Yes, I get it, but you know how teenagers can become oppositional when they perceive having to waste a lot of time? And not motivation to do something for the school, when the school is not able to accommodate them appropriately. (I get why: resources, logistics. But it's not obvious to a teenager who is fed up.) |
You could fix the MS/HS problem by making DC CAPE count towards kids grades. That's what they do with Regents in NYS and it works. |
Could also emulate NYS and offer a better DC CAPE diploma that you have to pass X number of DC CAPE tests to pass. Then medium-ish students would take it seriously and scores would be more reflective of actual knowledge at schools like J-R where huge numbers of college bound kids blow it off. |
About which part? |
My kids school is currently also without AC. Taking 90 minute tests in 90 degree rooms is not a reasonable measure of anything |
It’d be great if you could make it required to pass on kids to the next grade in elementary school. I’m so tired of telling 5th grade parents their behavior and attendance problem kid is still on a kindergarten level all year then getting a panicked text the week before promotion asking if they are being promoted. It’s literally all some parents seem to care about. |
Very interesting take. I grew up in a working class area of NY state, and we did have a divide of Regents vs. Non regents kids -- about half the kids who knew from the start that they were not college bound. |
This argument makes no sense to me. There is no educational benefit to the actual students being subjected to the test. I'm not trying to harm my kid's school, but I also don't want to harm my kid by forcing him to sit for hours upon hours of testing knowing that nobody is going to look at his individual scores and use them to help him. |
You don’t want to know how your kid compares to other kids, if your kid is at or above grade level, and how your kid’s school compares to other schools? Your kid is being “harmed” by taking a standardized test? Really? Smh |
My school can’t keep teachers in testing grades because the scores bring down their rating. I moved out of a test scores included position years ago because kids were just submitting and now there’s a mediocre teacher in that role. |
I appreciate testing for both me and the school and think learning to test is an important skill. BUT, entirely agree. 3 days total with a couple hours a day should be plenty sufficient to assess basic math and ELA skills. |
Yep, I agree. If schools are being held accountable, if teachers are being held accountable, then students/parents should also be held accountable. Maybe the scores would increase if everyone took is more seriously especially knowing there would be consequences. |
Cape disrupted 7 school days for my 9th grader. 3 for English, 2 for math and 2 for bio. Truly ridiculous. Plus they still need to take MAP end of year testing for bio and math plus a different standardized test for English later this month (tests teachers actually see the scores of immediately). |
And don’t forget that high schoolers also have AP exams. Which would you take seriously if you were a 10th grader? |
dp: When the results show up 6 months later, I don't feel like they tell me a whole lot. |