Teaching to the Test?

I hate it. It seems the whole year is spent building up for SOLs. They take them in April (over a period of a week or two) and then the last 6 weeks of school is a total waste of time.
And don't get me started on NCLB. (too late - sorry - I'll try to keep this brief)
The reason No Child is Left Behind is because no child can get ahead.
If you have a gifted student you have to fight very hard to keep them from getting bored because they teach to the slowest kid in the room every time.
My son would be introduced to a new subject on Monday, review it on Tuesday and he'd be ready for Fridays test by Wednesday, but they spend 2 more days repeating and keep the whole class in lock step for the slowest student.
Guess what?
Our kids are not competing in the job market with the slowest kid in their class. They are competing with the smartest kids in India/China and Asia and this whole NCLB education system does not take that into account at all.

Great post. the NCLB act was one of the most double edged legislation that came out of W's era.
I do believe there is a lot of pressure put on teachers from districts for funding, etc. to teach things on the test.
But teachers have a lot of lead-way in how they want to teach that content. They can be creative and reinforce lessons with fun, hands on activities and out-of-class trips, etc. If they are only doing worksheets or drill and repeat that is a teaching issue, not a test issue.
We must also remember that a lot of the teaching about these things that Ms. Harden was talking about is OUR responsibility as parents.
Middle class or not, use that library card, take your kids camping, explore the world around you, give them worth-while experiences and do what you can to relate that back to school. If you don't know the answer youself look it up together and learn together:)
I work 40+ hours a week and I work into our daily routine opportunities to reinforce math, science and history with my kids. I also work to nurture their natural curiosity.
I don't think we can sit by and say "The school is teaching to the test and my child isn't learning." It is a joint effort and we have to take advantage of every opportunity.
Hang in there and if you like your school system, support them and your teachers wherever you can and look creatively to find ways you can be a teacher in life:)

I will preface this response by saying that I am a school administrator who works for the Federal and State department of education. My job is to work with districts who do not make Adequate Yearly Progress per the NCLB and State Performance Plan indicators. Basically... when a bulk of children are unable to meet literacy standards, I work with the district to revamp their curriculum.

The state tests are tied to the Federal No Child Left Behind Act which has mandated that 100% of American students be proficient in reading, writing and math by 2014. Each state is allowed to design their own test, but the assessment must be based on the state's curriculum, which as a result of the Race to the Top (also a Federal project) now involves meeting the requirements of the Common Core Standards (nation-wide).

Contrary to popular beliefs, statewide assessments were not designed to measure individual student progress. They were designed to measure a district's overall curriculum. The assessments were designed to answer the question, "Does your curriculum address the needs of 85% of your students?" Unfortunately, for many districts and states, the answer was "no". Distircts and schools may elect to use the state assessments to identify students in need of remediation or exceleration, but that is NOT the purpose of the statewide assessments.

Many teachers express a need to "teach to the test", but IF they are following a well-written curriculum map and are regularly assessing their students needs they ARE teaching to the "standards" which is then measured by the test. What has happened historically is that teachers across a given state were not reaching end-of-the-year curriculum markers, resulting in groups of students having curriculum "gaps". As teachers have become more familiar with statewide assessments, anxiety has decreased. Some states (like New York and Virginia) have had statewide assessments in place for many, many years and there really isn't the overwhelming anxiety experienced by states who are "new" to assessment.

Teachers need to be implementing methods that are research-based, measurable and effective. While "out-of-the-box" methods sound great, they are very often ineffective (but fun).

Teachers have a wide variety of strategies available to them... I know this b/c it's my job to make sure that they know what is out there. What I find is that many teachers, principals and districts are highly resistant to anything that can be "measured" b/c they are afraid of revealing weaknesses. Bottom line is, though, when the list of districts in need of improvement (DINI) is published each year, those who are unwilling to reflect on their instructional practices and curriculum find themselves "on the list" and have a very hard getting off!

Our teachers deserve far more respect than they get. I have always felt like teachers take the brunt of the arguing b/c most people get to vote on our salaries and our performance is very public. I wish I got to vote on our local highway department b/c our roads are terrible, half of the projects aren't finished and there are typically 5 guys standing and looking at a pothole when you swerve around them... but we don't get to vote on that.

This is the world that we live in today- it's all about accountability and being able to demonstrate progress.

Yes, this is not an issue for private and parochial schools. They do not accept state or federal funding so they do not have to abide by the state and federal regulations. Districts do not receive funding based on test scores- they receive money based on local tax levy, poverty level and other "demographic" items.

Grrr, don't EVEN get me started about tests! Kids are being tested for the same thing over and over again. Teachers cannot even TEACH, students cannot LEARN anything OTHER than what's on the goddam tests! Sorry.

Wait til your kids are in high school and they have THREE DIFFERENT FINAL EXAMS for the same class! The schools final, the Regents, and the AP or UHS test, jeesh!

Then even after they've taken and wizzed THOSE tests, the colleges will test them AGAIN just to make sure THOSE tests taught them what they need to know for THEIR college!

I am VERY glad I've only got 4 more years....I could go on and on and on about this subject......(I guess I already did!)

:(

I homeschool my kiddos, and actually they still have to take these tests. It just depends on the state laws and that sort of thing. While I refuse to teach for a test, we do spend a couple of weeks learning how to take them. During the school year I also use a test prep site, but it's one math and one reading activity a day, so nothing compared to what goes on in schools.

i'd have loved for my homeschooled kids to get to see the parthenon and roman coliseum. but they got a dandy education without it.
teaching to the test is pandemic in this country right now. hopefully the madness will pass, but i'm not seeing any rosy future for american public education unless it's completely deconstructed and rebuilt. but the NEA has a huge lobby and will never let that happen.
khairete
S.

I hate the Teach to the Test as well. I graduated from a high school in Georgia in 2008, and my younger sister is a Senior this year. All the teachers ever told us was "it's going to be on the test". When we finally took the Graduation test or any other standardized tests, the info they said they just knew would be on that test, would not! It is stressful! I know many of my friends throughout high school and many of my sister's friends have developed test taking anxiety. The pressure and stress of not doing well on these tests are ridiculous. Many of these students with test taking anxiety actually so not end up in college because the high school teachers scare you about college saying, "They won't take it easy on you in college. If you think these test are hard, wait till you are in college." It is truly truly ridiculous. The tests are being pushed into the earlier grades now. Its terrible.

We are middle class and we homeschool. We pulled our son out of school because it was best for him and he loves it. We travel off season, so it's cheaper. Our curriculum cost us about $400 MAX a year.

Oh, I own a local business and my husband works for me, after quitting his high tech job. We are with our kids a LOT. And I'm pregnant with #4.

It CAN work, if you want it to. Our daughter who just turned 3 last week is doing kindergarten work without any pushing. She WANTS homework like her 8 year old brother who is doing 4th grade work. We get our work done and we play. we school in the car. In fact, we were waiting for my husband in an electronics store Sunday and while he was in there, I taught our son Roman Numerals....and then we tested each other in the car ride home. It's so easy, it makes school a big waste of time....especially the 3 hours of homework AFTER school.

We use www.ixl.com for math for ALL of the kids and it teaches them to take tests, but makes it super fun...and it send me a report on percentages, how long it took them to take the test, etc. We discovered, like many men, my son was NOT reading the directions, so he was getting things wrong. Now, we are focusing more on his reading ALL of the directions.

Oh, more of the "No Child Gets Ahead Act". This is all part of it. Not only do they have to teach to the test but the tests are getting dumber all the time.

Testing is not for the child, it's for the school and whether or not they get money next year. Schools that show improvement get more money, schools that don't get none. Kids who improve from a 90% to a 95% are not counted with the same weight as those who improve from a 65% to a 68%. So a school with improvement in the 50's and 60's %'s gets more money than the ones in the 90's.

I homeschool my kids now. We still have to test. I do not teach to any test though. We work our curriculum and in a couple weeks I will go over the tests preps and then review with them how to take the timed tests.
I have never been to the Coliseum, what a nice treat for your friend.

Last year (1st grade) my son took the PSSA's and by day 4 (3rd day they threw in an IQ test for good measure) he was almost ready to have a nervous breakdown.
I know funding, reputation and excellence are things ALL schools want/need/compete for.
I explained to MY 7 yo that the test was NOT for him--it was for the school--to make sure they were doing their job. It relieved the pressure on him a great deal. But I'm still dreading next year, and the next year's testing.

Well I have a yes and know on the test. I understand they are giving these to the students to better gauge the teachers and make sure they are atleast teaching to a base score. I do though think they need to expand on the tests given. And I feel that it should not be the only criteria. They should once they are older also add other testing like Regents in NY. When I was a kid it was not manditory you take regents to graduate or get into colledge but it gave a reward to the students who wanted to excell further.