• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts

The Educators Room logo

  • Start Here
    • Impact Statements: Teacher Expertise
    • Newsletter
  • Browse Topics
    • Content Strategies
      • Literacy
      • Mathematics
      • Social Studies
      • Educational Technology
      • ELL & ESOL
      • Fine Arts
      • Special Education
      • Popular Topics
        • Teacher Self-Care
        • Instructional Coach Files
        • Common Core
        • The Traveling Teacher
        • The Unemployed Teacher
        • The New Teacher Chronicles
        • Book Review
        • Grade Levels
          • Elementary (K-5)
          • Middle (6-8)
          • Adult
          • New Teacher Bootcamp
          • Hot Button Topics
            • Menu Item
              • Principals' Corner
              • Charter Schools
              • Confessions of a Teacher
              • Interviews
              • The State of Education
              • Stellar Educator of the Week
            • Menu
              • How to Fix Education
              • Featured
              • Ask a Teacher
              • Teacher Branding
              • Current Events
  • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course
    • Becoming An Educational Consultant
    • Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts
    • The Learning Academy
    • Books
    • Shirts
  • Education in Atlanta
  • Teacher Self-Care
  • The Coach's Academy
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts
×

April 3, 2017 Classroom Management

"Active Monitoring" Standardized Tests Is a Joke

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Jake Miller

Mr. Jake Miller is the 2016 National History Day Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year, a 2017 NEA Global Fellow to China, and a former candidate for county-wide office. Miller has written more than 500 articles, most of which have appeared on The Educator's Room. He's the opening contributor to TER's book When the Fire Is Gone. Learn more about Jake at www.MrJakeMiller.com
  • The Student-Teaching Model Is Outdated: Here's How We Can Do Better - September 15, 2021
  • Visualize: How Seeing What's Coming Changed My Teaching - August 16, 2021
  • 10 Lessons About Teaching from My Youngest Son - June 24, 2021
  • Ending the Epithet “Try-Hard” Once and for All in Classrooms - June 18, 2021
  • From STEM, Let's Pivot to the BRANCHES of the Humanities - May 25, 2021
  • Would Education Collapse If Teachers Stopped Working for Free? - May 20, 2021
  • 10 Ways to Teach Like Ted Lasso: Part II - April 21, 2021
  • 8 Tips So Your Substitute Plans Don't Suck - April 14, 2021
  • 10 Ways to Teach Like Ted Lasso: Part I - March 12, 2021
  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers: Habit 3 - First Things First - February 26, 2021

Most states have a guide for how educators should properly proctor a standardized test. Chief among the list of directions is teacher behavior while students are testing. Those of us proctoring tests are bound to come across the term "active monitoring" (AK-tiv * Mahn-it-ORR-ing) N. - educational jargon-ese for teachers doing nothing other than staring at their students while the take their tests.

Several other educators have tried to have fun with the idea of this "eyes on the prize" mindset. Justin Aion of the blog Re-Learning to Teach made a map of the 90 circuits he used to travel around students, thus walking 4.3 miles in a school day. One of my favorites is from online blogger LoveTeach shared their version of "16 Things You Can Do While Actively Monitoring during Standardized Testing (or the next time you’re crazy bored)" in 2014. My favorite are imagining which animals each student would be if they were members of the animal kingdom and "using Crest Whitening Strips." The blogger followed up this entry on WeAreTeachers a year later with "17 More Things You Can Do While Actively Monitoring a Standardized Test." Again, some of my favorites are "imagine what you'd want your last words to be" and "imagine sending each student positive vibes, one at a time."

Can we stop pretending we are Professor X reincarnated, mastering telepathy? Stop finding ways to combat the apathy associated with proctoring the many hours of standardized testing? And do this before we find ourselves imagining psychopathy?

Most of all, let's call a spade a spade and name active monitoring what it is: a joke.

From a professional standpoint, pretending that I have nothing to do but watch 30 students bubble in A through D over and again is an insult to my profession. I'd rather be grading the stack of papers at the edge of my desk. I'd like to plan the next week's lessons like I did the first week of school. What if I sent an email to all the parents of kids who are doing great for a change? Or engaged in a great book on Andrew Jackson? Listened to a podcast on pedagogy or the French Revolution? Let's stop pretending that teachers are glorified disciplinarians who will bring the sledgehammer of the state to any student whom veers from the script, less we be labeled as cheaters.

pretending that I have nothing to do but watch 30 students bubble in A through D over and again is an insult to my profession. Click To Tweet

From a fiscally conservative and government-watchdog standpoint, let's examine the use of tax dollars. I'll be proctoring tests in my school for 7 days, approximately 3 hours for each. That's 21 hours or nearly 3 school days where I'm expected to watch students fill in bubbles. Many other grades, schools, and states will easily exceed that figure. Whether I take laps, send students positive vibes, or tug on my earlobes during that time matters not. But, what I'm not allowed to do is what I see primarily as the responsibilities of my job. I cannot work for the students and community that I serve during that time; I have to be all eyes and ears on test-takers - for 21 hours.

That's nearly 3 school days where I'm expected to watch students fill in bubbles. Click To Tweet

From a students' standpoint, active monitoring seems like the loser-ist of all. While students work diligently to showcase what they've learned (or, conversely, rush through to give a big "screw this to the system" and, of course, my evaluation), what do they see in us, sitting there actively monitoring? I've worked diligently throughout my career to model appropriate behaviors for students. When I say I don't want gum in my classroom, I don't chew it. When I want them to be courteous to others in their community, I, too, wait in the lunch line for food. But when the students are expected to do their best to showcase the pinnacle of their learning, proctoring educators are expected to be one step above zombie status. Drool might even be acceptable.

This, unlike most things in education, is really an easy change. Stakeholders should demand that educators be able to perform the primary responsibilities of their position in a world that is increasing its demands and expectations on educators. The arguments are professional, financial, and student-centered. But, like watching a room for of standardized test-takers, those of us in the field will simply have to wait for those to bring forth the impetus for change.

Let's call it re-active monitoring.

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

Teachers In Action: From the Classroom to the Convention Taking the Anxiety Out of Student Placement in Special Education The New Teacher Smell Take One For the Team: The Need for Self-Care
« Testing Season: Prepare to be Accountable
An Awful Moment: Choosing to Say Goodbye to a School »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carol Anderson says

    April 03, 2017 at 9:28 pm

    Thank you, thank you, thank you.

    Reply
  2. Aaron Smithers says

    May 10, 2017 at 8:35 pm

    Jake,
    Love your blog. I teach U.S. History in Texas and just finished a blog about Active Monitoring. I truly think it is a joke as well. I believe it is a serious miss-allocation of vital educational resources. Check me out at repentales.com. I would also like to follow you as well. Thanks for posting.

    -Aaron

    Reply
  3. Angela S Van Dyne says

    February 11, 2022 at 11:24 pm

    I found this while looking for how teachers "active monitor" during tests. I polled my students, and while a few said it didn't bother them to have a teacher walking around while they are trying to take a test, 90% of the responses were negative. The most common were that it makes them nervous and it makes them lose concentration. One student went on to say it made them feel like they were doing something wrong. I know I don't want to be stared at while I am trying to take tests, why would I do that to my students?? Another sign that we are continuing to add more "medicine" to an underlying issue that does nothing but give worse symptoms.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

The Educator's Room was launched in 2012 to amplify the voice of educators. To date, we have over 45+ writers from around the world and boast over twelve million page views. Through articles, events, and social media we will advocate for honest dialogue with teachers about how to improve public education. This mission is especially important when reporting on education in our community; therefore, we commit our readers to integrity, accuracy, and independence in education reporting. To join our mailing list, click here.

What we do

At The Educator's Room, we focus on amplifying and honoring the voice of educators as experts in education. To date, we have over 40 staff writers/teachers from around the world.

Popular Posts

  • "Let's Make This Happen": Following Student Interests to Interest-Based Mentorships
  • Want to Keep Special Education Teachers? Try Mentorship
  • An Idaho teen who won his school board election has a message for educators
  • Moving Beyond Diversity to Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging: Lessons from a Sunday Sermon

Featured On

Buy Our Books/Courses

How to Leave Your Job in Education

Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout

Using Your Teacher Expertise to Become an Educational Consultant

Check out our books on teaching and learning!

The Learning Academy

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • Media Kit
  • FAQ

 

Copyright © 2021 The Educator's Room.