• 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
×

January 25, 2013 Instruction & Curriculum

Here We Go Again--Another Year of State Testing

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Lori H Rice

Lori Rice is a fourth-grade teacher at West Elementary in Wamego, Kansas, who has taught K-2 reading as well as kindergarten, first grade and fourth grade since 1996. She has a passion for creativity, learning, questioning and the whole child. Her classroom is a place of acceptance and celebrating differences.
  • Bringing Project Based Learning to our Classroom - August 12, 2018
  • Keep the Engagement Alive: Start the Year with Purpose - August 5, 2018
  • It's Our Fault: A Teacher's Confession - March 18, 2018
  • Keeping Your Teaching Real: A Teacher's Role - March 11, 2018
  • Sketch Notes in the Elementary Classroom - February 15, 2017
  • Teach From the Heart - February 9, 2017
  • Who is the Teacher: School or Family? - January 11, 2017
  • Dear President Elect Trump, From Your Teachers - November 17, 2016
  • Let them Be Children - October 21, 2016
  • Print Resources: Great Tools for Kids - October 17, 2016

High stakes testing is a common discussion within education today.  There are teachers who are willing to risk their educational careers to step up and voice their opinions about all of the testing being given in our schools today.  I have always believed you have to advocate for your children.  I do that constantly.  If I think something should be going on I find information to support my beliefs and stand up.  The teachers who say they are done testing are now doing this.  There is a fine line between understanding what students know, accountability for what is being taught, and the best way to gather this information.  We have to find and understand that balance to move forward in education.

Two years ago my daughter was sick.  We knew something was not right and as a mother I watched her struggle as we tried to get answers.  Our family doctor, whom I admire and respect, did what he knew to do.  We went through the process of trying medicines and other things to help her.  Nothing was working; the tests for everything he knew to give were negative and yet she was getting worse.

This was high stakes testing in real life.  I did not expect our doctor to run one test and then go from there.   I did not judge him on the failed attempts to solve her problem.  And when he knew what he was doing was not an answer he sent us to a specialist.  The specialist was quick to diagnose her problem, but again, they were wrong.  After an invasive procedure we found she had a very rare condition.  We had answers.  We developed a plan.  They saved my daughter’s life.  Literally.  There was a mass in her trachea that had it been left it would have continued to grow and would have cut off her air supply completely.  Today she is happy, healthy, and “normal”.

I think of this as we approach our state assessments.  I believe in teaching children to think, problem solve, and use their creativity to find answer and new solutions.  I use questioning in my classroom to push my students.  I teach my students to research and how to use tools to find answers to things they don’t  know.  This is real life.  This is what my daughter’s doctor did to save her.  BUT, we will give a state test soon to see if my students and those around the country have what they need to know.  I think this is a very important part of their learning, but it is not the end of their learning.  It is also just one piece to the puzzle.

So what do we do?  I believe as professionals we must teach.  We need to move through our curriculum incorporating skills that will take our students through life.  We need to use higher level questioning , project based learning, problem solving, and critical thinking in our classrooms.  It is an exciting time to be an educator with the technology and tools available for differentiated lessons.  Teaching students to think will get them through life and if we can teach them to do that, shouldn't we be OK on those state assessments?  How do I know? My history tells me we will.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

Default ThumbnailAssessments—Using Incentives to Change the Image Default ThumbnailAccountability without Equity Default ThumbnailNo Child Left Behind: 13 Unlucky, Yucky Years Default ThumbnailDifferentiating your Formative Assessments
« Twitter Chat Tonight! 9PM EST #theedroom
Getting Started Home Schooling Your Child »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kris Nielsen says

    January 27, 2013 at 2:54 am

    I’ve heard this several times already: “If you’re teaching students to learn and letting them discover the knowledge, then shouldn’t they be able to pass those tests easily?” At first, I thought, “Yeah! Totally!” But after trying it, I don’t think it makes sense. Standardized tests are rigidly specific in the knowledge kids should have. They are bent way over into the realm of vocabulary and multiple-choice answers–and they don’t even come close to teaching 21st century skills. If I teach my kids how to think and how to learn and construct meaning, then they will not be prepared to pass state tests, because that’s not what those tests are measuring. The tests measure two things: memory and application. Those both have their importance, but that importance is very limited.

    Reply
  2. Lori Rice says

    January 27, 2013 at 10:36 pm

    I agree, state tests are limited to the knowledge and application levels of learning. You can use these terms and skills and apply them at an evaluation and synthesis level though. It is very frustrating, but I have been teaching my kids the skills in our standards and then giving them activities at a much higher level so they use the 21st century skills to master our standards. Hang in there!_

    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

  • Mr. Courtney's Publicly Funded Snake Handling Divinity School
  • Chalkboards and Beats
  • What Recent SCOTUS Decisions Mean for Education
  • Which is More Important, Equity or Winning?

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.