Why I'm not a fan of standardized testing...
Yes, those CATS and TCAPS and whatever your state has will give you a general idea of the student/class/school/etc.
General.
And that's pushing it.
While the test is trying to test what the student knows, many times it is just testing how well a student can take a test. There is an art to testing.
Easton came home with this paper. (pretend you can see a picture here. but you can't because my camera's broken.)
It says:
Read the story.
John went to a party.
He had fun playing games.
He liked eating cake.
He laughed and joked a lot.
John had a good time.
Circle the sentence that tells the big idea of the story.
Now...which sentence would you circle?
I'll put the "correct" answer in the comments section.
4 comments:
Easton circled the statement: John had a good time.
John went to a PARTY. He had FUN playing games. He LIKED eating cake. He LAUGHED and JOKED a lot. This John guy was having the time of his life! And what 6 yr old doesn't love a party? Easton has been planning his birthday party for 8 months now.
But he was wrong. The correct answer was: John went to a party.
I get it. I know why that one is "right" and the others are "wrong". But try explaining that to a 1st grader.
I was totally going to say "John had a good time", cuz all of the first statements seem to be indicators that John had a good time. Masters degree fail on my part, I guess.
I KNEW that's what Easton would say!! KNEW it! Oh JRB, please don't even get me started on this topic. grrrr. hmmmm. I actually thought I'd blog on this very topic today (believe it or not), but I think it will be tomorrow. Anyway, I'm right there with ya.
It was interesting to me b/c Easton came to me with the paper in his hand and wanted to know why he got it wrong. My answer to the story was the same as Easton's - John had a good time. I then had to take it to Jenny, the teacher, who had to tell me this whole testing deal. I know my degree was from MTSU, but wow... I just failed a 1st grade test?
Spencer
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