Tests
Happy Friday everyone! This week, I would like to reflect on tests and what I’m really testing when I give an assessment. Today we gave students the end of the nine week “common” assessment that our school requires. We have been telling students all week that this test is Friday. We also told them not to worry about studying for the test because they should be prepared since it was everything we have been learning all year. We told them it would be on finding main ideas, figurative language, and identifying different sentence structures.
Today, when I announced that we were going to start the test, about half of each class exclaimed, “What test??” My mentor and I then discussed paying attention to the side board which is where we always write the agenda for the day as well as upcoming assignments. Students took the test, which was designed sort of like a PSSA with reading passages and multiple choice comprehension questions to go along with them. As we have been practicing finding main ideas this week, we gave the students highlighters and told them to highlight the parts of the passages where they found the answers to their questions. We talked again, as we have been throughout the week, about proving your answers and why that is important. Students earned 3 points on the test just by highlighting, and still the average score on the test was somewhere between the mid-20s and low-30s in each class out of 40.
While that might inform my mentor and I that we have some reteaching to do, it also makes me wonder when you can consider the students partly responsible as well. We have retaught sentence structures multiple times and in different ways. We have practiced it extensively on homework assignments, and we have offered our help at lunch or during the period for those who are struggling with the concept. Figurative language was taught at the beginning of the year, is reinforced throughout the marking period during their independent reading, and has been part of almost all of their writing assignments (minus the specifically expository pieces). The students knew about this test and even what it would be on for a week, so I feel kind of at a loss for what to do.
First, I tallied up all the questions students missed to check the answers and see what we should be reteaching. I also wanted to check to make sure there wasn’t a flawed question/answer choices (there was one question we ended up accepting 2 answers for). Many students missed questions on reading comprehension. My mentor and I were discussing how we determine whether they just weren’t reading carefully or whether the questions are flawed. We did not expect them to do so poorly on the test. There were only a few students who totally failed, but we thought this test would help them bring their grades up for the end of the marking period. Now I’m worried about their grades (parent complaints and student discouragement) and all the preparation we have to do before the PSSA.
How can I determine what else I need to do to help my students be successful? I know grades aren’t the end result, but they matter to the school and to the students, and right now the grades are letting me know that I have lots of room to improve as a teacher. I just feel a little lost about what step to take next.
On a brighter note, one of my students who was tested at the beginning of the year to determine whether or not he should have an IEP took the test with me over the past two days. He read it out loud to me and we talked about the questions. As we started, I prompted him to look at the questions, see what they were asking him, and then go back to the passage. My focus was on test-taking strategies as opposed to revealing content to him. He got a 32/40 on the test, and all of that was because of what he knew! I was so pleased with his focus, and he was so happy to succeed at something when he is so used to struggling. He did not qualify for an IEP for some reason, though no one has told me why, and my mentor and I lament that fact almost daily because we have seen the evidence that he can succeed with the right adaptations. Now if only I had the time, resources, and 29 personalities to be able to assist all my students’ diverse learning styles.
Lit Up 
Yooooooo. I so agree with your last statement. I wish nothing more than that I had the time and ability to give all of my students the varied individual attention that they need.
I’ve been having similar thoughts as to not knowing what else I can do to help my students succeed, especially when there doesn’t seem to be any changes in performance or motivation no matter what my mentor and I do. One thing that sometimes helps me though is checking in with students individually when I do see them – either in the halls or after school – and showing genuine interest in their learning and in assignments they’ll be turning in. I think if students see that we’re excited and appreciative towards the work they do, they’ll be more likely to not only do it, but to put effort in as well. See you later today!
Jen,
I too wonder about what is student responsibility. You can say there is no such thing as bad students only bad teachers, but what happens when everything you have done does not work, even though you have made so many attempts. Perhaps there is way to find out before the students get tested. Sometimes I wonder if you should just give students the same exact twice. If you gave them a test, hoping that they would know that information, why does it matter if they take the test numerous times. Shouldn’t it only matter how well they do on the final test? Even if it takes them five times, if they know the information the fifth time isn’t that the goal? Who knows, maybe that is unrealistic. But it seems that sometimes we need to find a new way to get the students to learn the material.
-Ali