State Testing Season

If you’re an educator or the parent of a school aged child, you are more than aware that we are in the middle of the Spring testing season. Over the next few weeks schools across the nation will begin the process of administering state exams. This yearly process elicits strong emotions among stakeholders.

During my career I have witnessed the drastic shift in how state assessments are handled. I remember being able to use my computer during testing my first year as a teacher. Now, test administrators are not allowed to use electronics while students in the room are testing. The gravity of the results of student assessments has become immense.

Here in the state where I live, school systems and individual campuses are judged primarily by their performance on state tests. This reality has caused an incredible amount of angst among school leaders and parents. A vast amount of resources are used year after year to improve schools performance to meet the ever changing standards.

We are now in the stage of the school year where teachers begin “camps” to prepare for state assessments. Frequently tested standards are reviewed, testing strategies practiced, and pep rallies are held. All of these things are done in hopes that students will do their very best.

All of these things are good ways to show that educators are preparing students for tests. I believe that there should be purposeful planning for state exams throughout the entire school year. Many educators already do something similar.

States have a blueprint on what has been assessed in years past. This can be used to make sure that students are exposed to the content they could be possibly tested on. This is not done excluding the curriculum that is to be taught, but in addition to it.

This can be achieved by having a “do now” problem at the beginning of class. Students solve the problem, teacher reviews with the class, and then move into the lesson of the day. This could take no longer than five to ten minutes and does not interrupt regular instruction. This practice, done throughout the entire school year, could help to boost student confidence when it comes to Spring testing.

I’ve heard the statement for years that teachers are teaching to the test. This mainly comes from people that may have students in school but don’t truly know the curriculum that is taught. In every industry that requires a test to gain certification, there are test prep materials available. The people that take those exams spend differing amounts of time preparing. This is no different than teachers preparing students.

Every state has set standards for exams. Educators, for better or worse, have a responsibility to meet the standard. While scores on standardized tests are what schools are mostly judged by, they don’t tell the full story of the work that is happening in schools.