The Scores Come In

After reading over this, I realized my writing tonight does not flow the way I would like it to. Therefore, sometime in the near future I will be doing some revision. Until then, I had to get it out to clear my mind a bit. I hope it makes sense.
 
Yesterday I started writing about this thing called End-of-Year testing here in North Carolina. Needless to say, I stopped writing after a paragraph and proceeded to fall asleep at 8:15pm. The blog unwritten. Shocked at the exhaustion that administering a test caused, I closed my eyes and gave in to it.

Today was the second day of testing. It went pretty much the same way as it did the day before. Watch the students fill in bubbles before laying their heads down on the table to sleep. The rest of the day we had shortened classes. It was make-up work and games in my classroom. The students were able to handle little else. The 8^th graders left school wondering if their parents would get a phone call informing them that they did not pass one of their tests. (The 7^th graders will go through the same anxiety tomorrow.)

As soon as the scores arrived with the testing coordinator, I was sent inside from my duty. My stomach was in knots as I walked inside the building.  Did my 8^th graders pass? Would they show growth? If it was effecting me in such a strong way, what must it be doing to the students? Before I could see the results of the testing, I had to sit through a meeting on what to do if a student did not make level 3.

1.  Fill out paperwork stating the scores.

2.  Call parents to inform them of student not making the cut.

3.  Read exactly what is on the script when telling them.

4.  Remediate for 5 hours in each subject they did not meet the criteria in.

5.  Retest the students.

6.  If they still do not meet the criteria, prepare a waiver folder. (This will be done on a Saturday.)

7.  Take the students to waiver. (This will be done after school until God only knows how late.)

I asked several questions to clarify. The process is different for students depending on whether they have an 82 or above, are special education, or a couple other things I forget at the moment.

The meeting over, I sought out Patti’s homeroom teacher knowing I would hear that she passed all her tests. Only she didn’t. She failed the Math portion. I was good with it. Patti has been taking Algebra all year. Her test was on 8^th grade math. She has always had difficulty retaining math concepts.  I know the test does not show how intelligent she is. Whatever. I will not let this stupid test get the best of her. Of us.

And then I got the scores for my class. 16 out of 21 did not meet the criteria. Without looking at the numbers, my stomach dropped. I failed my students. They had been showing such promise on the quarterly assessments. They were on track to pass this test. Why didn’t they? Was it because after three hours many of them were not done and moved testing sites only to learn their classmates had gone to lunch? Did they rush through to get to lunch or just be done? Should I have taught more specifically to the test? Most missed the cut-off by five points or lower. Should I be one of the teachers doing the remediation with such a high percentage of my students not making it?

And then I started making parent phone calls. “Your child did not meet the standard on the North Carolina End of Grade Test in the area of Reading/Math/Science (pick one). They will be provided with five hours of intense remediation. Your child will have the opportunity to retest on May 24^th.  Please be sure to send them to school well rested.” I answered what questions I could before wishing them a nice evening and saying goodbye. Most of the parents have been getting calls like this since their child was in third grade. They know the drill and are good with it – as good as a parent can be when being told their child failed. Again. I handled about three phone calls before I was ready to move on to something else. (I will be making most of my phone calls tomorrow night.)

Since the testing hoopla has begun, I have found myself getting to school later and later each morning. I do not like the anxiety it places upon the students. I was uncomfortable with the pep rally I participated in for the sole purpose to get the students excited and pumped up for the tests. I watch them drown as they are testing and know there is nothing I can do to help them keep their head above water. I see time that could be spent learning being spent doing practice test after practice test. I hear of students taking medication due to test anxiety. I feel for the students who have yet to pass a reading test, but are put through the grueling process of testing, remediating, and retesting only to be taken to waiver.

Throughout the past week, I have tried to look at the positive side of all of it. Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found it. It is time for us as a country to take a good hard look at what No Child Left Behind is doing to our students. And maybe, just maybe, we can take a step back and see the need restructure education to fit our children in the 21^st century.