321 Learn! » Testing

Testing?

Jennifer Wagaman — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:36:21 +0000

‘nuf said…

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Teacher Appreciation Day … or Not

Jennifer Wagaman — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:49:17 +0000

Teachers are being laid off, furlough days added to the calendar in order to cut back on pay roll, programs are cut, class sizes increasing and the worst is yet to come. Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education, tells teachers in an open letter that “in the next decade, half of America’s teachers are likely to retire”. I wonder how many are being forced to retire or how many are jumping ship before things get any worse?

So now we stop to appreciate our teachers. Let’s look at what we’ve done to teachers in the past few years: Teachers are having to find second jobs to pay the bills; the best teachers looking for new jobs. Some districts are questioning whether 12th grade is a necessity, while a the same time looking at trying to educate 3 year olds. Test scores are now the only thing that matters and teachers no longer promote honesty and integrity as filling in the bubble on a scan-tron, even when the answer is not known, is of a higher priority. (I am a Bad Teacher, by Valarie Strauss)

Here are some questions I have about the whole situation:

1. How many administrators eat out each week? (because we can’t afford to on a teacher’s salary after pay cuts and mandatory raises in our pension contribution…)

2. How many government budget makers are struggling to pay for health insurance? (because many teachers have to pay this by themselves now, something that is quite difficult unless a spouse has another career that pays well)

3. How may students can you physically stuff into a single room and expect to learn?

4. How will eliminating 12th grade help colleges who already complain about having to provide remedial support for incoming freshmen?

5. How will bringing in students 1-2 years sooner (3 and 4 years-old) improve a system that can’t figure out how to educate them starting at age 5?

6. How does cutting pay for teachers solve anything? (unless you really want fewer teachers in the school systems, then that will help)

My prediction – at least 2 more years of worsening before it begins to hold steady. In that amount of time, who knows how many teachers will be left? The fact of the matter is that we need good veteran teachers to mentor and help train up the new teaches entering the field. Without the veteran teachers, new teachers will have a bigger steeper learning curve.

Arne Duncan makes bold claims: “I hear you, I value you, and I respect you.” A statement that is hard to swallow when teachers feel their cries fall on deaf ears, find that their value now lies in the accuracy of student’s ability to fill out a scan-tron sheet and respect for their job lies in a dwindling paycheck that doesn’t cover all the bills anymore.

Budget makers – your values are showing through as you continue to cut back education funding. Where will it stop? When will the education of the next generation be a priority? Cut out the rhetoric, talk means nothing. Put yourself in a classroom and find out what teachers do every day. Stop asking teachers to get kids to pass a test while pulling the rug out from under them at the same time.

Or are we going to start offering free and reduced lunches to teachers as well as the kids?

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day

How Should We Test Students?

Jennifer Wagaman — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 20:27:18 +0000

My question, unpacked a little bit, is really: Should our tests be designed to learn what students know or should they be designed to find out what students don’t know? Is there a place for both? How do they both … Continue reading → Related posts:

A Quick Look at Differentiated Instruction

Jennifer Wagaman — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 18:50:41 +0000

Differentiated Instruction, or teaching various levels at the same time to a classroom full of students who are learning at different lessons, is a commonly discussed topic in the schools today. The thing that is interesting is that some of the ideas for how to do this seem to lose site of the end goal.

When planning any lesson, it is important to first ask: what is the ultimate goal behind this lesson?

Example One: Differentiated Instruction of Perimeter and Area

So for example – Students will learn how to measure the perimeter and area of a shape. The ultimate goal is NOT that students will simply be able to improve upon prior knowledge. (I am sure everyone will agree there, but surprisingly, differentiated instruction seems to lose this idea). Additionally it is NOT that students will be able to pass a unit test. You might say that the ultimate goal is to pass the state tests, and in one sense that is an ultimate goal. The final ultimate goal is for students to be able to grow up, measure their living room and purchase the correct amount of carpet.

Looking at differentiating instruction for this concept has come a long way from even just a few years ago. It used to be that teachers were told to provide several examples and then allow time to work in small groups so that students who struggled with the concept could have personal time with the teacher to learn a difficult concept.

A New Look at Differentiated Instruction

Now teachers are being prompted to provide a variety of complexities in the problems given. Now for this example, the complexity does not compromise the concept: finding the area of a room that is 5×5 square uses the same formula as finding the area of a room that is 10×32. When it is time to add other shapes to the room, the problem becomes more sticky.

One article I recently read stated that students should be given a list of several questions of varying difficulty and allowed to choose a couple of those to answer, allowing the advanced students the chance at harder questions and slower students the chance at easier questions. The problem is, if the easy problems: a room that is only 5×5, are the only ones answered, then those students who are struggling will never have practice with more difficult problems: a room that has to be divided into three sections in order to figure out the area, for example.

Example Two: Differentiated Instruction for Multiplication

One example given in the article was multiplication. Given a selection of multiplication problems, students who have not grasped double digit multiplication can answer only single digit questions while students who are more advanced can answer more difficult double digit multiplication.

My question – when does the slower student learn double digit multiplication? And if your ultimate goal is that state test, how does that slower student have a chance at passing when they are always given the option of a simpler problem? Lose the problem sets and bring back individualized attention, please!

Focus on Remediation

Jennifer Wagaman — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:59:31 +0000

Remediation seems to be the name of the game in public education these days. In one school, the second grade math lab is being discontinued so that the person who ran that can instead focus on remediation with older students who take the state testing.

While on the one hand this seems like a logical step – the kids who will be tested need to have the help necessary to catch up and be “on level” for their grade in math.

On the other hand, the logic seems a bit backwards – the kids who now will not receive the math lab in second grade will be the ones who will eventually have to participate in the remediation in older grades.

Putting a bandage on a problem, like remediation for students with poor test scores, can help heal the wound (poor test scores), but why do this at the expense of those students who are at high risk for needing remediation later?

Any Dr.will agree that preventative medicine is the best – eat healthy, exercise, get plenty of sleep. If the medical industry stopped focusing on these healthy lifestyle choices, teaching individuals how to care for themselves and stay healthy, and instead focused all their time and energy on healing those who became sick, that would turn our health care system upside down. While Dr’s (and remediation) are absolutely necessary, preventative medicine (and perhaps math labs for second graders) is just as important if not more so.

How to Improve Standardized Test Scores

Jennifer Wagaman — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:46:03 +0000

When preparing students for the standardized state tests that contribute to the No Child Left Behind Act and AYP, there are a few things that it is important for teachers to keep in mind. First, it is important to note that everyone as an opinion as to how to improve test scores. The bottom line is, what brings about results? So much of what schools/teachers/administrators choose to do or have others do, is based on opinions and ideas and not research.

Here are some tips for improving test scores based on research from the National Center for Educational Statistics. Check out these tips for improving test scores, then follow the links to read more and find out what surprising things actually make no difference in the test scores.

First, my opinion – be sure that in the ever present push to get through each standard on the state mandated curriculum, that children are learning why they need to know the information. Understanding the facts may help them pass a test, but understanding how that information is applicable to their lives is priceless and will ultimately result in better educated adults. It may also be worthy of note to reduce test stress.

Here are research-based specific things that teachers can do to ensure higher test scores.

To Improve Elementary Reading Test Scores:

Make reading a fun and enjoyable activity. Research shows that students who perform well on standardized reading tests enjoy reading and find it fun.
Focus on building student vocabulary.
Provide time for silent reading

Read more tips on improving reading test scores.

To Improve Elementary Level Math Test Scores:

Spend 3-5 hours on math. While this may seem simple, it provides teachers the amount of time necessary to teach each skill.
Avoid excess homework. Research shows that an excess of 15 minutes of math homework each day might actually hinder the goal of improving test scores.
Ability grouping is helpful as well, providing teachers the ability to focus on a single level of student ability at a time and really bring up the skill set of each group.

Read more tips on improving math test scores.

Teach Middle or High School level? Here are some tips for you on improving reading test scores:

Raising Middle School Reading Test Scores

Raising High School Reading Test Scores

Student Assessment

Jennifer Wagaman — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:51:30 +0000

Student assessment is a vital part of teaching. There is some confusion surrounding lesson plan assessment, though. Student assessment is not an opportunity to find out if a student learned the required material. Rather, it is an opportunity for teachers to measure the success of their own teaching methods.

With this understanding comes a bit of confusion, though, as teacher performance begins to play into teacher salary. While it is true that student assessment demonstrates teacher effectiveness, it is not true that a standardized test can demonstrate the overall effectiveness of any one teacher, school or school district.

When the proper tools and ample amount of teaching time is provided to teachers, all students should learn. Unfortunately, though, all students cannot be expected to learn at the same rate. Even two students in the same grade cannot be expected to learn at the same rate, and expecting teachers to have all students passing the same test at the same time is ludicrous.

Instead, teachers should be held responsible for student learning. If John knows 50% of the information on a test prior to instruction, that teacher should be held responsible for Johns increase in knowledge to, say, 80% on the same test. The problem is, without knowing what the student starting level is, there is no way to hold teachers properly responsible for student growth.

Changing the Focus of Education

Jennifer Wagaman — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:42:56 +0000

Too much focus has been placed on test scores and standards in the public school system today. While there has been some improvement in test scores as more and more focus is placed on reaching these specifically defined testing objectives, the question of improving the school system is still being asked daily. Instead of asking what new strategy or focus will help students meet testing goals, what would happen if teachers took the tests and threw them out the window?

Could the focus on tests and scores be misplaced? While schools are focusing more on test scores, some parents are choosing to “unschool” their children, an extreme version of homeschooling that has drawn criticism from many. While unschooling does have its downsides, namely, that students may not learn the necessary information to compete with their peers, the concept behind it may be closer to true education than the public school option.

Perhaps taking the focus off of tests and scores and objectives would allow teachers the option of focusing more on educating students – not imparting knowledge but helping students learn how to learn. Read more about Unschooling America’s Children.

No Child Left Behind?

Jennifer Wagaman — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:25:49 +0000

As test scores come back for area schools, parents and teachers alike are inspecting them, looking at what schools passed and what school did not pass. More and more schools are passing the state tests, with more and more students in each category testing at a proficient level.

What do these test scores actually tell us? Are teachers doing their jobs better? Are students getting smarter?

The only thing these scores tell us is that students are getting better at passing a specific test. This would indicate that students are learning the basic skills required by these tests and that teachers are doing a better job teaching these skills.

The better question to ask is: are these state tests looking at the right thing? Are these tests measuring the skills that our students need to learn?

The Obama Effect

Jennifer Wagaman — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:15:46 +0000

A recent study by Dr. Friedman and his associates entitled “The ‘Obama Effect’: How a Salient Role Model Reduces Race-Based Performance Differences,” in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology (forthcoming), looks at the effect that President Obama had upon test takers.

Traditionally, African Americans perform lower than their Caucasian counterparts on the same test, but after President Obama became president, this achievement gap effectively disappeared. Researchers believe that expectation based on race has a huge impact on the achievement of individuals. This study shows the power of a role model in impacting the expectations and achievement of a group of people.

Time will tell whether the Obama effect will have a long term impact, and more studies are needed to verify the findings, but the implications are vast. In essence, African American students perform better simply by having an African American role model demonstrating the importance of a good education.

Teachers, especially those who teach low achieving students such as special education students and minorities, need to learn how to extend the Obama effect to each of their students. They need to teach their students that they can achieve, and help them believe it through positive role models and effective teaching strategies.

This study demonstrating the Obama effect is only the beginning of the necessary changes in the educational system.

For more info: The Obama Effect