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Actually, the over-testing stuff predates Common Core by at least a decade.
Like the article/video says, that's part of Bush's baby, No Child Left Behind, enacted in '01.
(Testing is how we make sure we're not leaving anyone behind )
Last edited by itsMeFred; 05-05-2015 at 09:30 PM..
My kids' school does some of the rah-rah test rallies. Beginning in third grade, there is a huge emphasis on the EOGs (End of Grade) that they all take and they prepare all year. My own kid doesn't seem bothered by it, but I can see how the strong emphasis placed on them could stress out some kids. I also see how the emphasis placed on that one test leads the school to add many, many, additional tests throughout the year. Basically they take tests to see how well they're going to do on the big year end test, so they can adjust instruction accordingly.
My 4th grader's teacher has sent home practice tests for both math and English Language Arts. She did the math, but only because my 67-year old, Master's degree father was visiting, and she had him take it with her. She got 5 wrong out of 58 (3 she didn't know, 2 were careless errors) and my dad got 7 wrong but didn't finish the test; he stopped around #35 - "This is bull****. They call this math?" LOL. They both caught an error on one of the questions, where the answer key gave an incorrect response. I reported it to her teacher.
She didn't want to do the ELA one, and I'm not pushing it. I know she reads well and comprehends well from other standardized testing she's already taken. I looked at some of the questions, and I agree with the poster who said that they include some "tricky" questions, where one could easily see how an untrained person would choose an answer that almost correct, but not the best choice of the ones given.
I saw this earlier today, and thought, "Boy, we've come a long way from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills that I took every couple of years back in the 60s/70s." (Does anyone else remember those??)
I found myself wondering just how common some of the stuff in this video is. Do lots of schools actually have these "rah-rah sessions" to get kids excited about the standardized test? Surely it's not common for someone who has been making A's in school to fail the test (like that tearful girl at the microphone), or for a grown man with multiple Master's degrees to score poorly on it....is it??? And what in the world was up with the moral of that weird story about the pineapple?!
I don't remember testing being a big deal back when I was in school. I thought they were kind of fun actually. Are the tests longer, more frequent, more stressful now?....or have the adults made such a big deal out of them that it causes the kids to be upset about them?
Edited to add: I certainly didn't know until recent news reports that opting out of standardized testing was an option!! I'm curious how teachers feel about that?
I took the Iowa test, too, and I don't recall it being a big deal either. I think the tests today are much more stressful for the students and teachers alike. If I'm remembering things correctly, I think there have been eleven days of standardized testing this year, which seems excessive.
There were already high stakes tests given annually that were tied to everything from teacher salaries to federal funding of the entire district.
CC changed the standards being measured, but not really the testing process itself (though some schools are temporarily double-testing while shifting over to the new-and-improved tests).
The actual need for that high-pressure (bi)annual testing, however, is required for NCLB...
Yes, I completely agree with this. And sometimes they're completely nonsensical. I'm trying to think of an example... One that I remember the gist of went like this:
Mrs. Smith was asking the people in her neighborhood how many televisions they had. The numbers were given as: 2, 3, 2, 1, 1, 0, 5, 10, 3, 3, 4, 2, 2. Which method of estimation is more valuable to her: Mean, median, or mode?
I mean, what on earth kind of question is that? My child said, is she a person who sells televisions? Or does she work for the electric company, or is she just a nosy neighbor?
I have no idea what they were even looking for, though they probably wasted plenty of time in class going over these types of absurd scenarios, as well as how to determine the "right" answer.
I think that those in favor of the standardized tests as they are right now should probably take a look at the actual tests, if possible (which it really isn't, because they're not accessible to parents). As for us, our kids are no longer in public schools, so it's not an issue any longer.
For that example of the TVs, it could go towards mean or mode. She could want to find out the average number of TVs or the most frequent amount of TVs people have.
There were already high stakes tests given annually that were tied to everything from teacher salaries to federal funding of the entire district.
CC changed the standards being measured, but not really the testing process itself (though some schools are temporarily double-testing while shifting over to the new-and-improved tests).
The actual need for that high-pressure (bi)annual testing, however, is required for NCLB...
Yes the annual tests are needed for AYP for NCLB so schools can get their funding.
The testing market has grown by 57% since CC was put in place.
You have more formative testing done throughout the year.
I've seen it at the schools I work in.
There were already high stakes tests given annually that were tied to everything from teacher salaries to federal funding of the entire district.
CC changed the standards being measured, but not really the testing process itself (though some schools are temporarily double-testing while shifting over to the new-and-improved tests).
The actual need for that high-pressure (bi)annual testing, however, is required for NCLB...
I never saw teacher salaries tied to NCLB. It was not part of the legislation like it is in RTTT with the CC component.
I never saw funding cut either.
Happy Texan is right. NCLB got the ball rolling, but the additional mess come with the RTTT layer.
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Or does she work for the electric company, or is she just a nosy neighbor? 
