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Christopher is upstairs screaming and crying — I have also heard the f-word — because I've missed my train to the city and thus will be home tonight & able to make him STUDY FOR THE STATE TEST.

This is occasion for screaming, crying, and f-wording because he is the ONLY child in the ENTIRE SCHOOL who is being FORCED to STUDY FOR THE STATE TEST.

That, I believe.

There's no reason a parent should do what I'm doing unless he or she wants to. [update 6-16-06: wrong] Even if he or she did want to, I'm not sure most parents could, on short notice, put together a STUDY FOR THE STATE TEST PROGRAM.

The reason I can do it is that I've spent the past 4 months of my life a) figuring out what 'pre-algebra' is, and b) assembling a superb collection of 'pre-algebra' worksheets, if I do say so myself.

(Most of them are linked on the Our Favorite Math Supplements for Kids page on the sidebar.)^*

From there it was a reasonably short hop to figuring out the state test.

My point: I'm possibly the only parent in all of Irvington — apart from the 6th grade parent who actually is a math teacher in real life — who's in a position to do what I'm doing. You can be a genius at math, you can work in a math-related profession; that doesn't mean you're going to know what's in 'pre-algebra' or what's going to be covered in a brand-new, never-before-administered, annual 6th grade state assessment.

do you see steam coming out of my ears?

The reason I missed my train is that I had to take Christopher & his friend M. to tennis.

In the car they both went nuts over the fact that Christopher is being FORCED TO STUDY FOR THE STATE TEST. They were horrid.

Both boys say, and I believe them, that virtually every single teacher they have — they named names — has told them they shouldn't study for the state test because they don't know what will be on it.

I'm furious.

I'm so furious I'm going to be writing a non-furious email to the principal when I calm down. [update 6-16-06: nope, didn't do it]

The message being given to Christopher, which directly contradicts the message we are giving him at home, is:

we don't know what's on the test; it's random; it's capricious; it's pointless

the only reason to study for a test is to get a good grade

there is no intrinsic value in study & learning

let's start with 'we don't know what's going to be on the test'

4 problems:

Number one, it is false. The state has content standards; the schools know what they are.

Number two, unless you're taking an open-book test no one ever knows what's going to be on the test.

Number three, all of the teachers have done extensive test prep all year long. The kids take one 'sample test' after another; Ms. Kahl's class has done nothing but take sample tests and do practice test problems for the past two weeks. If you shouldn't study for the test, you certainly shouldn't spend taxpayer money on Top Secret Glencoe Diagnose - Prescribe - Practice test prep workbooks.

Number four, politics. Why do we have NCLB? We have NCLB because the schools are not doing their jobs. We have NCLB because black and Hispanic children graduate from high school functioning at an 8th grade level compared to white kids, whose level is already low compared to the rest of the world. If you want to talk to the kids about The State Test, tell them the truth.

'the only reason to study for a test is to get a good grade'

Appalling.

Is the content being tested on the state test worth knowing or not?

If it's worth knowing, it's worth studying.

'there is no intrinsic value in study and learning'

Ditto.

paying the school to make my job harder

Ed and I are bookish people. Two Ph.D.s, 5 published books between us, etc.

We believe in study and learning. We are the 'lifelong learners' it is the mission of IUFSD to create (SEE: 4th paragraph from the bottom).

At home we are trying to teach Christopher that hard work is good, going above and beyond what's called for is good, learning is good.

Why are we studying for the state test when nobody else is studying for the state test?

Because we can.

Because we have an opportunity.

Because we believe 6th grade mathematics is important and we want Christopher to master it.

That's what we tell Christopher.

Then he goes to school and the grownups there tell him not to study for the test because he doesn't know what will be on it.

And after that we have screaming, we have the F-word, we have eye-rolling and hectoring even from Christopher's friends.

vignette

"People think you're crazy, Mom. Do you know that?"^*

Won't be the first time.

update from Carolyn

This is the truth:

I think what you're seeing here echoes a general sentiment among teachers (here at least) that the CSAPs (the CO state equivalent) are capricious if not malevolent, and that they have no clear control over the test's outcome for kids, either as individual or in groups. I think they feel the whole exercise is doomed to failure.

and from Doug!

Yeah. Of course it's always the same schools that get the good scores and the same schools that get the bad scores. (Bar a few schools getting better or worse each year.)
Perhaps the tests are delivered in a Chevrolet Caprice?

It took me a couple of minutes to get that one —

^* I've got the two most important resources at this particular link, but do a search on the entire page if you're looking for material; I'm afraid some of the stuff may be scattered around in various categories.

^*'crazy' meaning: crazy math-tutoring mom, crazy math-test-studying mom, etc. In the same vein as homework Nazi

don't study for the test
news from nowhere (placement in accelerated science)
don't study for the test part 2

-- CatherineJohnson - 08 Mar 2006

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