star testing week - how has your child fared?

[meemee]

its been a nightmare in our house. 

the constant pressure has made dd's anxiety worse and brought on real mood swings.

she is so so so exhausted that i send her to bed at 6 where she can lie down and do quiet activities till she falls asleep.

dd is in 3rd grade. i recall last year not being a big deal at all. but this year?!!! seems like she is making up for it double time.

i notice it is affecting other students too. the general girl catty behaviour has increased and caused quite a few problems.

is it the same for your kids?

[whatsnextmom]

Not the same here. DD 14 only was anxious her first year of testing in 2nd grade. DS 10 has never been anxious. Our district has always made testing fun for the kids. The highschool doesn't do all the "fun" stuff but they do have minimum days for testing and teenagers certainly find that fun. Plus, my kids like the break in routine.

[eclipse]

We homeschool, but do it through a charter school. My kids had STAR testing this week and it wasn't a big deal. DD was a little anxious going in (it's her first year), but then realized that it really didn't matter. We also only had to go in for the testing - no full day of school or anything, and we didn't do any school work at home.

In case you didn't know, STAR testing isn't mandatory in California. You can write a letter exempting her from it if you find that it brings too much stress. The school wouldn't be happy about it, because they're required to have a certain percentage of kids participate, and even kids legally exempted by their parents count against them - but it's you're right as a parent to not have her participate.

[meemee]

yes jen i just learnt about that last year.

i wasnt expecting dd to react this way. she was anxious at first in 2nd grade but then thought it was a breeze and was fine with it. i am surprised this year by her reaction. 

this year i think its coinciding with 'puberty'. she is having way more mood swings than before.

she is going thru some personal angst and the focus on testing is one more burden to carry.

unfortunately we use her test scores as bargaining tools at her school - so we cannot opt out of testing. wish they would shorten the days as i am sure that would help a LOT. 

the school makes such a huge deal out of it. its affecting soo many of her classmates and not just her. 

that is why i make homelife so much calmer and serene and send my nightowl to bed early and make sure she eats a nutritious meal. 

[mata]

dd11 was not anxious for the first time. dd7 took them for the first time and thought they were a breeze. I was really wanting to opt out, but it appears they didn't sweat it.

[LynnS6]

Aha! So now I know where "Arnie Land" is. It's in California!

We're in Oregon so we have a different system. The tests (except for writing) are computerized and the kids, for better or worse, get their scores right away. They can also retake them until they get a passing score (it's not all the same questions -- the questions are drawn from a testbank, and are modified depending on whether you got the previous one right or wrong). They all know what the target score for their grade is. They 'start' testing in February or so, and kids who pass can go on to do other, more interesting things. Kids who don't are given some more intense help and retested every couple of weeks. Ds exceeded standards the first time, so we don't have to worry. Last year in 3rd grade was the first year

The writing exam did cause a bit of anxiety (in my somewhat anxious kid), but ds had been well prepared and we knew he was a good writer and we just told him that. We've got the scores back and he's fine.

[TiredX2]

This is the 2nd year in WA that they are doing MSP (Measuring Student Progress to teachers, Makings Students Puke to the kids) instead of the WASL.  It's great so far.  3-4 partial days (couple hours) for both the 3rd and 7th graders in my house.  DS is just happy because he gets gum, lol.  I'm so glad they went to shorter tests!