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Here is the thing with standardize tests in general, we are the only nation on earth that tests kids in some cases 15-20 times a year with some sort of diagnostic/standardized test.
that wouldnt really be the thing on standardized tests, it would be the thing on excessive standardized tests.
i dont trust anybody for anything but im just as skeptical of the people complaining about the tests and i am the quality of the tests. there is always a real reason why people complain when you dig beneath the reasons they give and i have a feeling its more driven by teachers unhappy with accountability than with the actual quality of the tests. when people complain about "high stakes testing" and "teaching for the test" those are fake complaints that are more palatable sounding than what those people's real complaints are. if they were real complaints, they would focus on the quality of the tests and not on the other stuff that arent really bad things.
What is suddenly the big deal about testing NOW? I'm in my early 20s and growing up in NJ we had testing starting in like second or third grade. Every couple years we had stanfardized tests then of course the HSPA to end it. I don't see why everyone is flipping out now. Standardized tests are nothing new. No one used to opt out of tests when I was in school (not that long ago).
What is suddenly the big deal about testing NOW? I'm in my early 20s and growing up in NJ we had testing starting in like second or third grade. Every couple years we had stanfardized tests then of course the HSPA to end it. I don't see why everyone is flipping out now. Standardized tests are nothing new. No one used to opt out of tests when I was in school (not that long ago).
my theory is that its a big deal now because its being used to assess teachers. that may or may not be fair but it seems they are concocting other reasons because they must not feel it sounds good for them to only complain about their own issues.
What is suddenly the big deal about testing NOW? I'm in my early 20s and growing up in NJ we had testing starting in like second or third grade. Every couple years we had stanfardized tests then of course the HSPA to end it. I don't see why everyone is flipping out now. Standardized tests are nothing new. No one used to opt out of tests when I was in school (not that long ago).
The standardized tests we took years ago were maybe 2 hours in 3rd grade and 2 hours in 6th grade.
The tests for my 3rd grader were 10 hours over 5 days. The 4th graders had the same schedule. That is absurd for the third grade or any elementary grade. You should be able to assess a third grader in 2 hours. Even SAT tests are less than 4 hours.
The standardized tests we took years ago were maybe 2 hours in 3rd grade and 2 hours in 6th grade.
The tests for my 3rd grader were 10 hours over 5 days. The 4th graders had the same schedule. That is absurd for the third grade or any elementary grade. You should be able to assess a third grader in 2 hours. Even SAT tests are less than 4 hours.
We used to have testing weeks where we'd test for days and the whole week would be solely for testing. This was in elementary school. I think we used to get to go home early. I wish I could remember the name of the testing but it changed a few times during my school career so who knows now. Like I said, I'm in my early 20s. If you have kids in third grade, you're clearly older than me and tested in school probably a good 10 years before I did, at least.
Most people take the SATs multiple times, take the practice SATs at least once and do some sort of weekly preparation. It's not like you take the SAT once and you're done. I got a great score my first time and still took it again just in case, after taking the PSAT once and doing a weekly 3 hour prep course for like two or three months.
IMHO I just think people are so sensitive and protective nowadays. Testing was never an issue when I was in school. I was in elementary school in the early 2000s. Graduated 8th grade in 2007. We had standardized testing for multiple days as early as second grade (I don't remember before that). I recall having testing in elementary school every two or three years and again in middle school at some point. We had HSPAs in high school junior year, which lasted I think 3 or 4 days. And my senior year they added testing for freshmen, too. None of this was ever a big deal. We had testing week and that was the end of it. *shrugs*
Last edited by JerseyGirl415; 05-07-2015 at 06:50 PM..
The standardized tests we took years ago were maybe 2 hours in 3rd grade and 2 hours in 6th grade.
The tests for my 3rd grader were 10 hours over 5 days. The 4th graders had the same schedule. That is absurd for the third grade or any elementary grade. You should be able to assess a third grader in 2 hours. Even SAT tests are less than 4 hours.
why is that a problem? I always loved testing in school. I always felt like im in class learning and the test was my opportunity to demonstrate what I know. I guess you have all these clowns that didn't do well on tests and think they have "street smarts" instead of "book smarts" and now they want to believe that school should be about creativity and whatever goofy new age crap people get into. im not on board with the new age thinking, I love tests.
why is that a problem? I always loved testing in school. I always felt like im in class learning and the test was my opportunity to demonstrate what I know. I guess you have all these clowns that didn't do well on tests and think they have "street smarts" instead of "book smarts" and now they want to believe that school should be about creativity and whatever goofy new age crap people get into. im not on board with the new age thinking, I love tests.
anyone track down their test scores when they were kids? i remember taking these CAT tests when i was a kid. id be interested in tracking down my scores if someone is storing them.
i was able to get all my standardized test scores and grades really easily. the place to go was the high school guidance department. took me about 30 minutes total to have my info emailed. that includes the first phone call to the wrong place.
its going to take me much longer to try to interpret the test results. when i get my daughter's MAP test results, there is a guide to understand everything. i just have scores with no guide to interpret it.
I think it's helpful to have at least some standardized testing to ensure that certain minimum educational objectives are met.
For example, the school district in Fair Lawn has, for reasons that I cannot comprehend, adopted the "Everyday Math" curriculum for all elementary schools. It's a horrible curriculum dreamed up by some ivory tower academics in Chicago that is widely acknowledged to be terrible at teaching basic arithmetic. Because our elementary school is eager to perform well on PARCC, they extensively supplement the Everyday Math curriculum with real arithmetic. I still wish they would change to a better math curriculum, but I am truly grateful that the state keeps them honest. Were it not for PARCC, I would be truly concerned about the potential for my children to fall far behind in math.
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