Because I am partially working in a 7th grade math classroom this year I supported the proctoring of the state exam yesterday. While I have done this type of thing for high school ELA regents exams and the PSAT/SAT before I wondered what would feel different about doing it for younger students. I was placed in a room with students who could have the test read aloud so it was a smaller group.
As expected, it was somewhat as boring as proctoring other tests. Mostly, the students were just working away after I read some introductory instructions. What was fascinating to me was the amount of instructions dedicated to restricting electronic devices (my guess is around 35% of what I read had to do with that). We collected student devices (as we always do) and returned them at the end of the test. I had one student who read slower than the others (I learned later he probably was reading at a 1st grade level) so I read most of the passages to him and he answered the questions as best he could.
These tests usually take six days of second semester but this year are taking only four. Even with that, it seems relatively unnecessary to me. If the purpose is to help teachers be aware of their student's needs, we already knew going in what the students were going to have trouble with. On the parental side, I think it would be more useful to have teachers spend time working with students instead of administering a test that is biased and won't necessarily give information the parents don't already know. On the student side it just seems like a task to complete when they may rather be in their classrooms.
There is an argument to be made that students need to 'practice the skill of standardized testing' because it exists in our world. I think that could be accomplished in the classroom instead of disrupting the entire schedule. During these days, only some students take the test and the rest are in their regular classes. But, they cannot learn new material because that would unfairly affect the kids in the testing rooms. They also cannot run 'clubs' or some such because that would be unfair to the students who are testing as well.
In summary, proctoring this exam confirmed what I thought already: it would be more useful to teach the students than take these exams, especially this year.
As expected, it was somewhat as boring as proctoring other tests. Mostly, the students were just working away after I read some introductory instructions. What was fascinating to me was the amount of instructions dedicated to restricting electronic devices (my guess is around 35% of what I read had to do with that). We collected student devices (as we always do) and returned them at the end of the test. I had one student who read slower than the others (I learned later he probably was reading at a 1st grade level) so I read most of the passages to him and he answered the questions as best he could.
These tests usually take six days of second semester but this year are taking only four. Even with that, it seems relatively unnecessary to me. If the purpose is to help teachers be aware of their student's needs, we already knew going in what the students were going to have trouble with. On the parental side, I think it would be more useful to have teachers spend time working with students instead of administering a test that is biased and won't necessarily give information the parents don't already know. On the student side it just seems like a task to complete when they may rather be in their classrooms.
There is an argument to be made that students need to 'practice the skill of standardized testing' because it exists in our world. I think that could be accomplished in the classroom instead of disrupting the entire schedule. During these days, only some students take the test and the rest are in their regular classes. But, they cannot learn new material because that would unfairly affect the kids in the testing rooms. They also cannot run 'clubs' or some such because that would be unfair to the students who are testing as well.
In summary, proctoring this exam confirmed what I thought already: it would be more useful to teach the students than take these exams, especially this year.
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