At what age did your MCPS student start taking tests?

[Anonymous]

Not standardized tests but tests on class material where they needed to study at home. DS1 had spelling quizzes in 3rd grade (he’s now in 4th) but otherwise no tests where he is expected to study at home. My brother (in another state) was telling me about helping my 2nd grade nephew study for a vocabulary test. Just curious about other MCPS experiences and strengths/weaknesses of both approaches.

[Anonymous]

6th grade for language and science.

[Anonymous]

My 4th grader is studying for her spelling quiz for the first time, ever.

[Anonymous]

DC got Math quizzes for the first time last year in 4th grade. It was an older teacher who actually wrote out the problems! AND we got them back, graded, to see where DD has made mistakes. It was phenomenal!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC got Math quizzes for the first time last year in 4th grade. It was an older teacher who actually wrote out the problems! AND we got them back, graded, to see where DD has made mistakes. It was phenomenal!!

Incredible that this is noteworthy. I would consider this the bare minimum of what a teacher is supposed to do. What a pathetic state of affairs.

[Anonymous]

My fifth grader in a CES had spelling quizzes in earlier years but aside from that has only once been told or had the need to study at home for a quiz (social studies). They do have graded assessments in class ("exit cards") but no big tests/quizzes that require review and studying at home. I'm assuming that will change in middle school.

[Anonymous]

We have had spelling tests since first grade. But they don’t make a huge deal out of them or emphasize studying. They give them little activities to choose from that get them writing the words over a bunch of times. My 4th grader has spelling and vocabulary tests with the same set of words for both. For math they do “exit cards” and other graded quizzes, but have not been explicitly assigned to study for them. Same with science/social studies for my fourth grader. No studying at home but definitely they take quizzes.

[Anonymous]

My kids had spelling tests in 3rd grade - really regular tests that were pretty challenging (asking for Latin and Greek roots etc). Then they sort of phased that out. They don't even have regular spelling tests in 6th grade now. MCPS W cluster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids had spelling tests in 3rd grade - really regular tests that were pretty challenging (asking for Latin and Greek roots etc). Then they sort of phased that out. They don't even have regular spelling tests in 6th grade now. MCPS W cluster.

Is it ever typical to have spelling tests in 6th grade? I don't remember having spelling tests past 4th grade.

[Anonymous]

Middle school. They used to have tests in ES, but did away with them when 2.0 was implemented.

[Anonymous]

Depends on what you mean by test. My dd has "Exit Cards" in 4/5 math (4th grade). She may have had them before but I didn't notice.

I asked my older kids what is meant by Learning Check, Exit Card, etc. and they said they are all tests, but the school and MCPS have rules related to tests (on which days they can be administered, no pop quizzes, etc) and so teachers use different names for the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Does the CAT exist anymore?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on what you mean by test. My dd has "Exit Cards" in 4/5 math (4th grade). She may have had them before but I didn't notice.

I asked my older kids what is meant by Learning Check, Exit Card, etc. and they said they are all tests, but the school and MCPS have rules related to tests (on which days they can be administered, no pop quizzes, etc) and so teachers use different names for the same thing.

An exit card isn't exactly a test or quiz. It's a couple questions based upon the day's lesson to see if the kids are getting it. They're more for the teacher than the student.

[Anonymous]

First grade at the Bethesda Elementary school, vocab words. I'm think there were exit cards as well. We weren't there for K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on what you mean by test. My dd has "Exit Cards" in 4/5 math (4th grade). She may have had them before but I didn't notice.

I asked my older kids what is meant by Learning Check, Exit Card, etc. and they said they are all tests, but the school and MCPS have rules related to tests (on which days they can be administered, no pop quizzes, etc) and so teachers use different names for the same thing.

An exit card isn't exactly a test or quiz. It's a couple questions based upon the day's lesson to see if the kids are getting it. They're more for the teacher than the student.

But aren't all tests/quizzes to see if the kids get it? Whether they are for the teacher or the student depends on whether you place the responsibility for the child's learning on the teacher or the student. I don't see how one is more for the teacher and the other more for the student. And I think my kids do Exit Cards at the end of a unit, similar to a unit test. I don't think they do the Exit Cards after just one lesson.