Pssst...I have a secret

I really don't think standardized testing is the devil.

There.
I said it.

Does it take away from instruction?  Yeah.  Does the possibility of ONE TEST being a huge determinant of my salary scare me?  Yep. 

However, these tests hold value.  Really, they do.  Imagine you're a teacher (and for some of my readers...that's not too hard to do!) and there you sit, a blank lesson plan book in front of you, you know that 20 25 30  35 bright, shiny, new faces are going to be staring at you in a matter of days.  After the preliminary "getting to know you" activities parents, and your administrators, expect you to actually start teaching.  (I know...the nerve!)  Where do you start?  What are your goals?  WHAT THE HELL DO I TEACH THESE KIDS?

Those evil, no-good, dirty, rotten tests actually give me a starting point.  The bulk of my kids struggled with extended writing last year?  Great!  Guess what a focus of mine is going to be?  Their grammar and conventions suck?  I'll start pulling out the Michael Clay Thompson books.

Not only does looking at the data help drive my curricular planning, I look back at how my former class performed.  Did they struggle with identifying theme in their writing test?  Looks like I should hit it harder from now on, etc. 

Granted, once kids get to the upper-elementary/middle school grades, a ton of their test scores really do depend on their attitude.  There's a story of an 8th grader at my school that, while he had the ability to do well on one of his tests, he spent the majority of the testing sessions drawing sea life in the test book.  I'm assuming he didn't score too well...and I would also gather that his teacher didn't look to his scores to help her figure out her areas of strength and weakness as a teacher. 

There's also parents that don't put much stock into it, a friend of mine had a parent last year that said, "Well, all the kids know it doesn't really matter how THEY do...it's just a report card for the teachers."

^That^ statement scares me, but I'll save it for post some other day.

Does state testing foster "teaching to the test"?  Well...yeah.  But, the test reflects the state standards, which are reflected in my district standards, which are then reflected in my school expectations.  What is wrong with that?????

I know the horror stories of teachers just doing "testing workbooks" all year long, but honestly...how many of you have really seen/experienced that?  I know that my students will have to analyze some poetry, so I have them analyze some poetry throughout the year.  I also know that my students will be required to respond to a persuasive, descriptive, or explanatory prompt...yeah, they've been sharpening their writing skills in those areas throughout the year.

Frankly, if you are doing your job, and teaching to the standards and grade-level appropriate curriculum..you ARE teaching to the test, and that's okay.  I'm lucky to be in a school that allows a great deal of teacher-autonomy, so I can get my kids to write persuasively any way I want.  I had them identify propaganda techniques, read persuasive writing, analyze persuasive writing, research an issue, and finally, write a persuasive essay about the issue.  <----That, my friends is how AimCo " teaches to the test". 

So, long story longer, I don't mind the period of testing.  It gives me some data, I can get end of the quarter grading done, read some books, and organize my file cabinet...not a bad week, in my opinion.