Theresa: Wishing for a Jolly Good Measure of Ability

As the days keep getting shorter and colder, and the snow starts piling up, I know that can only mean one thing…it’s time for my least favorite season. I know you must be thinking winter, and while, yes, that is my least favorite season, it is not what I’m describing here. I’m talking about testing season. In the span of two weeks that we have been back from winter vacation, I have had to take three days out of my schedule to administer standardized tests. The sad thing is, that those three days are just the beginning. There are at least another two days coming up in the next couple of weeks.

When I was student teaching, I remember my co-teacher telling me that Jolly Ranchers were the best candy to keep in your classroom. I have taken her advice to heart, and always distribute Jolly Ranchers when my students are taking big standardized assessments. I like to joke that I have a reaction that reminds me of Pavlov’s dog with testing now, because whenever I think about administering a test, I always think, “mmm…I want a Jolly Rancher.” I even have my students convinced that the only way to take a test is with Jolly Ranchers, one student cried one day because I ran out of Jolly Ranchers and had to give him a different hard candy. I went to the store that night and made sure I had plenty of Jolly Ranchers for the next day!

I consider myself a not-so-good test proctor. I am so used to doing everything in short bursts throughout the day to keep my students attention, that long silences and periods cause me to become antsy. I continuously walk around and monitor my students while they are testing, but it’s during this time that I become easily distracted. I start to straighten something on my desk, grade some papers, or even start writing a blog entry. I am so lucky that the paraprofessional who works in my class is super awesome. She is so attentive and super helpful, I don’t know if I could handle proctoring and administering standardized tests without her.

All of this standardized testing is frustrating to me. Even the testing accommodations are not enough most times for my students. I understand that we can gather important data from these tests, and that most teachers find the data worthwhile. They can find the standards that students struggled with and implement interventions to help those students.

However, for my students and me, the test results don’t really share as much. I already know that my students are performing below grade level, and the test results show it. We even take a test that is supposed to test the student on his or her ability level. However, the lowest that test goes is second grade, and I do have some students performing academically below the second grade level.

So for now I am going to keep on giving those tests, and using the data as best I can. That is until someday someone, (possibly me!) creates a standardized test that is a true measure of a student’s ability.

Comments

[Theresa]

My students know that they need to try their best on all assignments and assessments. We have talked about that it is important to try their best, and that is all I ask of them. When my students ask for help during the assessment or tell me that they do not know the answer, I will suggest that they come back to the question later, or just make the best guess that they can.
-Theresa

[Mariah Woods]

As a student I personally tended to doze off during standardized test. The Jolly Rancher idea is a great idea for students who have trouble staying on task. I also hope one day that someone will make a standardized test that truly does measure the student’s abilities. When students who are below grade level, these tests make them even less confident about tests then they already were. Do you have any other motivations for the students? What do you say to them when they do not know the answer?

[Theresa]

Thank you all for your comments. I feel a little better knowing that I am not the only one struggling with standardized assessments.
My state does have an alternative assessment, but it is for students who have a significantly modified curriculum, so my students don't qualify for the alternative assessment.
-Theresa

[Shantel Jones]

Looking over the comments again, it was stated that some tests just show how well students can test. It was intersting to think about and reminded me of the various occassions that I've expereinced, showing this statement has some truth to it. There have been multiple occassions where I know for a fact that students taking a particular test, have just bubbled in random answers and sometimes scored higher on an area simply because they guessed correctly, which has nothing to do with how much knowledge they actually acquired.

[Shantel Jones]

It's so very interesting that this issue of testing continues, with what seems like very little to no changes. The "changes" that are occurring on the federal and state levels just seem to perpetuate the same issues that continue to exist. It is critical and unfortunate that so much is tied into, and affected by one standardized test. So much more than just one test exhibits what students know and are able to do. Though our students receiving special education services seem to suffer even more, this issue is devastatingly affecting the majority of our students.

[Bryn Sheppard]

After reading through this story it reminded me of a discussion I had in one of my graduate classes last week. We were talking about the use of alternative assessments for students and how usually there is not enough done for students with disabilities. This discussion further led to the fact that in NYS we are only allowed to offer alternative assessments for students with severe disabilities and of those students we can only offer these to 1%. So if there are more students in the district than 1% who require an alternative assessment, we have to pick the students most in need of the alternative assessments and the rest have to take assessments like other students. Even though these students can still have special accommodations that are listed in the IEP's, this sometimes is not enough and does not help the student pass these assessments. Then as teachers we are stuck in the position where we must administer the regular assessments to these students knowing that they probably wont be able to pass the test. It is the most frustrating thing to deal with as an educator.

[Missy Soltis]

I am fortunate that I just gave my last Alternative assessment here in Florida. However, I believe that it is a JOKE! I teach Intellectually Disabled students and I got to see what the test actually look like. My students scored well but I can't say it's because they knew the content rather that they were great guessers. Is there any Alternative Assessments that really look at the student?

[Courtney C]

Theresa! I agree with you and your feelings pertaining to standardized testing. Students with disabilities (more times than not) are below grade level. We do not need a test that shows us the students are below grade level. I do wish the way the test was administered and the accommodations would be tweaked. All year long we provide students with accommodations to help them be successful with no limitations as to what accommodations can be given. Then when it comes test time we are given a list of accommodations we can choose from. Testing time is always the most stressful time of the year for me. I have had numerous children break down and cry and ask me why I won’t help them during this test, but do the rest of the year. Hearing those words breaks your heart. I truly believe that as educators we need to stand up for the children with special needs and try to figure out a more accurate way of assessing their academic growth. I agree we need a way of evaluating and being held accountable. We have a modified test for students with special needs, but I have found that some of my students still do not meet the requirements and they are the ones that need the modified test the most. The requirements for IMAST are the student has to be getting grade level curriculum instruction. So the students below grade level have to take the regular ISTEP with accommodations.
I am not sure what the answer is but I feel there are areas we can improve on the standardized testing. For example, in the reading portion of the tests, are we measuring reading fluency or comprehension? I have students who struggle with reading fluency and decoding and therefore miss the questions. However, if the test is read orally to them their comprehension scores would improve. Like I mentioned before I am not sure of the solution, but agree there needs to be changes in order to be fair to the students with special needs.

[jaye]

I am faced with similar problems in my classroom. I have 2 IEP students in my inclusive classroom that are mandated to take our standardized test, which is on grade level. They do receive accommodations, but they are not enough. Filling in the answer sheet is an ordeal for them. It's more frustrating for the the teachers because the students don't even realize that there is a problem. Designing a another test for special education teachers would make a lot of sense. It is more than likely wishful thinking, but something needs to be done about this. It does not measure growth or what the student is able to truly do.

[Lutricia Sampsell]

I agree with you 100 percent. I do not think standardized tests show anything about a student exc except for how well they take tests. I am do not have to deal with standardized tests right now, but I have in the past and when I was a student I had to take the PSSA's my senior year. I was told that I could not graduate unless I got at least proficient in math, reading, and writing. We were aloud to take it more than once, but then if we did not pass it by the third time we had to take classes over the summer and we could not get our diploma until we passed the class. I passed the writing the first time, but failed the math and reading. I took it again and passed the reading, but failed the math. Then the third time I passed the math. I was stressed out this whole year! I can't believe that this is required to put students through this. I was an A-B student and never had a problem until these tests.

[amber]

As I have been giving benchmark assessments this week I have been thinking alot of what you are saying. Our kids are tested out and all of these tests that are supposed to be telling us about our students, for me do not do that. For me the true measure of achievement is looking at day to day work, activities, and the progress made in the classroom. All of my students are below grade level but they are making progress from the level they are at. They are required to take benchmarks, MCLASS and MSA assessments on there enrolled level and for students who are not on that level they do miseribally even with accommdoations provided and it makes it seem like they are not making progress when they truely are. These tests do not show my students full potential and are not a good measure of student acheivement....especially now that our jobs and pay depend on these test scores. I'm not sure they will ever find an assessment that truely is a good measure of every students ability. Work samples, portfolios, and observations are the best measure!

[Julie Pate]

I agree that someone should design standardized tests for special needs students. I know in the county that I work that the SPED studnets do use GAA, which is the Georgia Alternative Assessments. It is coorelated with the state standards for the grade level for each student. Does your county use an alternative curriculum or assessment for your studnets in MOID or other SPED classes? Maybe this is something you could check out?