Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Can I Get an Amen?


The Slice of Life Story Challenge is served up each Tuesday by the team 
at Two Writing Teachers. Join in the daily challenge--writing fun--for the month of March.


By order of Florida's Governor, Rick Scott, eleventh graders will not be subject to our state's high-stakes standardized test. You can read the executive order here. My favorite paragraph, pictured below, bestows authority on our Commissioner of Education, Pam Stewart to suspend the testing schedule.


Can I get an amen? 

At year's start teachers were told that the eleventh grade tests would determine the students diploma. If students "passed" said tests they could receive an honor's designation on their diploma. The Governor's order does not detail how or even if different diplomas were be granted at graduation, but as a teacher of eleventh graders, I am grateful my students in A.P. Language and Composition get a pass on the state-wide test. 

This year we have spent five days practicing for the writing test and two days practicing for the reading. We've also used a day to practice on the computer and get to know the testing environment. I would have to count the hours spent training teachers to proctor or teach to the tests to give you a clearer picture of how testing has undermined instructional practice, but I stopped counting. Years ago I tracked days. I kept a list tucked under my desk calendar and each planning period or each class period that my instructional time was taken to complete a mandate--be it test practice or reviewing graduation requirements--I wrote it down. When the number of days lost climbed over twenty (an instructional month), I had to stop tracking them. I was so angry and felt so powerless that it was difficult to focus on the good.  Fortunately, Kelly Gallagher refocuses on the good and the meangful in his new book. He discusses lost time and expertly traces the history of the mandates behind the testing craze too.  Preview the book, In the Best Interests of Students in Stenhouse. After the first chapter you'll want to read and discuss it with teacher friends-- I know I do. 

Most of the testing practice teachers did with students this year at my school was done to fulfill progress monitoring requirements. The practice tests were district created and are untested or calibrated. The Florida Standards Assessment test is new. Teachers on the ground have gotten mixed-messages about the tests' content (some believe we purchased and will use Utah's test as the seen in the online samples) . Many of us are also unclear on the level of difficulty (Will it match curricular materials or be sourced from appendix documents in CC?). Are we setting students up for failure or a choreographed slide in achievement scores? We don't know.

The Governor's order is a move in the right direction. The call to reduce testing in the state promises even more. See "We Must Reduce Testing in Florida Schools"  here

As an educator and a parent, I am grateful for the "immediate relief" this order provides. Thank you, Commissioner Stewart  and thank you, Governor Scott for recognizing how over-testing is harming the children of Florida. 

Thank you for giving me more days to do what I love, teach. 

Testing, as we all know, is not teaching.




13 comments:

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    1. Thanks, Donna. Here's hoping it trickles down the grades.

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  2. I say Amen, Lee Ann. The old standard of test prep has moved us away from the engaged, student-centered authentic work that we need to do with our students. What a courageous move your governor has made. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. You are right, Carol. While assessment is central to instruction, testing need not be the heart of assessment. I hope the political maneuvers pay off for all students in my state.

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  3. AMEN!!!! Wish our Governor would "see the light".

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    1. Here's another Amen! Just waiting for the Governor of NJ to get the message, too.

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  4. Amen! I'm passing this along in CT as a mother of an eleventh-grader who is in AP English. Why, or why do we have to give them SO many tests? Really??? Thanks for passing along the action that your governor has taken. Maybe he will inspire others.

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    1. I certainly hope that recent actions here and elsewhere motivate politicians and lawmakers to reexamine testing practices.

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  5. Amen! Amen! Here in Michigan we have so many tests our computer labs can barely be used for instructional purposes at all! We need a change!

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    1. That's is how it has been at my school too, Jaana. This year we got a much needed boost to our technology infrastructure (nineteen laptop carts and several new computer labs). We have a bit more lab time available for instruction now!

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  6. I'm singing Amen just like Hozier in "Take Me to Church" right now :)

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  7. LOL to Beth's comment! We spent quite a bit of time off on a tangent about testing in my Children's Lit class (though it's not really a tangent because time spent testing and practicing for testing and training for testing and stressing about testing isn't time spent reading and sharing wonderful children's literature!), and my students, all pre-service teachers, felt so disempowered. I'll be sharing your blog post with them.

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