Comments on: How should Georgia monitor CRCT testing?

By: MBW

MBW — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:16:51 +0000

You need impartial monitors who do not have a stake in the test results.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:11:56 +0000

Just once I would love to hear what DOE can do instead of what they cannot. Test was over 2 months ago and we still do not know how individual schools have done. Why don’t they release tests like other states? It would also be nice to have people use their real name and career choice when posting their comments. I wonder how long some of you would last in a classroom. I wonder how many that post comments could actually pass the CRCT. Would be interesting. I wonder if any posters have cheated on their income taxes. Speed limits. Business practices. The way most talk they don’t believe anyone has any integrity or qualifications except the person they look at in the mirror.

By: GA Education

GA Education — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:37:31 +0000

All this is brought to light ofter the 2008 testing cycle…it will be very interesting to note what happens after this past year’s (2009) test scores are compared to last year. I’d be willing to BET that there are administrators shaking in their boots with all this coverage. I KNOW FOR A FACT that a school that ranked in the 65th percentile last year (with a different principal) ranks in the 80th percentile for the 2009 CRCT. Hmmmm. There are teachers at this school who are appalled at the cheating that went on this year.

We’ll see if anyone picks up on this drastic improvement at this school or any others that show MARKED, UNREALISTIC improvement.

Many of you are discussing ways to keep the kids from cheating when I see the problem being administrators cheating AFTER the tests are collected from the kids. So it’s not the kids cheating so much as it is the administrators cheating. Kids are pretty much unaware of the AYP or Target requirements.

By: Talking, not walking

Talking, not walking — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:14:52 +0000

I would love for You’re kidding, right? to walk the walk and actually do what is claimed to be so easy, but I can’t in good faith subject a group of students to the sight of YKR, balled up in a fetal position under the teacher’s desk, in a puddle of urine, sobbing uncontrollably, “It really isn’t the teachers. It really IS the discipline.”

By: Ideas

Ideas — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:59:04 +0000

Better yet, just get rid of NCLB.

By: Ideas

Ideas — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:58:10 +0000

I thought this blog was about ideas for testing monitoring. Here is one. Have each section of the test in a separate booklet so once the reading portion is taken, they are immediately picked up by an outside person and turned in. The same for each content area. Also, have outside moderators come in and monitor testing. Also, have cameras located on the testing secured site at all times, if it is a testing closet where materials are stored or whatever, so you can clearly see who has access at all times. Swap principals and APS on testing days to do testing for other schools but also send in outside monitors.

By: concerned teacher

concerned teacher — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:22:25 +0000

Please stop responding to YKR. If the only solution to the problem of having a difficult job is to quit, we don’t need his/her advice. Do teachers complain? You bet we do. Then, we get up the next day and work just as hard or harder than we did the day before. At least I do, and if people have any sort of work ethic at all, they do at their jobs (teachers or not). The question is about monitoring the test. I agree that having someone from outside the school is a good idea but could get very expensive. Start with the schools where we know there are problems. Maybe the teachers and admins could use the day to go through some ethics training (or writing letters to Congress to have NCLB repealed).

By: You're kidding, right?

You're kidding, right? — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:38:42 +0000

Well, good luck, Maisy. I leave you feeling lucky — I really like my job – no complaints whatsoever. You have made me appreciate that.

By: Veteran teacher

Veteran teacher — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:22:05 +0000

You’re kidding, one flaw in your logic. And it is the same flaw many outside of education do not recognize especially the politicians. You are assuming that every child that comes to school does his/her best and works every minute of every day. Personally, I have activities going on every minute of every class period. I am popular, and parents lobby to have their kids in my class. And it is not because I am perceived as “easy”, either. However, I have to report that the many students do as little as possible to get a passing grade. Also, anyone that believes that all students try their best on even high stakes tests like the CRCT and EOCT have not proctored a test lately. I have routinely seen students answer every question on the test in less than 10 minutes.

I can teach until I drop. I can offer a world-class curriculum. I can encourage, punish, or do whatever you wish, but I have no magic that makes a student follow through on their part of the learning. Many do not want to hear this, but I used to have only one or two slack students per class. Now it is not unusual to have half the class barely doing anything. I do not “allow” this to happen. The administration is VERY supportive, and we have regular contact with parents. We take action on those that do not work, and we all spend hours doing interventions.

Please hear this loud and clear: We have to teach the students that are sent to us. The vast number of teachers I work with put in the time and effort above and beyond the call of duty to teach kids every day. If all kids would give us their best effort the majority of the time, there would be no negativity associated with test scores, and the vast majority of students WOULD be on grade level.

If you don’t believe me, extrapolate the test data. Check the standardized test scores of all students who give their best effort. Regardless of ability, you will find that these students will have the highest standardized test scores. How do we know who has given their best effort the entire year? Ask the teacher of the class. They will know!! I challenge you, compare the standardized scores of those that work versus those that do not.

Now, if any of our fellow bloggers know how to make every student do their best on all my activities and on the standardized tests, please let me and everyone else know. I will admit I don’t know the answer, and it is not for lack of trying!!

By: Maisy

Maisy — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:36:04 +0000

YKR – Once again, you’re issuing cover-all, blanket statements and making assumptions. I didn’t say it was “so bloody bad” and I wouldn’t call what I described as “abuses.” It’s just part of the job; I deal with it and search for ways to handle it better next time. The extreme, all-or-nothing statements just frustrate me, especially when it’s evident that they come from someone who doesn’t fully comprehend the complexities of job. I would never presume to make judgments about your or the job you do – I don’t even know you.

I enjoy what I do, I “do my job,” as you urged me to do, and I don’t whine (even though you might disagree with that). I just gave you an anecdote to offset the blanket statement you made about behavior problems being tied to student frustration. I completely agree with you that it’s not that hard to maintain a decent quality of grade-level learning. I believe I did a pretty good job of that this year. It is difficult (and I’m sure you can talk to some of those teachers in your family to verify this) that, without intensive, targeted, long-term, one-on-one instruction, it is nearly impossible to bring up, in one year, a student who is 6 or 7 grade levels behind and who just doesn’t have the learning capacity that other students have. That may not be politically correct to say, but it is the cold, hard truth. Both instances that I mentioned previously are not the norm in my school, but those kinds of students are there, and they do make an impact on the classroom environment. These are legitimate teacher concerns.

I also completely agree with you that more money is not the answer. Most teachers that I know are not big proponents of testing and consultants. These are things that are thrown at us by administrators, whether we want them or not.