Saturday, June 27, 2009
CHP 15- Standardized Tests
How can I use the test results from my students' standardized tests to inform my classroom instruction and curriculum? Should I use test score information to change my instruction and curriculum? Why or why not? How do I feel about being required to use this information for changes?
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I find it really interesting that as a specials or rotation teacher that I am barraged with test results. Each year, or test cycle, I get the full printout of each student's scores, and I file them dutifully away in a binder, which then goes on the shelf. I *don't* use students' individual test scores to change or alter my instruction. That's probably really bad.
ReplyDeleteThe only two instances I use test data for:
Changing student's class assignments (at times they are pulled out of my class because of poor test performance and remediation). I advocate for kids who are on the brink of passing, but are really successful in music, and attempt to keep them in that music class. I also do this for my SpEd students, who are receiving resource time already, and may never pass their ISTEP+ test.
Secondly, I use it if there's a school-wide push to fix something: At one school I worked for, we had a school-wide push to increase writing skills. I incorporated writing into my instrumental music classes in ways that affected me for the rest of my teaching career. I only did that though, because as a school, we were going to focus on this particular issue to improve test scores.
Standardized tests can be useful at-a-glance when grouping, remediating, or looking at which skills I should focus on throughout the year. However, standardized scores are only one piece of the puzzle and shouldn’t be relied on too heavily when categorizing students. Triangulation of data is so important because you never know when a student just had a “bad day” and didn’t perform as he/she typically would.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn’t like to be required to use test scores as a sole basis to chance my instruction and curriculum. Informal assessments, parent feedback, and student interests are just a few of the other necessary elements. Teachers need to be given more credit for determining what is best for the child. A human can be a much better determiner of a child’s progress than a computerized assessment. I also think standardized testing is taking up so much of the day that it’s starting to feel like I’m TESTING more than I’m TEACHING. How can students improve on their next test when there’s hardly been any time to teach? Constant testing also takes the joy out of learning; it leaves no room for students to hypothesize and explore with a hands-on approach. Those are the things that I remember and enjoyed most when I was a child!
I would use the tests to analyze where the weaknesses are across the board to figure out what I need to spend more teaching time on. Perhaps it's HOW the material is being taught, not WHAT is being taught. For example, geometry seems to be a weakness for our Fourth Graders at my school. Therefore, we sat as a team to discuss ways in which we could improve this area. On the other hand, I would have to agree with what Allison said above about how a test is just "one piece of the puzzle." Some students are not good test takers. Therefore, a standardized test displays a substantial amount of a child's ability, but not all of it! A test of this degree cannot always show a child's learning process, whereas a teacher working one-on-one with that student will better likley be able to assess such thinking. I don't think you have to necessarily "change" your instruction, but rather find ways to enrich what is already being done. I think teachers should use their discretion in thinking about what needs to change or not change because that teacher knows how his or her teaching style is reaching the students.
ReplyDeleteI look at the subskills listed on standardized test scores to make generalization about the group of students that I will have for the year. If I see that the lowest sub-groups were say, measurement and computation, I try to make as many connections as possible with those skill areas. After the first Acuity test of the year, I do use those results to set up an RTI plan and get those students into a learning lab. We've been cut a SpEd position this year, so I'll really have to be inventive!
ReplyDeleteI think standardized test demean children and drive instruction to "teach the test" instead of what students need to know. Too many times, I have interrupted the flow of the classroom to do ISTEP prep or NWEA testing. These tests can never measure what students know holistically, and should not be used to drive instruction. This doesn't mean that all assesments are bad. They should just be student-driven, not state- or district-driven.
ReplyDelete