A Change of Heart
Until this year, I haven’t ever gotten too worked up over testing. I viewed it as a necessary evil, but not that terribly inconvenient. I hear horrifying statistics like the fact that “students spen[d] from 60 to more than 110 hours per year directly engaged in test preparation activities” or that students spend up to 50 hours per year taking the actual tests (1). I always comfort myself by thinking But at least I’m not like that. But I’m a part of a system that is.
Usually I do a week of going over the test, a week of administering the tests, and that’s about it. (Of course, I teach the standards assessed by the test all year, but I don’t do explicit “test review” until about a week before.)
Now, all of the tests that I’d previously administered were the former EOCT and all tests were paper/pencil. This year, however, marks the first time that I’ve been exposed to the Milestones test – which are all online except for maybe a few students who get to take the paper/pencil test (depending on your school and specific situation).
My verdict:
It has been a colossal waste of time, money, and intelligence – not to mention somewhat dysfunctional. Students using computers have had to deal with the following: Continue Reading
