Testing . . . testing

. . . testing

“I’m not sure how I feel about testing today. I am sort of excited and sort of nervous. If there is a feeling of those feelings, I’d call it excivous. So I am excivous. But mostly excited.”—EN, 3rd grade.

Actually, our students enjoy testing far more than their teachers. Frankly, I think there is no quicker way to numb the mind and dampen the creative spirit of a teacher than to pile on the tests. One principal I admire points out that we wouldn't think of yanking a carrot from the ground on a daily basis to check if it's growing. Obviously, this would make growth a challenge for the carrot. Yet somehow we spend more and more time checking to see if children are learning and less time allowing them to learn and explore.

I think I understand what happens. When teachers leave the classroom and become administrators, they get nervous. How can I be sure that the students for whom I am responsible are learning? Far removed from the classroom, they can’t see the children’s curious faces or hear their thoughtful questions. So we put learning on Pause and administer tests: TPRI, High Frequency Word Evaluation, Stanford 10, TAKS, but it doesn’t stop there. When the stakes are high (and bonuses are on the line), they become even more nervous and issue tests to see if we’re ready for the test: TAKS release tests, CBAs, common assessments. With all these tests, the only thing of which we can all be certain is that there is less time for learning.

We do what we can to help the children relax and do their best. In an increasingly data-driven culture, good test-taking habits will serve the children well for the rest of their educational careers. The children treasure our testing traditions. We begin the morning with a snack and journal-writing.




Each child visits the restroom, and then we go for a quick jog/walk around the track to get the blood flowing.




Next, we gather our chapter books and water bottles and hunker down behind partitions for a long morning of silently sitting in rows, bubbling in answers. In between test sections, we take a break to stretch and breathe.

Two more days to go . . .