testing, testing, one, two, three...more!

Ok, so you have heard a lot about testing lately. There are a lot of changes this year and I am still trying to wrap my brain around it.

Since No Child will be Left Behind, this year in Texas all children will take an on grade level test. In the real world, that makes sense. Have a high standard, and then people will rise to that standard, right? In my experience, that is not as easy as it sounds, and not as pretty as it looks on paper. With all of the changes in the TAKS test this year, especially how it affects students receiving Special Education services, I have really had to shift my thinking.

To me, there are two ways to look at it. Prepare the kids to pass the test or fill in the gaps so they are more successful at learning. When I have a second grader reading at a Kindergarten level (yes, there is a Kindergarten READING level) my goal is to teach that student to read, as quickly as I can, or as slow as I have to. By this time if they are still not reading, they need direct instruction. Not just because it is the right thing to do, not only because research says so, but because next year, they are going to take a test. Not just any test, The Test. That is where the dilemma lies. We are teaching that student at a pace that is appropriate for them, and going deep enough for conceptual understanding. That takes time. That same second grader by this time next year will be asked to take a test on a third grade level. Even if that student makes a year and a half progress, that puts them at about the middle of first grade. The books at a first grade level are decodable and predictable. The third grade reading test assumes the student will decode the words and then asks students to make predictions, generalizations and summarize. Bottom line - it is a hard test. We would not pass it out in a first grade classroom and expect to set the world on fire.

I expect all of my students to make progress academically. The problem is the progress they make will mean very little to them if everything else is telling them that The Test decides if they have learned what they need to learn. I can tell you right now, some of them haven’t. I am not being pessimistic, we just aren’t there yet. We will get there, but it maybe after they take The Test, maybe next year. We will get there. I am teaching the curriculum that is aligned to Student Expectations, which relate to the TAKS objectives, but to me that is not the end goal. It is a good goal, but not the only one. I want students to make progress. I expect them to make a lot of progress. What that looks like everyday just may be a little different than how it is supposed to look on Test Day.

The TAKS test is important. I am going to do my best to prepare each student to take it, as well as determine appropriate test accommodations, but it does not stop there. I am going to teach so that students learn and we will see where that takes us.