Testing Week

I can honestly say with out any ill feeling that I hate standardized testing. Most people don't have a liking for it, but I loathe it. Maybe it is because I was always a bad test taker. I get anxiety attacks over the pressure to perform. Maybe it is because I don't think the scores actually represent a child's ability. But I think my feelings mostly stem from two very good reasons.

1. Administering the Test- Only other teachers can truly appreciate the nightmare that is administering a test. First, you must attend a half hour training. At this training you will be read a power point, slide by slide. Then you will handed a manual and asked to highlight the exact same information that you heard from the power point. Then, you will be scared out of your mind that if you breathe too heavy during the test, you will lose you job. At least 1 1/2 hours later, your half hour training is done. To get out of the training, you sign an oath promising to sacrifice your firstborn child if anything goes wrong. Naturally, more than one type of standardized test is administered each year, so you must repeat this process every few weeks.

2. Watching The Kids Struggle- How many adults would sit silently for anywhere from 2-10 hours working on one exam without getting an "I don't care anymore" attitude? Not me! But we ask these poor kids to do just that. No talking, monitored restroom breaks, extra supervised lunch, no getting up, and the best- when you're done, you can only read silently at your desk for the remainder of the day. Now, it is not quite that bad on my kiddos. But they are still required to be silent for up to 2 hours. No using the restroom unless taken by the teacher because most of the testing is orally administered. They have to work at my pace rather than their own and focus hard for long periods of time. They are also not allowed any recess, because the noise might interrupt other testing rooms. (This is actually the case if any grade level is testing in the building, which basically means no recess from Feb. -May.) Hello!!! My class is 6 and 7!!!!! Can we get some perspective? All this leads to increased behavior problems, which we have to deal with while keeping everyone extremely quiet. And I test my class everyday for a week. I have seen the look on my kid's faces as we work on page after page of testing. I do everything I can, but my hands are tied. Eventually, a fourth of them give up and start bubbling in patterns. I honestly can't blame them...I probably would too.

Sorry about my soap box, but this is how I feel.