Testing and Standards

In my placement, I'm there during Language Arts so I'm not able to observe math standards much. I do see several Language Arts standards being addressed where students are given paragraphs with mistakes in them and they need to proofread and edit them. The fifth graders learn proofreading marks for this such as using a ^ to insert a missing word or underlining a letter three times if it needs to be capitalized. They've also reviewed parts of speech such as conjunctions, prepositions, interjections, and figurative writing like personification, metaphors, and similes. 

I've noticed a big emphasis on using key details and text evidence in discussing and writing about different subjects. There is also an emphasis on deciding what the main idea in a story or article is. The students all have Chromebooks and often are working on their own stories or writing about something that they've read. I think this is because in fifth grade, all students will be tested on writing opinion and informational paragraphs. Sometimes it's hard for some students to organize their thoughts and come up with the main idea of an article so the teacher wants them to practice writing a bit to prepare for the end of the year testing. She also wants them to become strong writers so they'll be able to do research papers as they progress in their education.

My teacher has mixed feelings about standardized testing. On the one hand, it does help assess students strengths and weaknesses but on the other hand, some students get tired of all the testing and don't do their best. They get to the point where they don't care and just want to be done with the tests. Others opt out of testing so it's hard to know what those students have mastered.  

 The teacher also sees benefits from No Child Left Behind because some students used to fall through the cracks or teachers and schools had low expectations from certain students. With NCLB, those students can no longer be dismissed, they have to be accounted for. However, the teacher mentioned that it's hard to have several students below grade level. Sometimes they are ELL students or have IEPs and it can be challenging to make sure they're understanding the material and able to discuss and write about things. She does have concerns about testing that can take hours over several days and the toll it takes on students. It can also be challenging as a teacher to have those students stay motivated to do their best on test days when they feel overwhelmed or a little burned out. She likes to take them out to recess after a test or do some other activity and also has some snacks to help them through the day. I can definitely see benefits and challenges to having standardized testing.

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