ONE OF THE REASONS THAT I HATE STANDARDIZED TESTING



About five years ago, my state decided to not use the HSPA (High School Proficiency Assessment) any longer as the required test to determine that students have met the minimal requirements for graduation. This test assessed their knowledge of basic skills in reading, writing, and math. They replaced that test with PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College & Careers). Previously, when students did not pass HSPA, they were 1) required to take it again and 2) given the opportunity to complete the alternative option which was to complete several tasks after school or in the morning to build a portfolio to prove that they have mastered the skills needed to graduate. Now, our students are given more options. To meet the testing requirement for graduation they must take and pass or meet a minimum score on the PARCC, ACT, or SAT.
 
Here’s my complaint. The seniors at my school haven’t met any of these requirements. They protested the PARCC, because boo to Common Core, and never took the ACT or SAT because they hadn’t considered college yet. It’s not that they didn’t want to go, students just don’t think that far ahead into the future. So now here they are, in senior year, passing all their classes, yet ineligible to graduate because they have not met the testing requirement.

So, what do we do? We use the alternate process, the PARCC Appeal portfolio, to prove that they’ve mastered the skills. However, our lazy students want us to do all the work. In the past, students stayed after school or came early before the day began. The administrators felt that this would not be successful this year because the students would not come and the portfolios would never get done because, hey, if we don’t push them across the stage in June our graduation rates will drop drastically. Right? This bothers me to my core because if the students and parents are aware of what’s at stake, they should be willing to complete the process whenever it is available. Instead, I have to work with them during my instruction time.

Now here’s my dilemma. Although most of the students need to complete this process, not all of them do, so I am tasked with the challenge of multitasking. I must still follow the pacing guide that the district gave us to get through the curriculum while working with the students who need to complete portfolios at the same time. Lucky me. This was annoying to say the least. Trying to get the PARCC kids to complete their portfolios while still maintaining the workload for the class was extremely stressful. In addition to that, I had to edit their writing before it could be submitted for the portfolio. This in itself was an arduous process because I struggled to maintain my student grades for the course because I too was prioritizing the PARCC portfolios. Needless to say, it was a nightmare.

For the most part the process is now completed and has been for about two weeks. I have decided that I am only grading one assignment per week for the final marking period. I am so tired and I don’t want to see another essay for the rest of my life (even though I just assigned one that the instructional pacing guide requires). Since I have seniors, I can get away with this because it is prom season and there will be a lot of activities planned for them as it gets warmer, so they will be pulled out of class frequently. I’ve worked so tirelessly over the last ten weeks. I believe that I deserve it.

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