Hi Ashley. I definitely understand your viewpoint in regards to not including testing/test scores as part of the definition of an elementary school reading program. Unfortunately, I think it's already embedded into the elementary school program (at least here in Washington). In Washington they begin administering the MSP (Measurements of Student Progress) state test as early as the 3rd grade. The test is supposed to be used to measure how well a student is progressing and is also used to determine if a student is a candidate for the Advanced Placement program that starts in 4th grade in my children's elementary school. Reading covers at least a third of the test. These types of tests do evoke mixed feelings especially after reading several chapters of Readcide. A third grade teacher told me that there is significant time/energy placed on preparing for these tests and quoting from Readcide chapter one, "A curriculum steeped in multiple-choice test preparation drives shallow teaching and learning".
Hear hear on the past test comment. I agree on that 100%. The stress of tests test the students ability to commit stuff to ST memoroy and overcome the stress of tests. Not what I would call a great skill unless there is a job out there that relies on passing tests every six weeks.
"Dangerous" to make inferences about reading achievement from standardized tests---Excellent point that no single data point can tell us about a reader's skills or lack thereof. Yes, we need an array of "evidence" to learn about our readers' strengths and needs. Next week we will get into the different strategies we can use to learn about our readers.
Kathleen...yes, teachers are getting more and more bound to high stakes tests. One important thing for elementary teachers to know is that even though the state requires certain tests to demonstrate reading skills, there are so many other things that can and should be done in a classroom to support our readers. One big goal of this class is to help you all think about how to build an effective literacy program in the context of these high stakes tests.
Hi Ashley. I definitely understand your viewpoint in regards to not including testing/test scores as part of the definition of an elementary school reading program. Unfortunately, I think it's already embedded into the elementary school program (at least here in Washington). In Washington they begin administering the MSP (Measurements of Student Progress) state test as early as the 3rd grade. The test is supposed to be used to measure how well a student is progressing and is also used to determine if a student is a candidate for the Advanced Placement program that starts in 4th grade in my children's elementary school. Reading covers at least a third of the test. These types of tests do evoke mixed feelings especially after reading several chapters of Readcide. A third grade teacher told me that there is significant time/energy placed on preparing for these tests and quoting from Readcide chapter one, "A curriculum steeped in multiple-choice test preparation drives shallow teaching and learning".
ReplyDeleteHear hear on the past test comment. I agree on that 100%. The stress of tests test the students ability to commit stuff to ST memoroy and overcome the stress of tests. Not what I would call a great skill unless there is a job out there that relies on passing tests every six weeks.
ReplyDelete"Dangerous" to make inferences about reading achievement from standardized tests---Excellent point that no single data point can tell us about a reader's skills or lack thereof. Yes, we need an array of "evidence" to learn about our readers' strengths and needs. Next week we will get into the different strategies we can use to learn about our readers.
ReplyDeleteKathleen...yes, teachers are getting more and more bound to high stakes tests. One important thing for elementary teachers to know is that even though the state requires certain tests to demonstrate reading skills, there are so many other things that can and should be done in a classroom to support our readers. One big goal of this class is to help you all think about how to build an effective literacy program in the context of these high stakes tests.