PeachyDoodle Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 From the Raleigh News & Observer: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article26900362.html About 9,000 students will take shorter, more frequent standardized tests this upcoming year. The state Board of Education is trying to determine whether a new system for evaluating academic progress will be less stressful and more productive than big end-of-grade exams for children, teachers and parents. ... Students in grades three through eight take state standardized tests in reading and math at the end of the school year. The tests have been criticized as useless for teachers who want to use results to guide lessons, too stressful for students and parents, and developmentally inappropriate for younger children who cannot sit and focus for hours at a time. The board voted to try giving three shorter tests during the school year – along with shorter end-of-grade tests at the end of the year – to selected classes to find out whether a new system can work as intended. Fifth- and sixth-grade classrooms from around the state are being selected to participate so that the state Department of Public Instruction will have a sample that represents the statewide student population. Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article26900362.html#storylink=cpy What do you think? Will shorter, more frequent standardized tests be more effective than longer end-of-grade tests? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Right, because more tests is exactly what everyone needs... :001_rolleyes: I mean, the arguments are good in favor of making the change, but the testing is so disruptive and stressful. And I'm not sure that breaking it up into pieces will make the tests any better written. Plus, while I'm sure this isn't going to be the intention, I suspect that it will increase that focus on the borderline test passers, possibly pretty intensely. This is a problem where the kids who are pretty much doomed to pass the test are written off and not taught and the kids who are always going to pass the test are given busy work and the teacher focuses strongly on the few kids in the class whose scores could be brought up over the course of the year by intensive teaching right to their level. By getting scores back throughout the year, the teacher is going to know even more clearly just who those kids are and just who isn't even worth the effort. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted July 14, 2015 Author Share Posted July 14, 2015 Right, because more tests is exactly what everyone needs... :001_rolleyes: I mean, the arguments are good in favor of making the change, but the testing is so disruptive and stressful. And I'm not sure that breaking it up into pieces will make the tests any better written. Plus, while I'm sure this isn't going to be the intention, I suspect that it will increase that focus on the borderline test passers, possibly pretty intensely. This is a problem where the kids who are pretty much doomed to pass the test are written off and not taught and the kids who are always going to pass the test are given busy work and the teacher focuses strongly on the few kids in the class whose scores could be brought up over the course of the year by intensive teaching right to their level. By getting scores back throughout the year, the teacher is going to know even more clearly just who those kids are and just who isn't even worth the effort. I tend to agree. And knowing the level of stress my friends' kids who are in ps go through at the end of the year when the test rolls around, I have to wonder if this isn't just going to make every quarter as angst-inducing as the last quarter already is. My guess is it will fizzle out in the testing stage (no pun intended). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 The charter school my kids went to last year did pretty month monthly testing. Of course, they also did the big state standardized test for those in 3rd grade on up. It seems like all the kids did was test. I found it really annoying. About the only good thing I can say is that they were very relaxed about these tests....after the 3rd or 4th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneezyone Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 It doesn't say which tests they're using. When my oldest was in ps for first grade, the district used the NWEA MAP tests 3 times a year. The assessments were relatively brief and adaptive and gave teachers a lot more information about students' specific strengths and weaknesses. DD didn't find them stressful either as no make or break decisions were tied to the results. I never heard the teachers complain about MAP at all, in fact, they seemed to value the data. That stood in stark contrast to the annual NCLB tests which gave no useful data at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 I wonder if I would want to have a boulder dropped on my head or be stoned to death with pebbles? I think I'd opt for the boulder. It seems this will probably eat up more classroom time, because you just know that every test will be preceded by extensive prep. From the Raleigh News & Observer: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article26900362.html What do you think? Will shorter, more frequent standardized tests be more effective than longer end-of-grade tests? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Yeah, good metaphor. Stoned to death with pebbles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabelen Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 It doesn't say which tests they're using. When my oldest was in ps for first grade, the district used the NWEA MAP tests 3 times a year. The assessments were relatively brief and adaptive and gave teachers a lot more information about students' specific strengths and weaknesses. DD didn't find them stressful either as no make or break decisions were tied to the results. I never heard the teachers complain about MAP at all, in fact, they seemed to value the data. That stood in stark contrast to the annual NCLB tests which gave no useful data at all. That has been our experience as well with MAPS. My older daughter took them in 8th grade and my younger daughter K to 5th. I actually like to see the progress made and whether they reached or surpassed their individual expected learning growth in each area and period. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Seems like the worthiness of this project would depend on whether the teachers are really allowed to do anything with the results. Will they really be allowed to adapt curriculum? Back up to some trouble material? My guess is no. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 We did the big state testing in March. It wasn't a big deal. Most kids seemed little bothered by it. My kids would rather do this once a year and get it over with than deal with testing several times per year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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