun 3, 2011

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Amanda D. On 6/03/11, Chan wrote: > But aren't the tests supposed to measure what the students > were supposed to have mastered? If they don't master the > material (even without the testing to measure it) then why > should they be allowed to go on to the next grade?

No test is without bias. But the other concern is the amount of time th...See More

Jun 3, 2011

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It should all line up!

by Chan

Jun 3, 2011

Testing should be aligned to the state-mandated standards and should simply measure how well students have mastered those. What goes on in the classroom should also be aligned to the state-mandated standards.

Too many people make it seem as if the "high stakes" tests have no connection to what each state says should be taught. Either a stu...See More

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Dana A I think you hit the nail on the head! The high stakes tests are just a tool.

On 6/03/11, Chan wrote: They're > just a tool; they're not the end-all and be-all of > educational achievement.

Jun 3, 2011

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