How do parents feel about PIA test?

[Anonymous]

This week, most students are taking the Paced Interim Assessments. I have mixed feelings, about the high pressure put on students, teachers and parents for a test that I personally feel is inadequate. Teaching for the test is becoming mind numbing. There are several school districts in the US that are going away from these forms of assessments. I think a test to measure where a child is fine, but for it to be" the end all, to be all" takes away from any creativity.

[Anonymous]

i must have missed the memo. i do not feel that our school is teaching to the test or doing extensive test prep.

what grades are getting them?

[Anonymous]

In elementary school 2nd through 5th.

I believe students take the PIA once every quarter. This is the third test.

[Anonymous]

Yes, my 5th grade child has no desire to go to school this week. It definitely destroys a love of learning at our house.

[Anonymous]

My second grader is scared he won't get to go to third grade if he can't pass.

The bigger issue is that teachers have told me they think it's a waste of time and disruptive. No homework for the week just when they introduced fractions.

Minor point. Why do they have to bring their own pencils?

[Anonymous]

Maybe he shouldn't go to 3rd grade if he can't pass . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe he shouldn't go to 3rd grade if he can't pass . . .

That's a good one... Just what society needs, 7 year olds with testing anxiety.

Does Kaplan offer DC-CAS tests?

[Anonymous]

I really dislike the amount of time schools spend on teaching to the test. I have a kid (who has always scored in the proficient and advanced ranges) who has always had a lot of anxiety around these exams. I feel really badly for your second grader. When my anxious kid had to start standardized testing it began in 3rd. DC also had anxiety about not advancing to the next grade. It has never been an issue and DC is in 7th grade.

[Anonymous]

This is my son's first year taking the tests (he's in 2nd grade). I'm pretty certain DC is doing this just to see how students will do on the DC-CAS, not because they want to adjust learning/reteach, etc. after the test is taken because teachers have to move on to the next standards in the the scope and sequence. (Maybe a little to get students to get used to testing as well, but that's about it.)

Also some of the questions seem pretty strange and poorly developed looking at the response sheets I've received after each test.

Gone are the days when kids just took a test in May and called it a day.

[Anonymous]

The reading portion is very convoluted. You have 4 answers, two are totally wrong and the other two are close to being correct. Pick the best right answer. I have asked various parents to give me their answer to the reading homework that is associated with PIA, they are split with which answer is really correct.

[Anonymous]

There are 5 PIA tests, given every 9 weeks at the end of each unit, except during the DC CAS test.

[Anonymous]

Teacher here. I tell the kids that the point of the test it to make sure I'm doing a good job teaching them what they are supposed to know. So just relax and do your best.

I agree the PIA is poorly worded at times.

[Anonymous]

Is this just DCPS or the charters too?

[Anonymous]

Well, I'm not sure what it measures or what the results mean for the school, but I do know that it means my second grader can barely eat breakfast the morning of the test because he is so scared he won't know the right answers.

It makes me sick that he is developing test-taking anxiety at the age of 8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. I tell the kids that the point of the test it to make sure I'm doing a good job teaching them what they are supposed to know. So just relax and do your best.

I agree the PIA is poorly worded at times.

We all know little kids want to please adults. It's a lot to ask them not to personalize something when they get notes home, PA announcements, and posters saying get a good night's sleep and eat breakfast focused only around testing days. Like these are the only days that matter.

I have no problem teaching to a test so long as it's a worthwhile test and teachers can use results to help kids. Testing at young ages for the sake of adults' bonuses and NCLB is a perverse incentive. Our WoTP school is now trying to sell parents on thinking it makes a difference if our kids go from proficient to advanced on the tests because of some arbitrary DCPS goals. But they haven't allocated resources to this. I swear they think educated and/or involved parents will jump through that hoop with private tutoring and at-home supplementing if we think it ups the odds of getting into an Ivy. That would free up the school to focus on the kids who tested just on the border of proficient.

It would be tempting to keep a "subgroup" kid up all night before a test just so he could get a little more attention between PIAs and magically show improvement in his achievement by the end of the year.

Whatever happened to pop quizzes? In the olden days, a teacher would spring quickfire tests on us at the drop of a hat and send it home that day. Red marks and all. I guess you'd call that an un-paced interim assessment.