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SeaStar
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| Posted: April 26 2013 at 1:15pm | IP Logged
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Ah... spring flowers and number two pencils. It's that time of year here for us, since our state requires a standardized test every year.
So here is how it went down here this time (using the CAT survey test for grades 2 and 4).
Ds- for the first time has a separate answer sheet and is not filling in the bubbles in his test booklet. This causes a major meltdown in the first minute of the test. He is not a boy who embraces change. 
Once I get him out from under the table, he commences to work in a painfully slow manner, taking extra care to fill in the right bubbles in the right columns AND to be sure he is getting every answer right. Double and triple checking. WHy? He has never been that concerned in the past.
I remind him there is a time limit for each section. This information is not received well. We limp on.
Dd- no problem here. We usually go out for lunch on test day and she remembers this from last year. CAT test completed in record time... I think she might have even read one or two of the questions. Every section ended with the question: Can we go get lunch now?
Can I just say I hate these tests?
I am only comforted by remembering a story that Mary told here a while ago about having her ds finish up his yearly test in a parking lot... I think that was in the homeschool confessions thread.
But then, again, I guess this is real learning in real life- for them and me.
If you gave any tests this year, how did it go at your house?
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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SallyT
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| Posted: April 26 2013 at 4:44pm | IP Logged
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I haven't done mine yet, but need to. We also use the CAT. My kids look on it as kind of a festive week, for reasons I don't fully understand -- maybe the novelty?
I too have a fourth-grade boy who will melt down over things like a separate test-bubble-answer-sheet-thingy, so I'm not particularly looking forward to that. He's also in that phase of taking FOR.EV.ER. to do anything. Also not looking forward to the timing aspect, though everyone is pretty used to the whole test MO by now, or should be.
I'm of two minds about the testing requirement. On the one hand, I don't mind *that* much. We take several days to do them, so that each child only does about 45 minutes of test per day, and that's it for school those days. So they like that. And it's kind of -- well, their friends in school do EOGs, and for my younger kids who have never been to school, there seems to be something sort of "real" and validating about taking these stupid tests that makes them take them surprisingly seriously, far more so than I do. I look on them mainly as practice for taking tests that will actually matter someday. And while I definitely take results with a major grain of salt, I do also take them into account when I'm thinking about next year.
On the other hand, what a waste of time. And I dislike that I worry more about scope and sequence, especially in math, than I ever did when we lived in a state with no testing requirement. Who wants to *homeschool* to a test, for crying out loud? Yet I find myself kind of doing that, or stressing out that I'm not doing it (as right now, we've dropped everything in math to concentrate on actually learning our multiplication tables, so there will be stuff on the test they've never done, which will freak out the 4th-grade boy).
So, that's everything that hasn't happened yet. Guess I should actually order the tests. :)
Sally
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SeaStar
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| Posted: April 26 2013 at 7:10pm | IP Logged
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Yes- it does effect what you think about teaching- especially in math.
Our freak-out problem was a long division problem beyond what we have tackled so far in our division studies. It was something like 36, 997 divided by 9.
Ds melted over this, even though I told him several times to expect a few problems that would be new to him. He insisted on multiplying every one of the possible answers by 9 to see which would be correct, and that took a chunk of time.
So then I was torn between commending his diligence and stressing over the time factor. What a waste of time and energy for both of us.
Not to mention money- $25 per test.
Last year it all went pretty smoothly, so I didn't mind it all so much. But this year was painful. I didn't anticipate the score sheet meltdown.
And it all makes me wonder when standardized tests first came about- what was the original purpose and who was behind it all.
I was somewhat taken aback a few years ago to learn that the growth charts that all doctors' offices use were based on the growth of about 50 or so kids in a midwestern state like Ohio in 1950. And that is what we use as our standard.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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pmeilaen
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| Posted: April 26 2013 at 9:52pm | IP Logged
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SeaStar wrote:
Our freak-out problem was a long division problem beyond what we have tackled so far in our division studies. It was something like 36, 997 divided by 9.
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My fourth grader did the PASS test, but we had a similar problem. When she saw it she simply couldn't remember how to do long division. She ended up skipping this one  . This was her first time doing a standardized test, so it was all new to her. I like to start out with the PASS test, which is untimed, and in grade 6 or 7 I switch to the CAT test.
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Eva
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mariB
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| Posted: April 27 2013 at 5:52am | IP Logged
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We've had melt downs in the past. When any of our kids come across something they don't know...say in math for instance...I tell them to guess. I remind them that if they haven't learned it, that's o.k. It's not their fault, it's mine. It seems to lighten the mood.
This is going to be our first year with one of our kids moving from the booklet to the fill in the bubble page.
I always remind the kids that these tests do not measure them as people and only touches on the amount of knowledge they have.
One of my kids was crazy for natural science. Read every field guide he could get his hands on. Studied bees and has beehives. But...the CAT test doesn't measure this.
Eva, I am going to look at the PASS test. It sounds like it would be better for the younger kids.
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roomintheheart
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| Posted: April 27 2013 at 6:29am | IP Logged
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We used the PASS test, too. I like that it doesn't have time limits, so that makes it easier to have more than one testing at a time.
I also really like the information you get when you get your scores. They compare your scores to public school & homeschooled kids, and also tell you areas that you should work on the next year. Good stuff.
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SallyT
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| Posted: April 27 2013 at 8:30am | IP Logged
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The PASS test does sound good. I don't think it's on our approved list, but this motivates me to re-check. Friends of mine use the Woodcock-Johnson, which sounds really cool and concretely helpful, but expensive and involved, so that we've never pursued that option.
I also stress to my kids that what we do, and who they are, are touched on only tangentially by the test. That does seem to help -- mostly they've regarded it as a kind of game. I also encourage them simply to skip things they don't know or can't reasonably guess quickly, since bogging down has been a problem for us in our everyday work. On the big tests like the SAT, guessing is discouraged (unless you can guess accurately by process of elimination), so we work on some of those strategies in this practice setting.
Sally
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pmeilaen
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| Posted: April 27 2013 at 8:47am | IP Logged
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SallyT wrote:
The PASS test does sound good. I don't think it's on our approved list, but this motivates me to re-check. Friends of mine use the Woodcock-Johnson, which sounds really cool and concretely helpful, but expensive and involved, so that we've never pursued that option.
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Sally, it's been approved in NC, at least according to the PASS test website.
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Eva
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SeaStar
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| Posted: April 27 2013 at 8:51am | IP Logged
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I ran into the problem of making ds more agitated by suggesting he just guess the answers to problems he didn't know.
I suggested that he first go through and answer all the ones he could in the section, then come back and work on the harder ones. If he still couldn't get them, then I suggested eliminating any obviously wrong answer and making his best guess.
But he is a persistent personality type, and this idea just upset him more.
Hmm.. I think the Raising Your Spirited Child lady needs to write The Spirited Guide to test taking.
I don't know if the PASS is accepted here, either, but I definitely going to look into it for next year.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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pmeilaen
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| Posted: April 27 2013 at 10:15am | IP Logged
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SeaStar wrote:
I ran into the problem of making ds more agitated by suggesting he just guess the answers to problems he didn't know.
I suggested that he first go through and answer all the ones he could in the section, then come back and work on the harder ones. If he still couldn't get them, then I suggested eliminating any obviously wrong answer and making his best guess.
But he is a persistent personality type, and this idea just upset him more.
Hmm.. I think the Raising Your Spirited Child lady needs to write The Spirited Guide to test taking.
I don't know if the PASS is accepted here, either, but I definitely going to look into it for next year. |
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I think when they are really little, they just want to do it right, they are not really able to "guess" answers based on eliminating obvious wrong ones. One good thing about the PASS test is that they tell the child to not answer the questions they don't know.
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Betsy
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| Posted: April 27 2013 at 2:48pm | IP Logged
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SallyT wrote:
| The PASS test does sound good. I don't think it's on our approved list, but this motivates me to re-check. |
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Sally, we use the PASS test. It's approved.  I also like how it tests what the kids know and allows for different levels in different subjects. The first time you take it you take a pre-test to determine what test level to take for each subject. So in my case we do a lower reading test but a higher math test. The PASS test doesn't start until 4th grade so we have done CAT for 1-3 and then move to the PASS test.
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pmeilaen
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Betsy wrote:
SallyT wrote:
| The PASS test does sound good. I don't think it's on our approved list, but this motivates me to re-check. |
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Sally, we use the PASS test. It's approved. I also like how it tests what the kids know and allows for different levels in different subjects. The first time you take it you take a pre-test to determine what test level to take for each subject. So in my case we do a lower reading test but a higher math test. The PASS test doesn't start until 4th grade so we have done CAT for 1-3 and then move to the PASS test.
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Good you mention the starting grade, Betsy. It's actually grade 3, though. I forgot to mention that I don't do any standardized testing prior to grade 4. It's not mandatory here in NY. Anyway, you can use the PASS test for grades 3-8.
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Betsy
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Eva, thanks for the corrections!
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SallyT
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And thank you, Betsy, for the information re the PASS test's approved status. I'll have to check it out!
Sally
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JennGM
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I'm glad you mentioned about the CAT separate sheets. So far my son really looks forward to the testing, looking at them as a personal fun challenge. But we haven't gotten to anything hard yet, either.
Wish the PASS test was approved to do in VA.
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Becky Parker
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I have two that started testing today. My 6th and 8th graders. I decided to hold off on the tests for my younger crowd. Ds in 3rd is just now getting the hang of reading so I already know he's behind. He'll be able to test next year though.
We aren't required to test, thank the Lord. I like to make sure I have the kids take them once they are reading though. It just assures me that we are on the right track with everything.
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pumpkinmom
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This is our first year for testing and we are going to use the PASS. I should get it this week and will do it next week or the week after. I'm not required to test and I have debated this for years. I just need to see what areas we are missing. The PASS looked like it was the test that would provide me with I'm looking to get out of the test and since it's not timed I thought my boys would be fine with it. I'm looking forward to getting it and getting it done.
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Standardized Test Season
