ANNAPOLIS, Md. —Maryland state lawmakers are investigating whether students are overtested.
It's a common complaint heard from parents and teachers across the state. But who decides how many tests are too many?
"We're hoping to have an answer one way or the other. We had requested this information during the session, and this is the hearing to have both the House and the Senate to get answers from the Maryland state Department of Education," said Baltimore County Delegate Adrienne Jones, D-District 10.
The numbers are hard to pin down. The state has pressed school districts to do the math using surveys, but the data is not exact
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5 comments:
Yes they are. They don't teach nearly as much as they did even 15 years ago.
There, saved time and money
No, they are not tested enough. The big deal the schools make about PARCC testing? Third grade math - 12 questions one day, 20 questions the next. Good luck making an honest, effective assessment with that testing effort.
There, saved time and money.
They are tested too much and are being taught to pass the test. In addition, none of this testing matters when we are teaching to the lowest common denominator in the school.
more testing!
If there was something in it for the kids, testing would be a positive experience.
I believe kids should be permitted, at their own request, to take the exams that provide evidence they have learned the material, at any time, without needing anyone else's approval. And once they have passed the test with a solidly passing score, the child should be allowed to move on to the next level of mastery without having to endure seat time in the classroom, while the teacher goes over the same materials. No learning is going on there, and I believe this has has something to do with certain children's' behavioral issues. Boredom is inevitable when the student is no longer engaged with learning something. So why make the kid sit there and take up time and resources? Let him or her be challenged at their own level, and keep the newness of learning fresh.
If this means a 9 year old "tests into" 11th grade English, or a 14 year old completes all the exams satisfactorily to "test out" of high school, so be it. This will allow the cream of the crop to rise above the clots and curds languishing at the bottom of the barrel. Better to allow the bright kids to accomplish what they are capable of, than to confine them in an environment that neither challenges nor appreciates their abilities, while their innate curiousity and thirst for learning withers away from understimulation.
All kids have the opportunity to pursue knowledge. Not every child has every single opportunity, but they ALL have access to sufficient resources to become functional, literate, and reasonably educated...if they truly want to.
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