All teachers would likely tell you that one of the most frustrating things about teaching is the moving target of standardized assessment. This is my third year at Rockridge, and this is my third different attempt at trying to prepare students for their end of the year assessment.
Year 1 was PARCC, which featured a lot of panic and uncertainty and unknown. PARCC was suppose to the THE new way to test students. It failed. And it really failed before it even got off the ground in Illinois.
Year 2 was the State of Illinois deciding it didn't have enough money in its budget to do any testing at all. So after several years of the State of Illinois supplying a standardized test, students ventured "back in the day" to journey to their local community college and complete the ACT on an ACT testing day.
Year 3 now is the SAT. The State of Illinois granted testing to College Board (instead of ACT), so teachers have now been attempting to shoot at that target. This target, though, is brand new to most teachers. Most of us here in the Midwest are simply accustomed to the ACT.
Since the beginning of the school year, but with more focus since after Christmas break, I've been attempting to help students prepare for the SAT Reading and Writing an Language. Today, though, it's the SAT Essay.
AND IT'S HARD. It's not like the COMPASS Essay - a product of ACT that had been previously used by many community colleges as a college placement test. It's not like the ACCUPLACER Essay - a product of College Board that is now used by an increasing number of community colleges as a college placement test. SAT Essay involves reading a passage, analyzing the passage, and creating a written analysis of the passage.
Wish me luck!
JBiz
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