Coronavirus-canceled testing brings an opportunity. As a teacher and parent in the state of New York, news that standardized testing might be canceled this year brings mixed emotions. I suspected the closures due to COVID-19 might come to this, and for many years I have been pretty open about my personal feelings about abuse-by-test. My […]
standardized testing
Posted inThe State of Education
Let’s talk about Testing Anxiety in Children
I can still remember how I felt as I looked at the tears falling from one of my brightest students as she sat in her assigned seat for the Georgia Milestones Assessment last spring. Because I was mandated to sign my life away on a form acknowledging the serious nature of standardized testing, all I […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
It’s time to talk about the culture of fear around standardized testing
The temperatures are warming. The skies are bright. The birds are chirping. Spring fever is in full effect, and everyone is awaiting summertime! Unfortunately for educators and students, there is a huge hump to get over…standardized testing. End of the year assessments are looming over us. It seems like the entire school year comes down […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
In Defense of Standardized Testing: A Reflection
Standardized testing: just the thought of these assessments strikes terror in the hearts of teachers. If only our students cared as much about how they score on state-mandated tests. Most of the educational literature reflects a negative view of standardized testing, but they serve an important purpose in American education: to indicate teacher effectiveness through […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Test Scores > Hungry Kids? PA Teacher Fired for Making Pancakes
Welcome to 2018, where schools are permitted to hold pep rallies for students to “get them excited” about standardized tests (like that ever worked!?), but if a teacher makes his students – 95% of whom are free and reduced lunch – pancakes during the tests, that leads to him being fired. Seriously. This isn’t an […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
Response To Intervention: One Teacher’s Story
A decade ago, I was the first classroom teacher at my elementary school to complete a round of RTI. The counselor, principal and I went into the process with confusion, determined to get a struggling third-grade student the help she needed. Since those early RTI days, I’ve provided tier II and III interventions and watched […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Opinion, School Improvement
What if We Eliminated Standardized Testing?
A significant amount of research has pointed towards standardized testing causing a high level of stress in students, and teachers alike. While the merit of standardized testing can, has, and will continue to be argued over for years to come, imagine for a moment a world in which standardized testing is eliminated from K-12 education altogether. I […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Power of Authenticity in the Classroom
Guest Post by: Maria Kruzdlo “No one ever changed the world by choosing the best out of five possible answers.” While the author of this quote is unknown, the weight of the statement can not go unnoticed for it drives home the value of learning in the first place. In our ever changing world, it […]