Testing

So, today was the first ever STAAR test for 8th Grade U.S. History.

 Here is what happened: In the past, Texas has given the TAKS test....well, first the TAAS and TABS, and then TAKS, I think, but you get the picture. And for the past four years that I have taught American History in Texas, our school has scored 95, 97, 98 99%. It was basically a memorization test, how many facts did your students learn? How much do they remember?

 Apparently, THEY wanted a test that checked for application of knowledge and critical thinking. The ubiquitous THEY. So this year, the test was changed from the TAKS to the STAAR. We have been warned about this test all year, since it first came to be discussed---it is harder. It has more questions. It makes students think through the questions. It will be harder. It will be timed. It is harder.

 Then THEY released some sample questions. Honestly, I looked at the 14 sample questions for history and could not remember the certification test questions asking some of that stuff, let alone asking it of a 13-14 year old. Showed it to the assistant principal, the academic dean, the principal....they agreed, hard.

 So we have worked all year long to get ready for this test. And today the students took it. And now I will be waiting till summer for the raw scores, waiting till next year when THEY decide on the cut scores, waiting to see how we are going to adjust, change, reinvent what we are doing so that the kids can be successful on the test now.

 I may be wrong, but I do not remember learning for a test in school---any year of school. I remember Miss Turner in first grade, letting me sit on her lap when my hair got pulled at recess. I remember Miss Rosenberry showing us how to paint sponge patterns on paper eggs in the spring. I remember working on the reading level tests and being happy when I made it to the purple level. I remember Mrs. McFarlane casting us all in Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and getting the part of Bob Cratchit, while my best friend Celeste got the part of Ebeneezer Scrooge, even though we were girls. I remember the light finally coming on in geometry in Mrs. Sperry's class and understanding how to complete a proof. I remember writing an expository essay in my 11th grade English class on Paul McCartney's death. I remember taking pictures in 8th grade for the yearbook, Mr. Misenti's reading the lunch menu in funny voices to us in 9th grade composition, Mr. Kitchen explaining that the Civil War depicted in Gone With the Wind was not accurate....despite my 16 year old brain thinking it was. But working toward performing on a test, no.

 In my perfect world, the school year would begin in my American history class with a pre-test that measured my students' prior knowledge of the topic. And then we would have an entire year of learning....focusing on what the students could gain from the many mistakes Americans have made, and how to keep from making those mistakes in the future. We would have debates about what a good citizen was, and how to tell if we were. We would learn from teaching others, rather than making sure we had covered everything from the test. I would have time to facilitate my hysterical historical Horse Parade, and the slavery story quilt, and fans for the reformers, and the Ultimate Inventor Award Show, and the Civil War Revels living history museum, and....

 And at the end of the year, the students would take a post-test, to see what knowledge they had gained. Parents and administrators and legislators and school board members and students could look at the results and know that the students had LEARNED FOR LIFE, not for a test.

 And I would be happy to be in someone's blog in 30 years, listed next to the lesson they remember most from me. Happy and proud.

 Because when it gets down to it, I do not remember any test score, but I remember those lessons from my schooling, and I remember enjoying learning.