11/15/2023 0 Comments Unique benchmark testing![]() This problem isn’t unique to my school this test is HUGE, and more schools are using it every year. Most of them will do worse this time around, since it’s far from optimal testing conditions, so there will be a meeting in which we’re all reprimanded for not impressing the importance of this test on the kids. I’ll bribe the kids with snacks and frequent class breaks and a lack of homework, and somehow we’ll all survive. We’re not measuring your success here, we’re measuring the success of the teachers and the school, and we need you to perform in order to keep the doors open and the lights on. This test isn’t actually about showing what you’ve learned it’s about showing what we’ve taught. ![]() I Want to Say: It’s important for methat you do well on this. I Actually Say: It’s important that you do well on this. I’m Supposed to Say: It’s important that you do well on this. I could do better than that if I’d never met you, just by looking at your family’s annual income. I Want to Say: This test predicts whether you’ll pass state standardized testing with about 80% accuracy. But you have to take it anyway, so just try to prove you learned something, okay? ![]() Your grade in my class is a much better predictor of how you’ll do on standardized testing than the benchmark test. It’s going to make standardized testing so much easier for you! I’m Supposed to Say: This helps us determine which parts of the standardized test you’re ready for and where you need more work. I Want to Say: Benchmark testing is the reason we can’t do assemblies or watch the movie I’d planned or do any kind of research project or have class outside or do a host of other things, because once again testing is prioritized over instruction. You don’t have internet at home? Well…good luck. Nobody is allowed to use the internet during benchmark testing. I Actually Say: No, I’m sorry, you can’t use the classroom computers to research your social studies project. I’m Supposed to Say: This is a great opportunity to show what you know and demonstrate how much you’ve learned this year! Making you take hours more tests on top of final exams just two weeks after you finish state testing is brutal and morally reprehensible. I don’t think that educational abuse is actually a term people use, but it definitely applies to benchmark testing. I’ll make you a deal: if you’ll actually try on the benchmark test instead of blowing it off completely, I’ll give you a super easy final and no homework all week. I Actually Say: I know you’ve got final exams this week, and I know you’re basically tapped out for the year. Get a good night’s sleep and eat a healthy breakfast the morning of the test! I’m Supposed to Say: It’s really important that you do your best on this. The scores have such a wide range that they’re basically meaningless, and even though we went through hours of training to interpret them, I don’t know a single teacher in the school who can tell you what these scores actually signify. I Want to Say: This test is not aligned to the same standards as our state standardized test, nor is it in the same format. I Actually Say: Oh, you got a 713 in math and an 841 in reading? Um, that’s…good? Maybe? I’m Supposed to Say: This test will really help us, guys! It’ll help your teachers determine what you’ve mastered and where you’re struggling, so we can make sure you’re learning exactly what you need to know. I’m trying to toe the party line, but I’m having trouble with this. Moreover, we’re doing this the last week of school, and we’re also required to give cumulative finals in all core areas. This, despite the fact that the assessment is seriously flawed, the standard deviation is huge, and generally speaking even the best teacher should expect about half her kids to do worse than they did in the last testing session. My school’s pretty anxious about benchmark scores, because they’re written into our charter and we are required to show improvement. Students all over the country will spend hours this month taking a norm-referenced, computer-based, adaptive “benchmark” test intended to show students’ progress in a variety of standards. With the school year moving toward the blessed, blessed end, everything is winding down…except testing.
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