A Parent's Challenge on Testing

Often times when giving a "test", I do not set time limits. Quick assessments can lend its self to time restrictions because they are usually the type of thing that you either know or you don't. Having a child stare at the page for three hours will not get you anywhere. But, for detailed tests where a child will need to figure things out and apply problem solving techniques (ie. Math), I do not see the need to set a time limit. However, this is much easier for me because I am an elementary school teacher and my subjects are not disrupted by bells ringing and class changes. So, I will focus my blog on the amount of time given on state mandated tests.

Here is my scenario: It is a month before state testing and I have begun to time their writing assignments. A parent is not pleased with the 25 minute time allotted to complete a narrative fiction story.

My defense: Throughout the year we have been studying and practicing different techniques to push our thinking when writing. The children have been given rubrics to help understand what is expected of them in their writing. A strong focus on reading (independent, and modeled) has been a great example to the students of what good writing is.
Slowly throughout the year I have been weaning the children off of me as a dependent during their writing. We began the year by dissecting their stories over a week long period. During this time we focused on story development, prewriting activities, entertaining beginnings, varying sentence structure, sequencing a story to a finish, and editing techniques that can be applied. Each month the writing process has become more independent, and less teacher driven.

Many times the state mandated test is given in March, but luckily we are given until May this year. During one writing portion of the test, the children will only be given 25 minutes to complete a narrative fiction story. Although I agree that that is a very small amount of time to complete a final draft, I will explain to the parent what the test assessors are looking for. They are looking for the creativity needed to make a story interesting. A child can still score well with spelling mistakes and errors in their punctuation. They want a story that can be read in two minutes and addresses the key ideas that we have been focusing in on during the school year. They want to be entertained by the piece and not bored by run on ideas that never end and repetitive sentences.

Finally, I will explain to the parent that my job as a third grade teacher is to help their child to become more independent in their work. Although much of their lessons are assisted in the beginning of the year, high expectations are being set for them that must follow them through their education. The ability to perform with confidence and ease is necessary in order to complete the tasks given to them under the state testing time restrictions.