In my fellow classmates blog, land of the free Home of the Brave “To Take the Staar Test or Not”. Analisa has made some very good points about the pressure teacher’s face when preparing students to take this new test. Being a mother of a 3rd grader I have witnessed firsthand the desire for each student to pass this test months ago. My son brings home practice test every week for homework and says they take more in class practice test. I feel there is too much pressure on teachers and students to pass that all other subjects are put aside or taught to fast that the students don’t pick up on other various subjects. . Although my son is only in 3rd grade high school students face more pressure with the concern that the test accounts for 15% of their grade and affects grade point average and rank. Pass and failure rates affect how each school will get funding and academic recognition in their district and even kids going to summer school. State government should use more money on hiring back teachers that were laid off instead of having larger class sizes to help teach students. The week of April 24-27 will be elementary testing and I hope the government will step in when they see the results.
2 comments:
I absolutely agree with you. My son is a 7th grader in the Austin Independent School district. The focus for the first half of the year was preparing the students to pass the Staar test. I think that these standardized tests only put pressure on the students and teachers to hit a standard instead of making sure that students are learning and able to persevere through high school and go to college. I agree that standardized testing is a great tool to see where the kids are progressing and maybe where more focus needs to be had. But, putting too much value on these tests only makes the teachers teach what is tested. There needs to be a better way to let the teachers teach the kids what is needed to move on and be successful than to be successful on ONE TEST!! It is frustrating for teachers and parents.
I absolutely agree with you. My son is a 7th grader in the Austin Independent School district. The focus for the first half of the year was preparing the students to pass the Staar test. I think that these standardized tests only put pressure on the students and teachers to hit a standard instead of making sure that students are learning and able to persevere through high school and go to college. I agree that standardized testing is a great tool to see where the kids are progressing and maybe where more focus needs to be had. But, putting too much value on these tests only makes the teachers teach what is tested. There needs to be a better way to let the teachers teach the kids what is needed to move on and be successful than to be successful on ONE TEST!! It is frustrating for teachers and parents.
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