On standardized tests-- what/when do we learn?

It's another rainy/downpouring start to the week. This is another of those (lately, all of those) crazy, interrupted weeks at school. So be it. I've never been good at just rolling with it, but I know I have to. Our students in grades 9-11 have to do the PSAT Suite of Assessments as standardized data-gathering. Today, they will spend most of my first class of the day filling in administrative bubbles and doing the practice test. Then, Thursday, they will spend the entire morning doing the test, followed by early release from captivity. The seniors will spend that time cooped up with the expectation that they will work on something or other: college apps or some such (though many have done that and are already receiving their acceptance letters). I suspect most of them will just stay home. I would. 

My role on Thursday is to be the monitor in the 10th grade testing room. I'm not sure what that entails except troll around, make sure they aren't goofing off. I am not the official proctor, so I am not glued to the computer screen watching for kids who suddenly drop off the platform. All of this is computerized; no pencils. They will stay in the testing room except for scheduled snack breaks (they will be given water and cereal bars--gack), and, unless it's dire, they can't use the bathroom. So be it. 

Data points. The underpinnings of what is disconnected about education. Yes, we are mandated to do it. And yes, many of these kids just did a week of other standardized testing. What we know about education and the learning process runs counter to all this objective, normative testing, but here we are. The data will (they say) show us where deficits are in order to help us develop curriculum that will support and maybe even enhance the learning experience (yeah, buzz words). Well, I notice where the gaps and overlaps are when I give students assignments that relate to the core standards and outcomes, the competencies we are measuring. But the word of a teacher is nothing compared to the computer's results. The College Board is like The Great and Powerful Oz. It is a business, and they hold the monopoly on student assessments. Not all students take the test seriously, so the data is already skewed, right? Or there's a computer glitch, and it all gets compromised. Ignore that man behind the curtain...

That all said, we'll fit in some actual learning and work around this edu-biz. And I have a guest speaker coming again this week, this time only for the creative writing kids. We are working on fiction elements, and it'll be nice to have a published fiction author come to class. It's not my forte, so I bow to the expert in this case! 

And I have to start the next poetry book review this week; I have a solid deadline and I'm still puzzled about what to say in this essay. The book is a mystery to me; the poems rampage down the page, and the reader is along for the ride. I feel overwhelmed and a little disoriented much of the time, left with emotion but not a whole lot understanding. It's hard to put my feet down in most of the poems, and I'm struggling with that. I'm pretty damned sure no standardized test would help with this conundrum. Real-life can't be measured with bubbles.

At any rate, it's Monday, and I have hot coffee and a warm pellet stove. I'll be loathe to leave both of them to wander out into the wetness, but I must.

Have a good day, and stay dry!

C