As far as assessment, there are 8 main areas:
- physical science
- science inquiry
- nature of science
- science connections
- life and environmental science
- earth and space science
- science in social and personal perspectives
- science applications
According to this website, which is directly related to WI DPI, teachers should consistently be teaching the appropriate curriculum if they are following WI DPI standards, which in return relates directly to the WKCE testing. However, not everything goes as planned- especially in a younger classroom. Although the lesson plan calls for 25 minutes of instruction, sometimes the students have questions or are very intrigued by the lesson. If this is the case, then why not spend more time with this unit/topic and skip a lesson down the road? It just makes sense to cater lessons to the students' interests.
This website also had a great chart with all of the state science standards that are addressed in the WKCE test. Pages 12-20 focus on 4th grade standards. These are very helpful to refer to; I know it's difficult because we have state, district, and school standards to abide by. However, these standards SHOULD tie into one another to make it a bit easier for us.
Although I touched upon testing information, this is only a part of the test-taking. Students need to be comfortable with test-taking as well. This includes: practicing test-taking strategies, being familiar with vocabulary (a clock's second hand vs. the big hand), test-taking procedures, etc. Sometimes teachers overlook this, but these skills actually need to be taught. We want students to be as comfortable as possible- putting pressure on them only makes them nervous. I wouldn't even call it a "test".
So how can we prepare students for the WKCE testing? Here are some tips that I found to better prepare students and families:
- Inform parents of the testing so they are aware and can help their child review
- Don't assign homework for that week
- Try to spend time assessing students (individually) a few weeks prior to the test to see what areas need more time spent on them
- Have students practice taking tests - filling in bubbles, staying quiet, reading carefully, using scrap paper is needed, using the proper utensils (#2 pencil, calculater?)
- Provide a breakfast for students- some don't eat breakfast, some families cannot afford breakfast, some don't have time in the morning...
- Don't put pressure on the kids
- Review often- incorporate fun and exciting games to help students remember information
- Work and build on testing info all year! Don't try to cram the information in 2 weeks before the test
- Explain the testing (briefly) to the students and try to create a routine for testing days so the day seems more normal
- Make sure the testing area is conducive to the students- little to no noise, in the classroom or somewhere they are familiar with, appropriate seating arrangement, etc.
- Make sure the students that need accomodations receive them
Emily-
ReplyDeleteThis is so great! I know we will get to know more about this when we actually start teaching, but this is great that you looked into it to give us an overall idea because I honestly haven't looked into it. I'm also glad that you didn't put your opinion on high stakes test because I think we hear enough about it or have given our opinions. Very nice job, professional and good information!
I really enjoyed this topic because high stakes testing is a big reality in most of our futures. The ideas for students and parents to prepare for the WKCE testing are very important. Like you said not all students are good test takers so we need to prepare them the best we can so they can feel comfortable taking the test.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post about testing, and our responsibilites as teachers. I often find myself very upset, anxious, and worried about high stakes testing...mostly because I fear that what I deem to be important to teach may not align with what I HAVE to teach. I would also question the "25-minutes of instruction" that you mentioned above as part of WKCE. What does that mean? Explicit instruction? If so, I see that as a definite red flag...like you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteAs teachers, I also see it is important to include a variety of assessments- formative, evaluative, etc. and not let just high-stakes testing reveal "competency." I think it will be hard to find that delicate balance of teaching students content that they have to know and teaching what you think is important for them to know...
Emily,
ReplyDeleteNice job on your post. You included a lot of useful info and really summarized the main points quite well. The whole debate surrounding high-stakes testing is really heating up with schools fighting more and more to get fewer federal dollars. I'm in favor of regular, standardized testing. However, "high stakes" can really work against schools in disadvantaged districts (inner city or poor rural districts). Some of these districts will never be able to compete with more affluent districts, and penalizing them by withholding money will only hurt them more.
That being said....we do need to have a means to measure progress and see how schools stack up against one another. Also, the results may shed light on what the school can do to improve academic achievment in certain areas.
Emily-
ReplyDeleteI think the vocabulary is crucial on high stakes testing. The first grade class I am in right now we call the hands on the clock "the big hand or hour hand", and the "little hand" or "minute hand" we never refer to them as the second hand. So students might know the answer to the question, but because of the vocab used, don't think they know the answer and are unable to answer. I also think that you are right, more teachers don't even realized that they skip right over things such as vocab, and just expect the students to gain or learn that type of knowledge on their own. Great observation! I will make sure to use these types of strategies you mention, and also those on the websites to better prepare my future students!
Thanks for the helpful information. It seems that while we are in school we get bits and pieces of information about these tests. It is nice to have a concrete resource to look at and get a small picture of what to expect and what we will be responsible for. One other suggestion that we have seen done in our placement is to send home a piece of paper that parents can write a message on that will be given to their student on the first day of testing. Our students got their's yesterday and we so excited and encouraged by the letters from home.
ReplyDeleteEmily-
ReplyDeleteGreat point! I completely agree with you that, especially in science with science inquiry, you don't always know what direction the students questions will lead you. I think that is what makes science inquiry so interesting for teachers is that you don't know what kinds of questions your students are going to come up with. Instead of ignoring students questions because there isn't time, I think teachers should take the time to address those questions before they lead to misunderstandings and misconceptions. I remember Prof. Brunsell talking about how other countries cover a few topic in science really well and in depth, and we continue to cram information into our students and expect instant recall when it comes to taking high-stakes tests. I remember learning more and being more engaged in lessons where I felt my class and I were controlling the lessons direction and our learning.