Standardized testing in 3rd grade!

[Sneezykids]

My 3rd grader is going to be taking the MEAP next month. It's Michigan's own standardized test, and this is the first year it's being administered to 3rd graders.
It's testing all they've learned from K-2nd grade.
I have a MAJOR problem with this. They are trying to organize an informal parents meeting to have table talk about what kind of questions are on it, etc.
My peeve about this is my dd is a slow reader, very slow. I'm upset about the amount of testing they are going to be doing. I'm not sure exactly how much it is, because the school has not let us know yet, but I heard from my friend in the neighboring school district there are 10 tests that will take about 50 minutes each. WHAT!!??
This is doing NOTHING for my kids self esteem. They have been 'practicing' the MEAP all week and she is so drained. She said she can't read the questions and guesses on all of them
I have asked for her to be exempt from taking it and if it's only a day or two of it I will keep her home, but I think it's going to be much more than that. And her teacher told me unless she is special ed w/ something specific in her IEP she won't get any special accomodations. Like having the test read to her.
Now, I don't know if I should tell her teacher her pediatrician thinks she is ADD and should be on meds. I didn't want to tell them because we are against medicating her. In any case, I think it might be too late. I don't know. This just SUCKS!

[alegna]

Welcome to no child left behind. Sucks, don't it? You have my sympathy. A lot of 3rd graders just aren't ready for the pressure of standardized testing. There's probably no way for you to get her out of it. I doubt that ADD would get her out either. They really limit the number of kids who can be exempt.

-Angela

[Ellien C]

I grew up with these sorts of things in NY. My understanding is that they were really to test the teachers to make sure they were teaching to the curriculum. What will be done with the results of the tests? What are the consequences beyond having some meaningless "grade" (if that?) Could you do anything to help your daughter relax about them and not worry so much?

[alegna]

With no child left behind the results of the test usually decide if a child will be promoted to the next grade or not. Depends- there are different tests done for different reasons.

-Angela

[Gale Force]

Whether a child can be retained based on test scores varies by district. I wouldn't worry too much about that. If there are mitigating circumstances, they are not going to retain a child based on bad test scores for the most part.

More than likely there is some policy that would allow you as a parent to opt your child out of the test. I doubt your school will publicize it, however. Talk to the superintendent's or principal' secretary to get routed to the right place.

Edited: Just shows I'm multitasking. I see you're considering keeping her out. If it's a long testing period, they may be able to find some other place to be or have her do some other quiet activity while others are being tested. They'll hate this, of course, but do what you need to do.

[Ellien C]

Originally Posted by alegna

With no child left behind the results of the test usually decide if a child will be promoted to the next grade or not. Depends- there are different tests done for different reasons.

-Angela

and they test for promotion in September? Is this a pre-test to see where they are at the beginning and the end of the year? Thanks for the infor.

[Sneezykids]

I don't think the test is to determine if a child will be promoted. It's based on how well the state mandated curriculum is being taught. So, this MEAP is testing them for all they've learned from K-2nd.

Argh! Double argh!

I'm going to email the superintendent about it tomorrow. My one neighbor isn't happy about it either and apparently the teachers aren't either since they would like to be going about the regular classroom business!!

I did contact her teacher about it today. She said she is doing her best to take the pressure off the kids, telling them just to do their best and 'that's all you can do' but told me it's easier said than done. Meaning, the kids are still stressing out about it I suppose.

I've told dd that it really doesn't matter, just to do what she can and guess if she has to, not to worry about it, at ALL!!

[psyche]

As the parent, you do have the right and the power to opt your child out of taking the test. However, I'm not sure whether that means you'd have to keep her out of school during that time. Districts really don't want you to know that you have power about this so I can't see that they would publicize it or easily accomodate you. According to NCLB, they get penalized when a lower percentage of their students take the test.

[Sneezykids]

<According to NCLB, they get penalized when a lower percentage of their students take the test.>

on the same token, won't they be penalized just the same if my dd takes the test and does poorly? The point is mute I know, but still.
I'll find out more about this and post again! Thanks for all the input!

[Altair]

My district (NYC) uses the 3rd, 5th, and 7th grade standardized test to hold kids over.

that is a LOT of pressure on a small child.

It's all NCLB. I taught before NCLB, and there was no where near the same urgency. Telling a school they will be shut down unless they can have more kids pass the tests is a guaruntee the curriculum will start to be MUCH more test prep.

Extremely, extremely frutrating Protest it in any way you can.

[Gale Force]

OK, I'll out myself as an evaluator for school districts in California. I analyze their assessment data for them. :

Yes, they are penalized for both low participation rates and low performance. It really just depends on the school's history which of these will be a bigger deal. I am working with a high school district that literally sends out staff to find students to test because h.s. students are much more likely than a 3rd grader not to show up. The district's performance is fine. It always either just squeeks by or just misses on participation rate, however.

[Sneezykids]

Yea, I know that this more testing is part of NCLB. What I don't get is how it's supposed to help public education? What ever happened to just teaching? <gasp!> If they teach TO THE TESTS then how accurate are the scores? If they want to know how much the kids have learned, shouldn't the test be given randomly, w/o training for it? Oh wait, yea, then the scores would be even lower, what was I thinking
It's all so much bull. Any school can train and teach to the test. It really means nothing in the end, 'cept well, the funding of course. Grrr.
I'm going to see what I can do today. more later!

[shelbean91]

As a future teacher, I do have strong opinions about NCLB. There are good things and bad, personally for me, I thing the bad currently outweighs the good. I completely understand the point and on paper it's a great idea, but the way it's being played out leaves a lot to be desired.

At this point, it will not change. The test will be administered- like it or not. You can hold your dd out of school those days if you want. Or let her know to just do her best and not worry about it- regardless of what teacher says.

Our state does the high stakes in 3, 5, 8, and to graduate from HS, but they administer it during 10th grade, to give kids an extra couple of years to pass if they fail the first time. The problem with this: either they fail b/c they're being tested on stuff they're not supposed to learn for at least another year or two or they pass and have no real reason to work hard in school- since they've already passed. I've also seen some schools allowing kids who passed it their sophomore year to retake it while a jr or sr, to help the schools overall score. Talk about manipulating statistics!!

[triboys]

My son is taking the stanford next week, he is a slow reader, not to mention this is his first year in ps ,we homeschooled k-2. He guesses alot when reading directions, he is a whiz in Math though. I haven't decided if I will tell him they will be doing testing, I dont want to make a big deal about it. I dont understand why they test so early in the year. I am sure they will say he has ld because he doesn't read as well as they think he should.

[Gale Force]

Originally Posted by Sneezykids

Any school can train and teach to the test. It really means nothing in the end, 'cept well, the funding of course. Grrr.

Yes and no. I work with high schools where students cannot read. NCLB is forcing districts to make headway with these lowest performing students. There are perverse consequences, of course, but there are a lot of major structural changes in schools that I am working with that will help this lowest performing group.

We are homeschooling, by the way, when our guy hits Kindergarten.
I didn't tell my clients for some time, but I think the cat's out of the bag now. I think most of them would do the same if they could, not out of disdain for the system, but just to have more opportunity to work one-on-one with their own children.

[Altair]

Originally Posted by Sneezykids

It's all so much bull. Any school can train and teach to the test.

I agree that it's bull.

Disagree that any school can train and teach to the test, if by that you mean and make any progress on the test. The problem that the tests are really, really hard AND ethno-centric. If a child immigrated recently from amother country, there is so much background knowledge about life in the US that is just assumed on the test.

Similarly, city kids do worse on test made for suburban kids. For example, on a second grade test I administered to my then students, there was a question that involved a garage. None of my kids had parents who owned cars. They had no idea what a garage was. It's just not a part of their reality. Students should not have to take tests that are biased. There have been a lot of studies showing that the tests are geared towards white middle class suburban culture as the "norm" and assume information about that subculture is just standard knowledge. It's not. Would you expect every suburban child to know what a certain kind of farm equiptment is used for? Or how the subway system works? It's unfair.

So, it is genuinely hard TO teach to the test, even if you want to.

[Sneezykids]

What I meant by teaching to the test is that my dd is actually doing *practice* tests that are very similar to the MEAP. They are reviewing and going over stuff from last year to gear up for the test. I agree and have heard too that the tests are biased (farm/garage example).

At the Open House the other night I got to see some of the Language Arts that will be on the test. They are practicing this. This is 3rd grade, keep in mind:

The booklet contained about 3-4 stories. Each story had 2-4 paragraphs per page with a picture on each page too. Font size about like this one. The stories were about 5-6 pages long. At the end there were 15-20 multiple choice questions. The vocabulary was impressive, larger longer words. This is just an example of ONE of the language arts tests. It will be timed. My child will be taking tests like this over the course of THREE WEEKS.

Doesn't that seem a little over the top? I didn't even look at the math. I'm waiting for the parents meeting to talk about it.

This is her teachers first time giving the MEAP as she always taught K-2 before now. She asked me what I though as I perused thru the example booklet. I told her I thought it looked tough and said dd would have a really hard time w/ it.

BUT, I've told dd to just not worry about it, do your best and guess if you have to but at least try okay? It's NOT A BIG DEAL.

Another mom told me to go ahead and let her take it because if dd scores low on it then the school is accountable for it. So, I was thinking I will probably just let her take the darn thing. Ugh.

[jannan]

your child should not have to take the test. can she just not take it? my step son did not take any sat 9 tests in 4th and 5th grade.

[jannan]

do not tell the teacher the pediatrician thinks she is add. it will just put a lable on her. don't send her those days of the tests. do you have alternative care? i am so against these tests. i've seen 2nd graders cry over it. it is unfair to everyone involved...............teachers, parents and the children.

[Sneezykids]

Janaan, I haven't told the school or teacher about the ped. suspecting ADD for the exact reason you stated.
Well I thought I could keep her home the days of the tests but it seems that they will be taking the tests throughout a 3 week period, about 10 tests I think, and the test won't last all day, just an hour I think for each one, so they might take a test one day, not the next and another the next day at like 1pm. That would mean missing too many days. I get the feeling they did it like this to prevent parents from keeping their kids home :
I could keep her out of just the test part, but they will probably mark her absent for the whole day and her attendence is usually excellent (only 3 days last year missed). I'm just not sure how I can get around it w/o a huge friggin headache and hassle. :

I almost feel like telling her it's okay to just not even do it, just mark the bubbles however she likes, all C's right :LOL
But, if dh found out I told her that he'd be upset cause he wants her to at least try. Ugh. What a pain in the arse!!