Practical and Proven Professional Development
C O N N E C T   W I T H   U S :
  • Home
  • Professional Development
    • Workshops & Webinars
    • Brad's Bio
    • Upcoming Events
  • Store
  • Contact Brad
  • Resources
    • Handouts for Purchase
    • Math Videos
    • Science Videos
    • Student Gallery
    • velveteenteacher
  • Brad's Other Books

A step in the right direction?

11/1/2015

0 Comments

 
A recent article published in the USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times holds hope for the over abundance of testing in schools. (Click here) In the article Obama urges that we cap mandated testing to no more than 2% of classroom time, or about 3½ days per year.
I welcome this attempt to decrease testing and increase instructional time. However, after reading the article I don’t hold much hope that political effort will remedy the problem.
The article laments that some students take over 100 standardized tests between preschool and 12th grade. From that vantage, a reduction to only 2% of the school year sounds like a wonderful improvement. However the article also shows that 8th grade, the most tested grade level, spends 2.3% of their school year on standardized testing. If 8th grade leads, then there must be grade levels that are already at or near the 2% target. Will this result in any perceivable change at all?
Limiting standardized testing to only 2% sounds as if our students will benefit from 98% of their year devoted to instructional time. However, all educators know that many more days than these are lost to testing. Most districts implement beginning of year and quarterly or trimester benchmark tests to monitor students’ progress toward end of year mandated testing. Additionally, many teachers feel the pressure to produce results and dedicate two or more weeks in the spring to test preparation. These short-term sessions do boost scores, but they do little to increase mathematical competence or improve long-term memory.
The problem is further exacerbated when these days lost to testing and test prep keep teachers from both completing the textbook and teaching to the deep level of understanding we desire. We have produced a generation of students who are masters of test taking but not masters of the content.
It is unlikely that the number of days devoted to mandated testing will diminish significantly. And as long as high stakes are tied to these tests, crucial instructional days will be lost. To use an agricultural analogy, we are weighing the pig to death.
If there is to be a solution, it will most likely come from within the schools. We teachers and administrators hold the keys to our classroom minutes. If we invest our time in teaching concepts deeply and minimize test prep efforts that produce, at best, short-term results, our students will be the better off for it. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Brad Fulton is an award winning teacher and nationally recognized provider of professional development with over three decades of experience in education.

    Categories

    All
    Curriculum
    Pedagogy
    Resources
    School Climate
    STEM
    Videos

    Archives

    December 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    February 2012
    December 2009

    RSS Feed

TTT Press

Home
Blog
Professional Development
Store
Resources
Other Books by Brad
Contact Brad

What our customers are saying:

Thank you for a well-organized, meaningful, and engaging presentation that gets to the heart of the matter: connecting context and concepts in instruction.  Terrific!
Linda Buck – Principal
I love when I can go back to the classroom and use what I just learned.  Thank you very much for your expertise and enthusiasm.
Kim Clay – middle school teacher
© 2013 by Brad Fulton and TTT Press