Results of yesterday's standardized test: Ouch.
chotiius
In the state of Washington, all homeschooled children must be
assessed yearly, by a personal one-on-one assessment or via
standardized test. I signed my 3 up for it, and yesterday they took
their tests.
On a scale of 1-10, Emmaline scored 1 or 2 on everything. and only
got a 2 in one thing.
Ouch.
How can this bright kid, who I see learning things every day, who is
getting a better grasp on reading every day, have done so badly on
this basic test? Is it the reading thing? Because she doesn't really
read so much yet. She struggles.
I don't understand it. I was reading so much by her age, I had to be
dragged bodily out of books
I guess she can only improve by next year - she could hardly get
worse (the scale doesn't go down to 0) but oh, man. Talk about
staggering my sense of "doing all right byt the kids." (the twins
were closer to age-appropriate skill levels, but still on the low
end.)
When I first read the twin's reports, and they weren't 'excellent',
it reminded me of my first report card as a kindergartener. I could
read then - I knew perfectly well that 'S' meant 'satisfactory'
and 'E' meant 'Excellent' and I was pleased that I had done
satisfactorily. But my parents were all over me for not having
straight E's. I was held to this standard my whole school career.
So my internal reaction to my children's report being 'low average'
was a nasty shock. And that was before I even got the one today.
I don't understand it. And it's really shaking my faith that I can
do this. It's making me think I really *am* doing my children a
disservice. Help!
--angela
assessed yearly, by a personal one-on-one assessment or via
standardized test. I signed my 3 up for it, and yesterday they took
their tests.
On a scale of 1-10, Emmaline scored 1 or 2 on everything. and only
got a 2 in one thing.
Ouch.
How can this bright kid, who I see learning things every day, who is
getting a better grasp on reading every day, have done so badly on
this basic test? Is it the reading thing? Because she doesn't really
read so much yet. She struggles.
I don't understand it. I was reading so much by her age, I had to be
dragged bodily out of books
I guess she can only improve by next year - she could hardly get
worse (the scale doesn't go down to 0) but oh, man. Talk about
staggering my sense of "doing all right byt the kids." (the twins
were closer to age-appropriate skill levels, but still on the low
end.)
When I first read the twin's reports, and they weren't 'excellent',
it reminded me of my first report card as a kindergartener. I could
read then - I knew perfectly well that 'S' meant 'satisfactory'
and 'E' meant 'Excellent' and I was pleased that I had done
satisfactorily. But my parents were all over me for not having
straight E's. I was held to this standard my whole school career.
So my internal reaction to my children's report being 'low average'
was a nasty shock. And that was before I even got the one today.
I don't understand it. And it's really shaking my faith that I can
do this. It's making me think I really *am* doing my children a
disservice. Help!
--angela
[email protected]
Hi Angela. First things first, throw out those test scores! They are meaningless assessments of how your children scored on one day, at one time, in one place, on one set of meaningless-to-them questions. How is that relevant?
I'll bet if many of those test questions were asked in a different way, the results would have been different.
I'll bet if they were asked before or after a good night's sleep the results would have been different.
I'm certain that if your children had come up with any one of those questions themselves, the result would have been true learning.
Unschooling is not about helping children do well on school-based tests. It's about helping children do well in life.
--
~Mary
http://zenmommasgarden.blogspot.com/
"The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the
green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly
alive."
~Thich Nhat Hanh
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "chotiius" <res0vi4u@...>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I'll bet if many of those test questions were asked in a different way, the results would have been different.
I'll bet if they were asked before or after a good night's sleep the results would have been different.
I'm certain that if your children had come up with any one of those questions themselves, the result would have been true learning.
Unschooling is not about helping children do well on school-based tests. It's about helping children do well in life.
--
~Mary
http://zenmommasgarden.blogspot.com/
"The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the
green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly
alive."
~Thich Nhat Hanh
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "chotiius" <res0vi4u@...>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Saille
Amen Sister! The scope of learning for unschooling children is broad compaired to what is drilled into children's heads at public schools.
Standardized tests are designed to measure comprehension of a what is taught in school. Just because your child may not know those things doesn't mean she knows less than any school child or that she is less intelligent. We don't do "tests" or "grades" at my house so my children would definately be out of their element in this situation. It could be that your child was nervous because she hasn't been that kind of environment much or it could be that she has simply learned different things than what is taught in school. We don't put limits on what our children learn, the pace at which they learn, or how much time is spent on each subject.
As you can see, I'm not a big fan of standardized tests. My daughters went to school and took the kindergarten and second grade tests and did quite well, but they were no where near "on grade level" according to what I saw them doing every day. They both have significant vision problems that were not diagnosed until a year or so after the tests so I know they couldn't even see most of what was going on in the classroom, yet they passed those tests. I find this very curious.
We lived in Texas then and now live in Oregon were there are testing requirements for homeschoolers. Children are supossed to be tested in 3rd, 5th, 8th and 10th grades. However, the testing is the resposibility of the parents and the parents just have to keep the test scores on file incase they are requested by the ESD. I don't know anyone who has ever been asked to produce test scores. Children only have to score at the 15th percentile or better. If they score lower they just have to take the test again next year and show some improvement to continue hsing.
My ten year old will have to take the test next year and I am concerned about it. She doesn't read well, but is making progress on her own and is not stressed about it and does not feel judged or bad about herself because of it. I don't want to push her to try to make her live up to someone else expectations. I know that if I let her develop naturally she will get it when she is ready. I've seen this happen with my twelve year old. Two years ago she didn't read or spell well know she is ready chapter books on her own and following recipes to cook, etc. I so love the natural learning process and it feels so right for us. wouldn't it be great if the rest of the world leave us be?
Blessings,
Melissa
zenmomma@... wrote: Hi Angela. First things first, throw out those test scores! They are meaningless assessments of how your children scored on one day, at one time, in one place, on one set of meaningless-to-them questions. How is that relevant?
I'll bet if many of those test questions were asked in a different way, the results would have been different.
I'll bet if they were asked before or after a good night's sleep the results would have been different.
I'm certain that if your children had come up with any one of those questions themselves, the result would have been true learning.
Unschooling is not about helping children do well on school-based tests. It's about helping children do well in life.
--
~Mary
http://zenmommasgarden.blogspot.com/
"The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the
green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly
alive."
~Thich Nhat Hanh
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "chotiius" <res0vi4u@...>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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Standardized tests are designed to measure comprehension of a what is taught in school. Just because your child may not know those things doesn't mean she knows less than any school child or that she is less intelligent. We don't do "tests" or "grades" at my house so my children would definately be out of their element in this situation. It could be that your child was nervous because she hasn't been that kind of environment much or it could be that she has simply learned different things than what is taught in school. We don't put limits on what our children learn, the pace at which they learn, or how much time is spent on each subject.
As you can see, I'm not a big fan of standardized tests. My daughters went to school and took the kindergarten and second grade tests and did quite well, but they were no where near "on grade level" according to what I saw them doing every day. They both have significant vision problems that were not diagnosed until a year or so after the tests so I know they couldn't even see most of what was going on in the classroom, yet they passed those tests. I find this very curious.
We lived in Texas then and now live in Oregon were there are testing requirements for homeschoolers. Children are supossed to be tested in 3rd, 5th, 8th and 10th grades. However, the testing is the resposibility of the parents and the parents just have to keep the test scores on file incase they are requested by the ESD. I don't know anyone who has ever been asked to produce test scores. Children only have to score at the 15th percentile or better. If they score lower they just have to take the test again next year and show some improvement to continue hsing.
My ten year old will have to take the test next year and I am concerned about it. She doesn't read well, but is making progress on her own and is not stressed about it and does not feel judged or bad about herself because of it. I don't want to push her to try to make her live up to someone else expectations. I know that if I let her develop naturally she will get it when she is ready. I've seen this happen with my twelve year old. Two years ago she didn't read or spell well know she is ready chapter books on her own and following recipes to cook, etc. I so love the natural learning process and it feels so right for us. wouldn't it be great if the rest of the world leave us be?
Blessings,
Melissa
zenmomma@... wrote: Hi Angela. First things first, throw out those test scores! They are meaningless assessments of how your children scored on one day, at one time, in one place, on one set of meaningless-to-them questions. How is that relevant?
I'll bet if many of those test questions were asked in a different way, the results would have been different.
I'll bet if they were asked before or after a good night's sleep the results would have been different.
I'm certain that if your children had come up with any one of those questions themselves, the result would have been true learning.
Unschooling is not about helping children do well on school-based tests. It's about helping children do well in life.
--
~Mary
http://zenmommasgarden.blogspot.com/
"The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the
green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly
alive."
~Thich Nhat Hanh
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "chotiius" <res0vi4u@...>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
SPONSORED LINKS
Secondary school education Graduate school education Home school education Graduate school education online High school education Chicago school education
---------------------------------
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
Visit your group "unschoolingbasics" on the web.
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
Yahoo! Mail goes everywhere you do. Get it on your phone.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Pampered Chef Michelle
On 5/6/06, chotiius <res0vi4u@...> wrote:
able to continue homeschooling? If not then throw them over your shoulder
and move on. If so, then maybe next year before the tests help her prepare
for *test taking* which is a skill all on its own. Personally, I would find
out what other unschoolers in your area are doing and who they are using for
evaluations. Why evaluations over test taking? Test taking is not going to
be able to see your child and how bright she is. How her mind works, what
her scope of how the world works is. A test is only going to test how well
she can process information given to her at an overwhelming rate and how
well she takes tests (which really is all tests are looking at anyway!) I
would also see if your state has an umbrella school option that would
eliminate the need for either testing or evaluations. Evalutators are also
only going to be able to determine how much "brightness" your child has in a
short period of time? What if it is an "off day" for you dd? What if she
is tired or "woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" Are those truly fair
assessments of how well your child is doing? NO!!!!
When are all the states going to wake up and realize that homeschoolers
consistantly do better on testing and are accepting at a higher rate per
capita than their publicly schooled counterparts and leave us alone to do
what we are already doing so well? I say we have an "unschooling exodus"
and all unschoolers move to one state and take over. Then we can form our
own nation and not have to worry about rules.
--
Michelle
Independent Kitchen Consultant #413652
The Pampered Chef
850-474-0817
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/michellelr
Ask me how you can save 60% on some of our most favorite products!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>Does making low scores on the tests mean anything in terms of your being
>
> On a scale of 1-10, Emmaline scored 1 or 2 on everything. and only
> got a 2 in one thing.
>
> Ouch.
>
> How can this bright kid, who I see learning things every day, who is
> getting a better grasp on reading every day, have done so badly on
> this basic test?
able to continue homeschooling? If not then throw them over your shoulder
and move on. If so, then maybe next year before the tests help her prepare
for *test taking* which is a skill all on its own. Personally, I would find
out what other unschoolers in your area are doing and who they are using for
evaluations. Why evaluations over test taking? Test taking is not going to
be able to see your child and how bright she is. How her mind works, what
her scope of how the world works is. A test is only going to test how well
she can process information given to her at an overwhelming rate and how
well she takes tests (which really is all tests are looking at anyway!) I
would also see if your state has an umbrella school option that would
eliminate the need for either testing or evaluations. Evalutators are also
only going to be able to determine how much "brightness" your child has in a
short period of time? What if it is an "off day" for you dd? What if she
is tired or "woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" Are those truly fair
assessments of how well your child is doing? NO!!!!
When are all the states going to wake up and realize that homeschoolers
consistantly do better on testing and are accepting at a higher rate per
capita than their publicly schooled counterparts and leave us alone to do
what we are already doing so well? I say we have an "unschooling exodus"
and all unschoolers move to one state and take over. Then we can form our
own nation and not have to worry about rules.
--
Michelle
Independent Kitchen Consultant #413652
The Pampered Chef
850-474-0817
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/michellelr
Ask me how you can save 60% on some of our most favorite products!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 5/6/2006 7:47:55 PM Eastern Standard Time,
res0vi4u@... writes:
(the twins
were closer to age-appropriate skill levels, but still on the low
end.)
Have you listened to the Unbridled Learning Pod? She quotes some things
about how grade levels are for public school use only. I listened to it this
morning and feel rejuvenated.
Maybe you should try for the one on one assessment instead. When we lived in
FL that is what they expected. You can find ANY licensed teacher to do the
assessment and there are plenty who are pro-homeschooling and some who are
understanding of unschooling. Look and ask around. If the standardized test and
comparing your children to others their age not working for your family, try
the other option.
Don't let the school system get you down. Just think how you'd feel if your
kids were wasting their lives in the institution and still scored the same on
the tests. You'd probably go after the teacher like the rest of the parents
whose kids just want a childhood.
Peace and go have fun. Forget the tests. I think they're silly. Time to
play!
Warmly,
Robin in MA, who is thrilled that the school department barely cares that we
exist.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
res0vi4u@... writes:
(the twins
were closer to age-appropriate skill levels, but still on the low
end.)
Have you listened to the Unbridled Learning Pod? She quotes some things
about how grade levels are for public school use only. I listened to it this
morning and feel rejuvenated.
Maybe you should try for the one on one assessment instead. When we lived in
FL that is what they expected. You can find ANY licensed teacher to do the
assessment and there are plenty who are pro-homeschooling and some who are
understanding of unschooling. Look and ask around. If the standardized test and
comparing your children to others their age not working for your family, try
the other option.
Don't let the school system get you down. Just think how you'd feel if your
kids were wasting their lives in the institution and still scored the same on
the tests. You'd probably go after the teacher like the rest of the parents
whose kids just want a childhood.
Peace and go have fun. Forget the tests. I think they're silly. Time to
play!
Warmly,
Robin in MA, who is thrilled that the school department barely cares that we
exist.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Christina Walker
LOL! Well I guess one thing about Oklahoma is you pretty much make your
own rules(sad thing is that home schooling is the only thing they trust
us parents on lol)
But I figured I would share to let you know tests are not always right.
To hear my oldest read is amazing. He is 6 years old and reads with
amazing speed and comprehends well past 4th grade(as far a PS goes) He
also at home does stuff with Science harder math and all kinds of
grammer stuff. BUT when he was tested at the school he shows as a
transitional reader....just comprehending how sounds go together. THey
dont even test for knowledge of much else. Mainly because he knows your
grading him and he gets stressed and just wants to get it done and over
so he can play. Now if I stand there and he knows that I want him to
take his time look at it and then answer and after everything no matter
what we will still go play he will do fine.(sorry about the run on
sentence lol) HE HATED being tested in the school. He said he already
knew it and thats all that mattered lol (from the mouth of a 6 year
old) Dont panic on the testing. Most kids just don't like taking them
and will forget everything and just answer without looking to get it
done. You are doing a wonderful job and no test needs to make you feel
otherwise.
chris
own rules(sad thing is that home schooling is the only thing they trust
us parents on lol)
But I figured I would share to let you know tests are not always right.
To hear my oldest read is amazing. He is 6 years old and reads with
amazing speed and comprehends well past 4th grade(as far a PS goes) He
also at home does stuff with Science harder math and all kinds of
grammer stuff. BUT when he was tested at the school he shows as a
transitional reader....just comprehending how sounds go together. THey
dont even test for knowledge of much else. Mainly because he knows your
grading him and he gets stressed and just wants to get it done and over
so he can play. Now if I stand there and he knows that I want him to
take his time look at it and then answer and after everything no matter
what we will still go play he will do fine.(sorry about the run on
sentence lol) HE HATED being tested in the school. He said he already
knew it and thats all that mattered lol (from the mouth of a 6 year
old) Dont panic on the testing. Most kids just don't like taking them
and will forget everything and just answer without looking to get it
done. You are doing a wonderful job and no test needs to make you feel
otherwise.
chris
On Monday, May 8, 2006, at 06:57 AM, Pampered Chef Michelle wrote:
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]