did your kids school have a pep rally for the DC CAS?

[Anonymous]

just wondering if was a dcps thing, or a school thing?

[Anonymous]

Ours did.

[Anonymous]

extra recess, extra food.

[Anonymous]

Our charter school did. And they were allowed to wear jeans and the tie-dyed shirts they made earlier in the week instead of uniforms.

[Anonymous]

No, but when my son came into my bedroom on Monday morning, I noticed he was wearing the clothes he had on Sunday night (t-shirt and sweat pants.) DH had put him to bed and thought they were pjs. When I asked why he slept in his clothes, he said, "I hoped that if I didn't change into my pajamas, it would mean that it was still Sunday and I wasn't another day closer to taking the DC-CAS!" He's 10! Still laughing over that one!

However, he was all business this morning.

I'd be interested in hearing what your kids say about the DC-CAS. We have 2 weeks. Please post!

[Anonymous]

Mine did. He thought it was silly. All this testing and test prep is why we're calling it quits with DCPS for middle school.

[Anonymous]

Must have been some pretty boring reading selections. Put my 5th grader to sleep in the middle of the test.

[Anonymous]

Ours didn't. My 4th grader is completely unfazed about it all.

[Anonymous]

My 4th grader said it was easy, that the practice tests were harder. She was delighted to get chocolate in between the two sub-tests.

[Anonymous]

My kindergartner says he can't wait to take the DCCAS in 3rd grade. In pre-s he came home rapping about the DCCAS. We have T-shirts, pep rallies, you name it. It's nutso.

[Anonymous]

My kid is allowed to chew gum during the test.

[Anonymous]

Our previous DCPS school did. I thought it increased my DC's anxiety. This year DC is at Washington Latin. No pep rally. So far we have seen no anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is allowed to chew gum during the test.

I've heard that chewing gum can actually help some kids stay focused. I know it helps me at work - as long as it's sugarless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kindergartner says he can't wait to take the DCCAS in 3rd grade. In pre-s he came home rapping about the DCCAS. We have T-shirts, pep rallies, you name it. It's nutso.

Apparently my PreK had a rally . She came home talking sing a song about DCCAS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:just wondering if was a dcps thing, or a school thing?

There was one last year--I don't know--it all feels so bizarre for kids to have this pressure. But teachers have to be measured by some kind of objective standard and the test seems like a fair one. I just would implore parents not to talk about the ramifications for test score performance on their teacher's and administrator's jobs. It's really not appropriate for kids to have that type of info.

Let them have healthy competitive jockeying to study hard and do well during the school year. Establish a school culture where academic success is valued NOT DENIGRATED. If you have been engaging your kids with positive reinforcement all year every day (since last August!) about what they are learning at school and in the world around them, they will make progress on this test. But if they have a bad day or series of days--and the scores are not what they could be: please, don't sweat it. It is just ONE measure of their learning.

Easier said than done. I have 3 kids and this is our 3rd year with it. But every year it gets better.