Admission of Guilt
I must first admit that I work to "teach to the test". Since I teach mostly juniors in English III and Advanced English III, I incorporate specific activities and practice events to introduce students to the testing they are going to experience during their 11th grade year. Those assessments include
- PSAT in October (preliminary SAT that is a "practice assessment" that is also an opportunity for the Merit Scholarship)
- ACCUPLACER in January (used by Black Hawk College as an entrance exam to enroll in English 101 & 102 and other dual credit courses offered at our school).
- SAT in April (a required assessment in Illinois for all 11th grade students that serves as a college and career readiness tool used by many post-secondary training path avenues for admission acceptance and scholarship opportunities.
- next year I'm also considering a brief tutorial experience for students be prepared for the ASVAB
To Be or Not To Be teaching to the test...the question at hand...
I've been accused of doing too much with test preparation. I've also been told that performance on these tests don't matter to all students, so my work during my courses is going overboard. And finally, I've been told that these tests really don't accurately measure student skills, so why bother? It's one test on one day, and the results are not an accurate reflection of what all students can really do.
Those talking points have merit, right?
- I know various post-secondary training paths (colleges, university, military, apprenticeships, technical schools) use standardized test scores as a guideline for acceptance into their programs.
- I know the colleges and universities offer scholarship opportunities for students who perform well on the SAT. A higher score then, may mean money for the students and their families to be applied toward the students' post secondary path goals.
- I know that students will not be allowed to enroll in dual credit courses at Rockridge unless their performances meet the required cut scores. Successful dual credit coursework means a jump start for students who will go on to pursue a two-year or four-year college/university training path.
- Research demonstrates that students that exhibit "readiness" by achieving college readiness benchmarks have "75% likelihood of achieving at least a C in first semester of their introductory credit-bearing college courses."
- Research demonstrates a positive correlation between successful SAT performance and possessing the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to be placed in and succeed in post-secondary technical or career training programs.
SO.....
The information above, IN MY OPINION, trumps the talking points about teaching to the test that I sometimes hear from other educators. The bottom line for me is that I do teach to the tests and I try to prepare my students for the tests because the results of those tests potentially have real value to my students and their families.
ONE STEP FURTHER...which may not be a popular step...
I truly believe that many teachers who criticize me for teaching to the test simply don't want to give the effort required to
1) be an informed teacher about the assessments - they don't want to take the time and commit the effort to understanding the tests
2) revise their instructional practices and course content - they just want to keep doing what they have been doing in the past
3) don't feel that their course content area can have an impact - because they aren't teaching math or English, they can't contribute
MY HOPE
I think if teachers are just willing to take very small steps to be more informed and revise their instructional practices and course content, they soon realize that there really isn't much additional work. And they will start to get excited about helping their students be better prepared. And their students will appreciate their teachers' efforts - adding even more positive energy and culture to the classrooms and building. And then more and more teachers will get on board and have an interest in contributing.
Here's a link that may be of interest. Feel free to use it if you would like.
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