Well, next week all the students in our school, except for the seniors, will be taking either the Stanford test or the Dakota Step test. These tests help teachers determine what students have retained and what areas need to be taught in more depth because the students are not remembering those skills.
The tests are also what the government uses to determine if each school has met the AYP (annual yearly progress) level set. If we meet the levels, the the school is safe for one more year, but if we fail to pass the level, then the trouble starts. First we put on alert and must make changes to ensure that we will make it next year. If we continue to fail to meet the levels expected, the consequences get more severe and may result in the removal of the current staff and administration and a take over by others to ensure that the levels will be met. That is very scary.
So how seriously do you take the test and how much effort do you put into doing well on it? Should the government weigh school effectiveness on one test? What are some better ways to measure a school effectiveness?
17 comments:
some students dont care about them because they take to long and for some grades know that theirs test isnt the one that counts
So do the kids in the grades where the test "counts" try harder?
I think it's retarded. Since when can a test tell someone if they're smart or not?? Hmm? I've failed numerous tests in my life, so does that qualify me as dumb? Yes Bush? YES! Haha!
I myself do not fret over these tests. I do the best to my ability, and that itself should be what counts, not how well they do. Anyone can be a good guesser. Jeeze. Maybe we should just write a paper--that test our vocabulary and English, plus it shows them how high/low our reading level is. I think English/Reading is far more important that Science/Math.
But hey, I'm not the one in charge...let the retards handle it.
There are many students that attend not just this school, but every other school in the United states that could care less about the results of these tests. However, there is a select percentage of students that care a great deal about this test and try their very best because they couldn't stand the embarrassment of doing badly. Or they simply couldn't make themselves not care. I'm not saying there are kids out there that study for these tests, but they definitely get a good night sleep and are prepared to sit through 3 grueling days of testing. I think that the government should start testing a couple times a year and cut down on the test. They shouldn't jumble it all into one and fry out student's brains with still a month or more of school left to be completed. The best solution would be to split it all up into three or four sections and complete them over a time period of one month to ease the strain on students.
I also think a better time for these tests to be taken could be picked. At the end of the school year is not a good time. Students are ready to be done and don't care anymore and therefore, kids don't try as hard on these test. I don't think all of the weight should be put on this one test. People freeze on tests. Rather, I think that the success of the school should be calculated on the average GPA of the students or the honor roll, but not on one test. Trying hard on this test is definetly not one of my top priorities, but i do read everything carefully and put enough effort into it I think.
These tests are deffinately getting old. I think that students who are able to take their act's should not be required to take the standardized tests. Also, i don't think that our school should be judged by these tests because not everyone puts their full effort into these tests.
I also agree that some students could care less about these tests because they will just fill in a bunch of random answers. I personally try hard on them because it feels good when you get a 90% or better. I also think that the kids that arent in the grades that are getting more testing dont try as hard because theirs doesnt matter as much. Randall is right to because they should schedule them at different times instead of all at once.
I guess this year i tried on my Testing but i know some kids that just guessed on the whole thing and were done in about 10 minutes. Its still hard to believe that we get a movie day for how good our tests are and a lot of kids guess on it...
I would say maybe 10-20% of the students actually care how they do on these tests. A lot of kids just fill in random answers or just guess random answers. Students don't realize how important they are; the reason the upperclassmen are probably the laziest is because they've taken them so many times it just gets annoying. This year they were so easy I can't imagine anyone passing up the chance to ace it. I don't think everything should be based on just one test. Some students don't test well, that's just the way it goes.
all the test at once gets a little old. why should one test determane how smart you and your school is. i also agree that the test should be taken at the beginning because there are enough kids that start slacking in school and dont care as much as they would if it was a new year.
I believe that the stanford dakota step testing is very important. Not only does it give us an idea of where our school sits, but it also gives us an idea of where we as individuals rank among others across the nation. I didnt even realize until the day we were taking test this year, that the freshman test doesnt count, but i still tried my hardest on it. Why not use everything that you have learned throughout the year to do well on the test?
I agree with ashley, writing a paper on a certain topic would test out our English and Reading levels. However, I do believe that math is just as important as any other subject in the world. I mean it is the only thing that is the same in every country! Some kids don't even care because they think that they know they are going to do badly, so they just draw a picture with the circles. I do care about the test, but i don't fret over them like ashley said. I do the best i can, and normally i am pleased with the results. I agree that a new time could be picked, but i think that they should have a different test at different times in the year. That would be the best alternative, i think.
I don't believe that the students realize what kind of impact this test has on our educational facilities. I also don't believe that this one test should be able to see whether or not our school is exceling, its peposterous to use on test to see how well students are doing in their academics, if they want to really do it they should have tests throughout the year, perhaps once every month to see how the students are doing, but certainly not one test. Most students who do take it don't know of the consequences asocciated with Bush's law and how the teachers could even be let go. If the Government really wanted to see which areas needed help in they would test the teachers or come and watch them for a couple days, realize which ones were bad, wonder why so many are going for honors english next year????*cough cough* and let those teachers go rather than the ones who are excellent but the students slack.
I have to agree with Ashley, tests can either prove how lucky a person is (if you believe in luck) or if they know specific questions. We should take these tests seriously, because the government can do whatever the $#!# they want and we might as well just please their ill ways.
I don't think so Aaron. I don't think we should have to bow down to their totalitarian ways (love this word...although I don't think it quite fits here though...).
And Brooke, if it wasn't important we wouldn't learn it. So of course math and science is important, but since when is English, Reading, and History not? If they were, wouldn't NCLB put emphasis on it? Oh sure you can learn a ton of history from the news, but how many of us actually watches it? I do once in a blue moon, but not often. To me, if you don't know english or don't know how to read, you're a failure. Everything you do today needs to be read, whether it be a math problem or the headline news. So why doesn't Congress and NCLB emphasize that? Isn't reading just as important as math?
I think these tests are pointless, because what does it really tell, because by the grade level some kids are at a higher grade level then others. Just because these test show how well are teachers are doing, is that what it really does, because its the students that have to take the test waste of time and takes are time to learn, and do they take in fact some kid have bad days or something bad happens to them and they arent going to think about the test but about what happened to them. I think these tests are pointless because they really dont say anything about how are school is teaching us but how the students are doing and noone actually cares, about these tests. So i think they should not have these tests anymore.
Kirsten's post is exactly why I said we should have an essay instead of a test.
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