My opinion is that I LOVE that they don't have homework this week!

Ryan is so cute, he's in 2nd grade now so this is his first year taking them. He's so excited to be a big kid. He keeps telling me that he needs to go to bed early and have a good breakfast.

Ours are called AIMS tests.

Our's are MCA's (Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment) and I think they are next week. They don't start until third grade so we're not there yet.

I'm not totally against them, but a week of testing is long. I guess it's the easiest way for the state to see which schools are performing.

I'm absolutely against them.

Tests are such an arbitrary way to measure intelligence (even just academic intelligence, which is only one of many forms in which it comes), and the self-esteem blows to kids that don't perform well on them can be incredibly damaging.

One of many reasons we are opting out of the public school system.

Good luck to Henry, and to you. Are you familiar with Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences? The curriculum at Alexandra's school is based on it, and it's really helped expand my thinking surrounding the relative importance of academic skill in terms of gauging "intelligence" as a whole:

http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm

They're CSAP's here. But only Rebecca takes them. My other kids are required to take a nationally standardized test, which the CSAP's aren't. My other kids take the CAT test starting at 3rd grade age.

I am, for the most part, against them. My kids do them because the law requires it, but I see no need for it at all. It's not an accurate way to test what they know. All it does is test how well they can take a test, which does them very little good in the real world.

kdrew wrote:

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I believe it's how our state decides what kind of funding our school gets so unfortunately they're necessary.

Tex private schools don't have that money issue so that would be a good way to go for you guys.

 

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Yes, I know that's why they do them, and I get why the govt would want to -- I can't think of another way to identify whether or not schools are successfully doing their job.

I just hate the idea that parents and kiddos get all worked up about the results, when the whole thing is really so unimportant in the whole scheme of life. Maybe if they didn't report the individual results it would be better, IDK.

(And I'm saying this as someone whose greatest strength in life is perhaps the ability to take a test, LOL. Like Corey, I have always done well on tests, but I remember watching folks around me struggle who didn't. And the crazy part was that at least half of them were smarter than I was/am.)

I really dislike them.

As the mother of a child who blows them out of the water (Danielle has never scored below the 97% percentile on any state test she's ever taken, and is routinely 99%), I don't think they represent what the kids are learning. Her teachers ooh and ahh over the numbers, and then get crazy when they don't correspond to her actual schoolwork. For anyone who's ever read my "what-the-heck-do-i-do-with-my-daughter" threads, you know that is a serious issue for us.

I feel like they are artificial, at best, and deceptive at worst. Standardized test taking is a skill all it's own, and in one of her schools, I feel like they taught that skill as opposed to the information that is in the test. For example, they actually taught how to make a best guess on a math problem when she was in 2nd grade. Imo, this defeats the purpose of the test. I remember reading some take-home pamphlet that sounded like a GRE book I read; basically, how to make good guesses when under a time restraint. This was a school that had a high population of low-income families, and was already overcrowded, so I understand why they were so stressed about the tests. I can't think of a worse way to punish a struggling school than to strip funding.

I understand why they have to do it, I just wish there was a better gauge for measuring performance. I don't have any ideas as to what that might be, but I would rather schools be working harder to prepare my child for life, and not for taking a standardized test.

Oh, and in Illinois they take ISAT's, but in Wisc, they don't take a single test.

Here's an article about what they do here (basically, a bunch of mini-tests all year long, in addition to a longer test in the fall). I have been so much more impressed with the schools here than those in IL because of things like this.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/08/27/wisconsin-dumps-standardized-test/

mctex wrote:

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I'm absolutely against them.

Tests are such an arbitrary way to measure intelligence (even just academic intelligence, which is only one of many forms in which it comes), and the self-esteem blows to kids that don't perform well on them can be incredibly damaging.

One of many reasons we are opting out of the public school system.

Good luck to Henry, and to you. Are you familiar with Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences? The curriculum at Alexandra's school is based on it, and it's really helped expand my thinking surrounding the relative importance of academic skill in terms of gauging "intelligence" as a whole:

http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm

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what she said :)

In 5th grade my whole class raced to see who could fill out the circles fastest.

Which tracked me in non-college prep the very next year.

That is a lot riding on an exam.

Had it not been for an astute 6th grade English teacher who realized I was actually intelligent, I would have been stuck on that track.

I also got a plaque for improving my score so dramatically during 6th grade tests.  My principal was amazed I had leaped several grades in just a few short months in ability.  <<<<roll my eyes>>>

-- Edited by supergrover on Tuesday 13th of April 2010 02:20:30 PM

I don't like them and I think if it was only one tiny piece of the puzzle and was not a week long major ordeal, I might be okay with them. 

I can say when I taught in Florida, especially 4th and 5th grades, it was all about the test.  It was not the teachers wanting to teach to it or to teach that way.  It was mandated by the government.  In order for schools to get federal funds there must be some sort of standardized testing done.  In addition the no child left behind act also mandates that certain levels or achievements on those tests must be made in order for a child to advance to certain grades and graduate.  It's called high stakes testing.  I think it is a huge mistake and does not allow teachers to actually do their job.  Do they want kids to learn or do they want them to pass a test?

i'm not sure what our elementary level tests are called, but in 9th & 10th grades, they take the S-test and in 11th grade they take the NJHSPA (nj hs proficiency assessment).

in nj,students must past the HSPA to graduate. of course there are exceptions - special ed students who fail it after 3 attempts and cannot pass the alternate assessment program (AHSA) can be exempt. but a regular student who cannot pass on any of 3 attempts or pass the AHSA program cannot graduate with a diploma (they get a certificate of attendance instead).

in our district, their 8th, 9th & 10th grade standardized test scores on the S test serve as predictors for how they will do on HSPA. if they score below the "proficient" level, they are given the HSPA elective for that subject area (either math or language arts). in these classes, they work on basic skills (like reading comprehension for LA) as well as test taking strategies.

the HSPA is 3 days of 2.5 hours of testing. while it's not fun, it's no where near as bad as it was when i taught in denver. i think they did 11 hours of testing per year there? their tests were not linked to graduation though.

and just for the record, i did my student teaching in georgia while i was at emory and they had the GGT (georgia graduation test) which was linked to graduation.

while i'm not a fan of high-stakes testing, i also think that they, in a way, help students prepare for SATs and ACTs. i have had several A students in my class fail the HSPA for language arts. how is that possible? i really don't understand that.

i do know that the entire testing industry is completely unfair and corrupt. one standardized test used at our school (i cannot remember which, but i'm thinking it might have been some AHSA tests) were supposed to be graded by volunteer teachers who were supposed to drive 2.5 hours to the grading site.  um, no teachers volunteered, so instead, the testing company used their own employees to grade them.  these are people without degrees in education or possibly, any degrees at all (they could have been people working in the mail room for all we know).  the test results were VERY low across the board and because we cannot appeal the results, we'll never know why or who graded them or anything else for that matter.

i'm so torn about how to fairly evaluate teachers.  right now in many parts of our country, part of teachers' salaries are based on students' performance on these types of tests.  is that fair?  probably not.  so how do we evaulate teachers fairly?  the entire concept of classroom observations is crap because the administrators who are supposed to do the observing are so busy with so many other responsibilities that they spend 10 minutes in a teacher's room and then complete a 1 page form with feedback.

the system is SO broken and the standardized testing is just one small piece of the problem.

i daily see kids who are SO bright - gifted even - who have fallen through the cracks over the years.  one of my students was arrested 2 weekends ago for robbing his friend's house while he was high.  i was heartbroken to hear this - this is a gifted kid who was dealt a SHIT hand in life.  he started stealing long ago because his mother wasn't providing him with food at home and he was stealing to eat (his father is long gone).  if someone, anyone, had responded to his change in behavior 3 years ago, this kid would probably be in honors classes.  but instead, for 3 years, teachers allowed him to walk into their rooms, talk at him for 40 minutes and then watch him walk out and become someone else's problem.

all of these things add up to why i feel this career is leading me in another direction.  i feel so passionately about these kids who cannot prove their merit on standardized tests or in classrooms sitting at desks for 40 minutes that i really think that my long-term plan is to open a private school for students who are not succeeding in the traditional school setting for whatever reason.  and we will have counseling as part of the regular curriculum. 

students today need teachers who genuinely care about them as people and not just look at them as another body sitting in another desk producing another paper to grade.  where are all the "why's?"  ...  WHY is this student failing?  WHY has this kid absent 12 times this quarter?  WHY can i never get a parent at this number to return my phone calls.

until we have our profession return to the state it once was - filled with teachers who care about the minds and hearts that they are shaping - our students will continue to be apathetic to their grades, disrespectful to their teachers, peers and themselves, and underachieve in most areas of their lives.

but even after all of that, i still point much of the blame at the parents who have washed their hands of the educational process.  :)


-- Edited by apies on Tuesday 13th of April 2010 03:30:05 PM