Reply to What does "teaching to the test" really mean?

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Reply to "What does "teaching to the test" really mean?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Trying to teach to the test doesn't actually work.  If you want to raise reading test scores, you actually need to teach more content starting in elementary school.  Dedicating most of the school day to reading and math is actually the problem rather than the solution. Reading comprehension is not actually a skill. In order to comprehend a text, students need vocabulary and background knowledge.  The best way to develop vocabulary and background knowledge is to teach content, including history geography, science, literature, art history and music appreciation. DCPS leaders still don't get it. So no matter how much time and effort is dedicated to skill building and test prep, the needle doesn't move.[/quote]

This 1000%.  People don’t understand reading comprehension is really just language comprehension, decoding, vocabulary and background knowledge.  You can’t teach a kid to comprehend a text they have no background or vocabulary knowledge of.   It’s the old Baseball study that has been proven valid time and time again. [/quote]

This curriculum, based on Common Core, is especially harmful to low-SES students.  Higher-SES students obtain a lot of vocabulary and background knowledge at home. The knowledge/vocabulary gap is not being addressed, which is one of the reasons why schools with largely SES students have higher test scores and why test scores continue to drop at middle and high schools.[/quote]

This.  You can clearly see the achievement gap from 3rd on and it continues to worsen as more time goes by in middle and high school.  By the time you hit high school, the percentage of kids on grade level is in the single digits at some if these schools.

Teaching to the test only gets you so far and some improvement in test scores at the low level elementary end.  But that is when the buck stops.  Without a solid foundational understanding and base content knowledge, there is no building blocks so it’s impossible to learn higher level math, reading comprehension/analysis, writing, science, etc…[/quote]

Is that achievement gap the result of Common Core or is it the result of a vast resource gap between high- and low-SES students? Is there an alternative curriculum that does a better job at closing that gap?

I ask because closing that gap is the stated goal of so many people within DCPS, that if there is something that works better than Common Core, you should share it with the district with your evidence because I think they'd be more interested than you seem to think.

Unfortunately, I am not aware of any magic curriculum that does a good job of addressing this gap, especially for the highest risk kids where truancy and behavioral problems often become the primary obstacles to learning starting in middle elementary. No curriculum is going to help a kid who isn't at school because their parents are not ensuring they go, or because they have been suspended for various behavioral issues.[/quote]

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