What's the real motivation here?

[Not_Giving_Up]

You tell me, making I'm looking at this wrong.

My daughter, a third grader, will be taking the TAKS test for the first time this year. This is the lovely state mandated test that's supposed to make sure our children learn. The teachers do nothing but teach the test, it's pathetic.

Last Thursday, she brought a note home asking for my permission to let her stay after school for tutoring in math. It said that she had been selected either because she wasn't performing at grade level in math, or that she bombed the practice version of TAKS. (It was a form letter sent out by the Assistant Principal). The tutoring runs from two days ago until the TAKS test, how convenient.

On Friday, she brought home her report card. All A's and B's, one C. The C wasn't in math, it was in language skills, and is likely due to the fact that she tends to not do her work.

If she doesn't pass the TAKS, she can't go on to the next grade without summer school. Forget that her grades have been great. Is that fair? Some kids just aren't good test takers, that doesn't mean that they don't know the material.

Also funny to me: No one thought she needed tutoring until the TAKS got closer, and once TAKS is over, tutoring stops. Are they really concerned?

[daydreamer]

1. You got free lessons for your child.

Consider youself lucky.

[Not_Giving_Up]

2. I still haven't figured out why they think she needs them

If she's not performing at grade level, why doesn't it show on her report card? Did she bomb the practice test? I can't get a teacher to call me back to tell me.

Yes, she's going to the tutoring. They threw in a special guilt trip line on the form...Something along the lines of "If your kid doesn't go to tutoring and then bombs the TAKS, it's not our fault". No, that's not WHAT it said, but it was the idea that you got when you read the sentence.

[ultraist]

4. I agree, the grades are inconsistent with their TAKS pre-test scores

Apparently, the grades are no reflection on whether or not the child is performing on grade level according to their measures, which is TAKS. Did you ask her teacher why she has As and Bs yet is not on grade level? Why did they just now notice, after more than half the year is up, that your child is below grade level?

End of year tests are very unfair for children who are not good test takers. In our state, you must label your child handicapped if you want to get special test conditions. Many parents are left with two horrible choices, 1)retention, which is often very damaging to a child 2)label their child handicapped which remains in their permanent record and is noted on their SATS. Many colleges do not want to accept handicapped students, as they don't know how severely handicapped they are but do know they must provide extra services (ie pay for special accomodations) according to ADA.

I would NOT label my child handicapped in our discriminatory society unless the child truly was and needed those services. Far too many children are getting pigeon holed this way. Schools are eager to do so because they recieve more money per handicapped child and are able to exempt these scores for their funding. In turn, children who really need the services are shorted because funding is spread too thin amongst kids who don't really need it.

[daydreamer]

8. School should not do anything to

humiliate any student even if the student is in need of help. Praise and positive encouragement is the way to go. My daughter get crosswords puzzle as homework sometimes. I don't care if she gets a D from that.

[Not_Giving_Up]

10. Two things...

I don't think that she's functioning below grade level. She may have not done well on the practice test. She's in the gifted class, and has been doing fine all year. There have been no indications that she is not learning what she should be learning. I have left messages for the teacher to call me back, but haven't heard from her yet.

As far as labeling a child handicapped goes, I'm going to rant here. My son is classified as both gifted AND as a Special Ed student. I don't mind the classification, he's getting what he needs. Very few changes are made for him in the classroom, and he makes the honor roll every report card. One of his teachers told me at a conference that it will be a shame if he doesn't go to college. He does math problems in his head that most adults need calculators for, and he's only eleven. One of his provisions is that he doesn't have to show his work on math problems as long as he's getting the correct answers. If the teachers need an explanation, he will gladly give them a verbal one.

He has difficulty with writing, mostly related to fine motor skills issues related to Asperger's. He has received services at school to help with his handwriting, which gave him more confidence, making him more willing to do the writing assignments.

Parents are not labeling their children as handicapped to beat the system. My child takes the TAKS just like everyone else. There are no special provisions for him at all. The only suggestion was to move the ADHD kid to another room (with fewer kids) to lessen distractions. I shot that down, it would have made things worse. Yes, he distracts fairly easily (he's on meds that allow him to focus), but the Asperger's makes him very routine oriented. A change in his environment would rock his world in a very bad way.

So, my "Gifted/Special Ed" son sits in a mainstream classroom of his peers, taking the test, to be held to the same standards. I didn't label him this to give him an easy road. The label allows him to learn how to deal with the ruts in the road that he faces.

[woodsprite]

3. We've been sweating this in Delaware for the past couple of years.

Thankfully, so far, my daughter has done well. But then again, she's a really good student and is working about 1yr ahead. They are testing these kids in October on stuff they won't be learning until September. When we were helping her with her writing homework, they sent home the rubric used for evaluating the piece. Heck! I doubt a college student could get a 5 on the eval.

She does her science and social studies testing in March. Oh goody!

She is doing well. On the other hand, I'm DREADING when my 4yo son gets to this level.

BTW, the state tests they take in 10th grade determine the level (3 tiered) of the diploma they get when they graduate in 12th grade. It really sucks and we have some people here in Delaware that are at least trying to get the state away from the 3 tiered diploma. It stigmatizes the kids and isn't right.

Best of luck to you and your munchkin!

[Not_Giving_Up]

6. I'm really not worried about the test

She's always done well before on achievement tests, and has an IQ of 111. My fifth grader has been through it, and he has ADHD, ODD, and Asperger's Syndrome. We were a little worried about the writing part, because that's his only thorn. He was rated exemplary in math, missed it in reading by one question, but only scored a 2 on the writing portion, which is the lowest passing rating.

My issue with this is that they don't care how the kid is doing well before the test, or one day after it...just as long as they do well on the test. If enough kids do well enough, they get to put "Exemplary Campus" on their building, with the year. Schools that don't do so well, but still are deemed acceptable only get "Recognized Campus". I figure that this means "Yeah, we see you, but we're not giving you any more money to fix your problems. Get somebody to donate some computers and textbooks."

[jandrok]

5. My daughter is in 3rd grade as well....

...and they are also teaching to the TAKS prep rather than focusing on real education.

They are not concerned about your daughter. They ARE concerned about getting your daughter to pass the TAKS because it means that they get to keep or increase funding for the school. That's the whole rub about these tests, and it's also why there has been so much widespread cheating on the exams. There have been numerous reports of school districts cheating on the scoring and not following the testing guidelines in order to let students engineer higher grades.

My daughter has done well on the practice tests, so she isn't in danger of not passing. I will inquire about what happens when students are not doing so well on the test prep and see if the tutoring thing is common practice.

I don't really know anyone that likes the TAKS requirement. The teachers don't like it because they have to adapt their entire curriculum around teaching to the test. The parents don't like it because they feel that their children are being shortchanged on their education. The kids don't like it because it stresses them out. 3rd grade is a hell of a time to behavioralize test anxiety.

[Not_Giving_Up]

7. Oh, now that you mention anxiety...

She's been diagnosed with low level depression, and some anxiety. She steals things and hides them in her room when anxious, apparently. We've never known why until last week, when the therapist explained it. We're waiting for the referral to a psych now. Yes, please stress my kid out some more!!!!!!!!!! :mad:

[seabeyond]

9. ah, i just put kids in public in nov, after 6 years in private

a high academic private school. and the public school is a poorer public school. i am in texas so the taks texas has been around for a while. i am just getting into seeing hwat it is about, but......there are things i like with this. i see them working harder on the math with my 4th grader because of test, and that is his weak subject so i am liking it personally.

why i am posting though, i had such preconceived notion of public schools from what i had heard and listened to over the year and now i am in it, i really am enjoying a lot of aspects of it. the teachers sons have care very much adn are really good and the principle is hands on, involved and knowing what is up with the students. even prior to going ot public i backed up the schools and teachers, felt they were getting a raw deal. i give most of the responsibility to parents. dont like taking parents power away. but since being in public, i stand up for the teachers even more. yes i think they do care.

[woodsprite]

11. Our charter school does not "teach to the test" so much,

but then, their curriculum and expectations seem higher than most of the public schools around here. The school our daughter was at before, sent home "sample tests" weekly (reading comprehension, writing, and math). They received them on Mondays and returned them on Fridays. Before they started handing out the sample tests (that program ran 10 weeks), they had classes for the parents to show them how the work was expected to be done inorder to pass the test. They also showed us sample tests that students had completed that had been graded the various levels.

Teaching to test didn't really help the school's state grade as much as they thought it would. Her new school uses a different curriculum, but uses the benchmarks of the state test to determine which direction they teach. They don't teach strictly to test and they don't stop after the test. They also group kids according to level - something the other school didn't. You could just see the teachers' frustration with the policy and curriculum at her old school with them trying to accomodate everyone's learning levels.

The whole part about labeling a child based on the one test just burns me up. Now, what is it, Texas wants to put a child body mass index on their report cards. Kate said everyone had a blood sugar test last week in their school - no notes or anything were sent home about that. I went down to school and filed a letter with them and the school board. I don't mind her having it since diabetes does run in our family, but it shouldn't be done without parental permission.

[seabeyond]

12. so, i dont know what you are talking about the texas thng

tough to keep up with all the stuff we dont want done to our child, that every parent has authority on, but society or government or the school feel they have the authority to take that away from the parent. have been spending time at just integrating the children into new school, new system, different learning, i really havent had time to do research yet, lol lol. will have to get on it, in between the karate cause of bullies, homework and allowing a little play time in the day for the kids. wink

the test here i am seeing, the administration and teacher less afraid. better understand to implement the level of learning into the overall cirriculum. not so much a studying for test anymore. i dont know if it is because they have had it longer than the nation or what. not having issues there yet, but.....i reserve judgement. havent done the test. it is when? spring? i dont even know

[gratuitous]

13. This points out some of the difficulties

And as many difficulties as NGU has recounted in this thread, they are only some of the many difficulties in a "one size fits all" approach when it comes to teaching lessons and measuring how much the students are learning. There isn't one "right" or "standard" or "normal" way for anything to be taught, and there isn't one "right" or "standard" or "normal" way for a student to demonstrate comprehension or mastery of a lesson.

But for some reason, people are being sold a bill of goods that there is one definitive method for teaching and learning, and if your child doesn't thrive under that method, there's no shortage of anxiety and heartache that ensues. I was an excellent test-taker and learner with traditional methods in my scholastic years. But there were so many other kids that I grew up with who became discouraged or who lost interest in school because all it told them day after day was that they were dumb.

[Not_Giving_Up]

15. The teacher called me back today

She admitted that there's really nothing wrong with my daughter's math skills. They think she's suffering from test anxiety, and are trying to help her overcome it. She admitted that they are test prepping her, and said not to worry, over half of the kids are getting the same prep.

I was the kid who zipped through the test, bubbling in answers, and acing the test. I found out when i was in seventh grade that I was reading 384 words a minute. The reading teacher had us read, and she had us read an article that had the words in each paragraph counted. I finished it, and was looking around. she asked what I was doing, and I said that I was done. Not believing me, she told me to read it again. I read it three times before she called time. She went down the rows asking each student what their total number was, then she'd figure up the average per minute. No one else was even close to me. The teacher had me summarize what I'd just read, and I quoted it verbatim. No problem, I'd just read it three times!

Not all kids learn the same way. I'm very visual...If I read it, it sticks. I suck with numbers. My Aspie son does math in his head, but he struggles with writing. My daughter reads 3 grade levels ahead, but stumbles some in math. She's so stressed out about this test, no wonder she has test anxiety!

[gratuitous]

16. You don't need me to tell you this, but . . .

Good job being and staying engaged with the school authorities. There is an education to be had for both your children from this institution, and it will serve them both well all their lives. You're going to have to work a little extra hard to make sure they get it. Best of luck to you, your kids, and the powers that be at the school.

[KissMeKate]

14. this is teaching the test.

thanks both republicans AND democrats for No Child Left Behind.

[SmokingJacket]

17. A lot of tests are BAD.

As a former teacher, I have a lot to say on this subject, but I'll limit myself.

One problem with standardized tests is that they often don't test what they claim to test. A child who has perfect command of the subject matter and can explain it masterfully to you verbally or even on an intelligently designed test might be completely baffled by the test, just because of the way it is set up or because the directions are written by a moron. A third grader is a very young person who hasn't learned to read between the lines and suss out what is really wanted.

This why we have TEACHERS, and why they are trained to teach, review, and create tests. I am not against some kind of holding-to-standards, at all. But I think a better idea is to have an excellent curriculum designed by teachers, parents, and other professionals, as well as well-trained teachers who are given the freedom to bring children up to the standards of this curriculum as best they can.