He said, memorably, that he didn't care how
much test prep there was so long as scores go up.
There is widespread support for the annual assessment, but an overreaction to that assessment with too
much test prep.
While we have general agreement on the importance of an annual test to measure whether students are learning to read and do math on grade level, we still often find too
much test prep in our schools.
We also let people get away at the school level with doing way too
much test prep.
For example, if there is too
much test prep, ask that the principal monitor it and take steps to reduce it.
Not exact matches
Armed with little more than kosher salt and olive oil, I will pretty
much roast any vegetable during my allocated TV show -
prep - time then taste -
test a handful of them straight from the pan before they hit the table.
- In an «off the bum»
test of how
much it could hold, it held about 1/4 cup of water after around 3 washes, and after it was fully
prepped it was ever so close to 3/4 cup of water
- In an «off the bum»
test of how
much it could hold, it held about 1/4 cup of water after around 3 washes, and after it was fully
prepped about ever so close to a full 1cup of water
New York State teachers say too
much time is spent on
test prep and some parents want their children to opt out.
UFT President Michael Mulgrew said, «The unimpressive recent results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress show that the
test prep that has taken over
much of the class time in our schools has not helped our kids learn.
I expected that
test prep would displace some amount of instruction, but I didn't foresee just how
much time
testing and
test prep would swallow or that filling students» time with interim
tests and
test prep would become the new normal.
And, while the current trend is to
test students as
much and as often as possible, educators need to work hard to resist the temptation to use the last few months of school as
test prep.
• too
much school time is given over to
test prep — and the pressure to lift scores leads to cheating and other unsavory practices; • subjects and accomplishments that aren't
tested — art, creativity, leadership, independent thinking, etc. — are getting squeezed if not discarded; • teachers are losing their freedom to practice their craft, to make classes interesting and stimulating, and to act like professionals; • the curricular homogenizing that generally follows from standardized
tests and state (or national) standards represents an undesirable usurpation of school autonomy, teacher freedom, and local control by distant authorities; and • judging teachers and schools by pupil
test scores is inaccurate and unfair, given the kids» different starting points and home circumstances, the variation in class sizes and school resources, and the many other services that schools and teachers are now expected to provide their students.
Maybe Not as
Much as We Think (Education Week) Ph.D. candidate Cynthia Pollard cited as expert on
test prep and teaching.
Earlier this month, the DOE was patting itself on the back and calling its
test prep initiative a success — even though it enrolled 200 fewer students than initially intended, and not a single one of those students has yet to take the Specialized High - School Admissions Test (SHSAT), much less score highly enough to be offered a seat at one of the city's top performing scho
test prep initiative a success — even though it enrolled 200 fewer students than initially intended, and not a single one of those students has yet to take the Specialized High - School Admissions
Test (SHSAT), much less score highly enough to be offered a seat at one of the city's top performing scho
Test (SHSAT),
much less score highly enough to be offered a seat at one of the city's top performing schools.
Some parents claimed the math and English
tests for grades 3 - 11 are unnecessarily confusing and said
test prep steals away too
much instructional time.
For a brief period, states were required to rank their teacher
prep programs based in part on how
much their graduates were boosting student
test scores.
But at higher - income schools, where kids tended to do better on those
tests, there wasn't as
much focus on
test prep.
At higher income schools, where most kids scored proficient on the state
tests, there wasn't as
much focus on
test prep.
About 89 percent of teachers who believed they spent an appropriate amount of time on
test prep felt it was a «very good» or «good» use of time, while 68 percent of those who thought
test prep took too
much time said the activities were a «very good» or «good» use of time.
The survey of 400 teachers found that 57 percent thought they spent «too
much time» on
test prep, while 43 percent said
test prep time was «about right» or «too little.»
Too
much prepping distorts the value of the
test.
Those who believed
test prep time was about right spent half of it on activities they chose, while those who thought they spent too
much time on
test prep got to choose their own
test prep activities about 31 percent of the time.
Educators repeatedly express concern that standardized
tests focus too
much on basic skills and not enough on deeper learning, and that
testing, including
test prep, takes too
much time.
@usedgov: Where you have too many
tests, or are spending too
much time on
test prep, that doesn't lead to good results.
A Milwaukee teacher very committed to social justice teaching recently told me that even she is having a hard time finding the time and space to incorporate meaningful and critical lessons into her teaching because so
much of the time is spent on
test prep.
Although many school districts are increasing the amount of sedentary
test -
prep time,
much research suggests that activity is better for students.
Too
much focus on
testing and
test prep, narrowing of the curriculum, stressed students, concerned parents, exasperated teachers --- taken together it makes for a combustible mix of anger and frustration that leads many to the regrettable but understandable conclusion that taking a standardized
test designed to measure student learning is not in the interest of student learning.
She notes that in some cases, as
much as 30 instructional days are lost to
testing and
test prep.
I doubt they spend
much time on
test prep and standardized
testing, if at all.
Back in 2010, the plans for the new exams were introduced with
much fanfare and many promises: The exams would end the era of dumbed - down multiple - choice
tests and the weeks of mindless
prepping that precede them.
Here the teachers»
test -
prep lessons earned
much lower quality scores than their regular lessons.
Coleman admits in his essay, «there should be concerns raised over excessive
testing and devoting too
much classroom instruction to
test prep.»
«In our own district,
much of what happens can be quickly traced back to subtle, or sometimes not so subtle,
test prep.
Some DC education activists, teachers, and parents are concerned that standardized
testing and
test prep are taking too
much time away from instruction.
«The bad news — absolutely pervasive bad
test prep...
much of it is just gaming, and it's particularly pervasive in low - income schools.»
The
tests take too
much time away from real learning and replace it with
test prep.
Because NYC schools risk receivership and even closure based on
test scores, because state
test scores are the variable used in awarding free SHSAT preparation, because the city publishes school - wide score averages in its own guidance materials for parents and because NYC School Reports literally center their definition of «great schools» on student
test scores,
test prep continues to feature prominently in city public school curriculum, beginning as early as kindergarten, no matter how
much the mayor publicly claims to «de-emphasize» it.
-- The 2014 proposed rule, focused on increasing teacher
prep program accountability, received thousands of comments — many of them negative — about how
much it would ultimately cost states, whether it would stretch their data collection capacities and whether it relies too
much on student
test scores.
Test prep is very
much part of the culture of NYC public schools, and if the mayor is truly unaware of this, he is startlingly out of touch with the reality on the ground the city's schools.
Too
much school time is given over to
test prep — and the pressure to lift scores leads to cheating and other unsavory practices.
Compared to «content - rich» subjects like history and science, he says, reading doesn't lend itself as
much to bad
test prep.
The student growth trend rating of high, expected or low will be based on professional judgment and three years of data — student growth percentiles on state K -
PREP tests (how
much a class improves from one grade level to the next comparing students in the class to their academic peers statewide) or rigorous, locally determined student growth goals, developed collaboratively between the teacher and evaluator.
But I see my local schools being effected by what reformers have gotten done... too
much time spent
prepping for
tests, ignoring the needs of above average and average students, rubric after stupid rubric, etc..
Thanks to this partnership and the functionality of digital reading, Inkling and Wolters Kluwer have been able to make high quality, fully search - enabled
test prep content at a fraction of the typical cost for these materials; the typical price for these materials can be as
much as 90 % less than traditional study materials.
Ordinarily, given that
test prep material for the bar exam is a very comprehensive content that is written for a very niche - specific audience, materials to help students potentially prepare for the bar exam have been prohibitively expensive, costing as
much as $ 1,000 and higher.