Teaching to the standardized tests... Why, Why, Why?

[BriarfoxinWA]

cardaway - WA State has become one of the worst at "teaching to pass the test". When my 4th grader was diagnosed with a vision problem at the end of 3rd grade - his school conselor and administrator were very relieved. He now qualifies for special help during the WASL. He gets to take it in a private setting - so no distractions, gets to have a scribe to write down the answers he dictates, and gets to have all of the questions read to him. I'm glad because these are areas he has struggled with - but bottom line he just doesn't test well. I have thought about filing the paperwork to have him exempt from the test. Problem is if the WASL is still in place when he gets to high school he has to pass to get a diploma. There is also the problem that having him exempt means that he will get a "0" on the test and this will negatively impact his school (i.e. less funding due to lower test results).

 

[cardaway]

Problem is if the WASL is still in place when he gets to high school he has to pass to get a diploma. There is also the problem that having him exempt means that he will get a "0" on the test and this will negatively impact his school (i.e. less funding due to lower test results).

What you described will not be corrected in the 8 years he as until needing to worry about graduation?

Way back in 1984 they had these tests and they were required for folks to advance to the next grade. I was part of a true peer tutoring program where we took one period every day and worked one on one with students who were struggling in math.

With this new funding and NCLB angle it has grown into an acceptable level. I do think it still should be in place and be required before a student can move ahead or graduate.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

My big issue with the WASL is the importanced placed on it. I'm not against making the kids EARN their diploma but here is what I'm seeing:

The boys (15 & 9) are ONLY being taught what is needed to pass the WASL. Other subjects are being dropped as unimportant - including History. Our middle school has dropped three electives including foreign language, health, and a fine arts class, because they need more time to teach the core WASL subjects.

The WASL math section tests how well these kids can write out essay answers not if they just know how to calculate the answer to the problems.

The WASL is entirely made up of essay questions/answers and is graded by human graders. Now they are supposed to be trained but I've heard all kinds of stories about incompetent grading and it almost takes an act of congress to get a copy of your childs test. The company responsible for the grading is party to multiple lawsuits from other states regarding incorrect grading on tests.

I have no problem with the idea of testing - but lets go back to something like the ACT or SAT tests for the high school kids. We had all kinds of aptitude test when I went through school (graduated in 1984) lets go back to these as measurements of the children's learning. Bottom line should be did they get a passing grade from their teacher not did they pass the almighty WASL.

 

[monsterkitty]

But it's likely the test in each state changes very little from year to year. What bothers me is the focus on prepping for the test and then going back to situation normal for the rest of the year.

I agree that these tests have been around for years, but I also agree that their meaning took a dramatic turn in the last few years.

Only 1/3 of the test remains the same from year to year. That means that 2/3 of the test are brand spankin' new.

 

[cardaway]

Only 1/3 of the test remains the same from year to year. That means that 2/3 of the test are brand spankin' new.

2/3 is new or just slighty different? I doubt the come up with totally different questions. Usually just light varations from the year prior. There are only so many variations of the standard questions.

It also may be different from state to state.

 

[monsterkitty]

2/3 is new or just slighty different? I doubt the come up with totally different questions. Usually just light varations from the year prior. There are only so many variations of the standard questions.

It also may be different from state to state.

2/3 are totally different questions. One year they may test Standards 1, 3, and 4. The next year one standard may be tested again, but the others are replaced by different standards. Once they pull a question from the test it is released to the public and "vaulted." Unlike Disney, once a question is vaulted it will never be placed back on the test.

This is what makes it impossible to teach to the test in our state - they don't test the same standards from year to year, therefore all standards must be taught which is a very good thing. If they do test a standard again the next year it will be using a different poem, short story, graph, map, or scientific experiment.

The CSAP test is incredibly expensive for schools to administor because the state does develop new questions every year. We nly have about 650 student in my school and the test costs about $75,000 for my school alone.

 

[swilphil]

Some sort of standardized testing has always occurred, and state tests have been around for a couple of decades. NCLB changed everything though. Just ask the teachers. All of our inservice revolves around NCLB-- not necessarily how to make the kids learn more, but how to make them pass the test. It will be interesting in a few years to see how our graduates are faring in the real world because of the emphasis on The Tests. It's not going to be a good situation at all. How many careers focus on test taking? It's all political, and I fear the data being gathered is just going to be used to push private school vouchers.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

In my career I do a lot of writing narative's for large commercial loans. My boss and I were discussing the other day that when my DS15's generation enters the workforce we are going to have a real problem with the way they write essays/naratives. The method has been so drilled into their heads in order to pass the WASL test that we will probably not be able to make them "unlearn" it. It may be a great method for writing answers to tests - but's its going to be a real pain to have to read 30 pages of text written as: Topic Sentence, disscussion point, detail, Topic Sentence, disscussion point, detail,Topic Sentence, disscussion point, detail, and etc... while that may be technically correct it makes for teadious reading.