What's Your Impression?

Blatant example of teaching to the test.
I've NEVER got a note like that about upcoming standardized tests.

Not even going to get into whose "job" it is to "educate" the kids....

My thoughts - no way in hell. Sorry- it is horrible to teach to the test when the school and teacher don't admit it. How much worse is this? Not doing it. And I would meet with the teacher to explain that I am not doing it. She is wasting my child's valuable time that should be spent learning with this and she is trying to waste my limited family time. Wrong. I would also meet with the principal to express these same thoughts.

My impression is that the Teacher wants the students to *memorize* rather than *learn*......and they call this education, it's plain sad

It's one thing to "work together" but this Teachers requirements of the Parents goes above and beyond, imo

This is another reason why we chose Private school.

The issue of standardized testing is complex. As a teacher, I will refrain from getting into that here and instead respond to your question.

I don't fault the teacher for trying to enlist the support of parents - but do question her tactics and her focus. Parental involvement should be ongoing - ways that parents can regularly support the habits of successful readers, writers, thinkers from the homefront. Putting so much emphasis on the test as the way that parents can be involved is foolish. It simply doesn't work. It is not the way kids learn and it is certainly not the way to transfer and retain knowledge. So, it makes me grumble! We have limited time and spending it on things that don't last and don't have impact get in the way of what really matters.

Standardized tests are an inevitable part of the current educational state - so they can't be ignored. But they should be kept in context: teachers should teach the genre of tests and tests questions to students. Besides that, the year should progress with stimulating and rigorous and authentic teaching and learning. THAT transfers into high performance on tests because kids become flexible, critical thinkers who can adjust to different purposes, audiences, and tasks readily.

No one likes to be bossed about and any teacher worth her salt knows the art of invitation, motivation, and persuasion - she could use some of each here.

While I agree that the tone of the letter could have been improved, as a teacher, I personally am very tired of all the "teacher bashing" when in truth, if you are not currently a teacher, you've truly no idea how difficult our job is. Mind you, I'm not complaining about my job at all, I love it. When I was growing up, teachers were respected and revered as professionals. Now politicians and parents alike seem to look at us as an enemy. I'd like to give you another perspective. Believe me when I say that we want the very best for your children, both academically and personally. The values I instill are no different than what I instill in my own children, to raise an honest, caring, upstanding individual.

The part I find truly disheartening, however, is the lack of support from parents when it comes to the following: ensuring homework is complete, attending events that are important to their child's education during their off-work hours, and especially, not supporting the teacher with regard to their child's classroom behavior which ensures that the child will continue with their behavior issues (I have been "attacked" by parents via phone, voice mail, and email before ever hearing my side more times than I can count for something as simple as a mark for talking during teacher instruction).

That said, we have politicians inexperienced in how students learn dictating the tests and their "passage" which dictates how much money a district receives, and the rating the district is given. The rating of the school district affects the communities' housing values. This IS a community-wide issue. The politicians also don't care that a student with learning disabilities might not be able to read the test or comprehend the test. Some classrooms, due to scheduling in my district, have a disproportionate number of special needs students (half the class, in this case, for 3 of 12 homerooms per grade level so that these students attend tutoring with their special ed teacher). How then is it the teacher's fault if half the class fails the test when other classrooms have the typical 10% special needs population?

The test being sent home is not the test for this year, it is a practice test, a test from a previous year. It is not cheating to have the answers. There will be similar questions and students cannot memorize answers as the same questions will not be asked.

My home district, rated Excellent with Distinction, has amazing parental support and it shows. For years now, they have provided a copy of this practice test as an option to help kids study, much like you would prep for an ACT or SAT for college.

In America, we are and continue to be in a "testing society" here in the U.S. Until this changes politically, it is the reality. While I would not be a proponent of putting pressure on your child, if they have a weak subject, it would put your child more at ease if they were more comfortable with the material. We are required to send all tests in for all students, even one covered with vomit from a nervous child, which we've had to do. Sad, isn't it?

To answer Bobbi, it's not cheating, this isn't the actual tests... it's prep questions with answer keys to help the kids learn how to do the test... the actual test will be quite different than the prep homework. Also, it isn't just about teaching the material, lots of kids freeze up on tests and can fail, so practice tests help them get comfortable with them and learn how trick questions can be worded.

I would imagine the teacher spends a lot of time doing this in class, but really, these standardized tests cut into a lot of actual teaching time on material that the teacher should be focusing on as well, but can't because of the standardized testing.

So I would not be upset/offended at all. It is the parents/guardians job ALSO to ensure their children do well in school and on these tests... not just the teacher's. Her tone sounded serious, not demanding or rude. Considering how many parents I know who don't give a darn about their kid's education, she is passing on the seriousness of the situation so they can get it.

Well her tone is pretty demanding but for Pete's sake what is she SUPPOSED to do? I'm guessing she's got 20 to 30 kids in her class and only a limited number of hours in the day to cover a LOT of information. Add in yard duty, returning parents' phone calls/emails, mandatory training/meetings, grading papers, constantly testing/assessing students/tracking progress, dealing with behavioral issues and learning disabilities...I could go on and on.
The public, the voters, have demanded that teachers be held accountable for their work through MANDATED TESTING. She is trying to do her job.
Do I agree with this policy? No. Does she? Probably not. But she is doing her job, period.

To anyone who thinks this is just a case of parents helping their kids to learn think agian. Those tests are a joke, a waste of teacher time and school resources. I drive my kids out of a "high performing" district just to ensure they are getting a real education not being taught how to fill in bubbles and think like a robot.
If kids are educated well the will naturally do well on the bubble test, they should not have to be drilled on the material. Just wait until you read some of those questions, they are just plain crazy!
I think the teacher, in her demanding tone, is expecting way too much of the parents.
I help my children all the time with school work (we are building a mission this weekend) but while parental involvement is important expecting parents to attend a class to learn how to teach their children to take the standardized test is a joke. I wouldn't attend the meeting but would probably spend time with my kid going over the material since it will probably improve her score in the long run. How are your schools scores in general? Sounds like maybe they're scoring low and scared of the repercussions.
Sorry to be so opinionated but the focus on those tests are killing any real education going on in American schools.

Our school in California lets us know about testing, too, although the study information sent home is voluntary.

I would be really annoyed to get mandatory parent homework like that. It's one thing to ask a parents to support a child doing homework and another to ask parents to become teachers every weekend (and that's assuming they have time on the weekends to take this on).

ETA: I'd also be annoyed at her discussion time. From 3-4 pm?? Really? How are working parents supposed to attend?

Excuse me, ma'am, but the purpose of the test is to gauge your CHILD's progress so that measures can be put in place to ensure their future success. The tests will determine what levels of materials they use, what classes they are in, and what supports may need to be put in place as they continue through school. We take the kids through their scores and help them to set goals for improvement, then practice the specific target areas and evaluate their progress after the next test.

No impact on the child? I think you need to do YOUR homework before getting defensive with the PROFESSIONAL who is trying to help all of her students be successful.

Education is not the sole responsibility of a school teacher - it is a team effort. For those of you too lazy to be on board with that, I would at least advise that you teach your kids to listen and follow directions so they're at least capable of filling in the bubble sheet correctly. More kids get poor grades on the tests because they flat out don't pay attention and follow directions, not because their teachers are deficient.

I'm sorry...you caught me on a bad day, but as a teacher, parents like you make me cringe. You are the ones that want accountability, then gripe about what needs to be done to make it happen. It's a lose-lose for the schools and a big reason why most would-be great teachers pack it in before their fifth year.

WOW ! ! !

Teaching to the test? Is that really bad? I was under the impression that the questions asked about what the kids were supposed to be learning in school. That means every day the teacher taught they were "teaching to the test." If they were teaching what they were supposed to to the students they were supposed to be teaching, it was on the test.

You should be indignant if they were teaching something that WASN'T on the test. Then they are not teaching what they are supposed to.

The public clamored for better teachers because they couldn't figure out "Why can't Johnny read". Parental involment was lacking and video games were too prevelent. If kids spent as much time on the school subjects as they do on extra cicurlicular activities and video games America wouldn't be lagging behind the rest of the developed world in science and engineering.

Good luck for you and yours.

I think it is both your job and her job to educate your child(ren). The tests are not solely put in place to *gauge* the teachers' performance but to also determine how well the students are leaning and if performance is improving at a particular school (and if CA is like other states the results also determine funding which has a direct impact on the students). If, as you say, the teacher's job is on the line I can't really blame her for trying to create the best possible outcome.

Personally, I don't expect teachers to teach in a vacuum- they need the support of parents to ensure students learn what they're supposed to. I'd be glad to have such a specific plan of action to help my child do well on their tests.

It's my understanding that they are a metric that's used to measure teachers and administrators, but they also are used to measure the academic progress of individual students. Either way, it's all good information to know, and if I can help my child learn, I'm all for it.

the teachers are the ones who get paid to make sure our children know what they need to know. it's our responsibility as parents/caregivers to help our children to learn. i know many will say teachers don't get paid enough to do all this...my thought than find a different job. if my son's teacher or school did this i would give it back to her and walk away!! maybe ask her what she will be teaching the children out of the packet!!!

That is why I love homeshcooling!! Ugh.

In no way form or fashion is that an acceptable request. I would not attend the meeting, however, I would respond by e-mail that you will work on the packet with your child during the week, M-Th and have it returned on Friday. That is a reasonable request.

Plus, you didn't mention her grade, but if it is 5th grade math and up, there is no way I could help. What they do in 5th grade math today is above what I learned in college. If it is under 4th grade or under, then the homework assignment is completely unreasonable.

I'm a teacher and I have expectations of my parents, but that is outrageous and ludicrous.

Her wording and demanding tone would rub me wrong too!

Unfortunately, it's ALLLLLL about the teachers paycheck. Bottom line. Any teacher in any public school. The test results have become the teachers 'performance review'.
If her class performs poorly, it reflects directly on her. I'm not picking on CA, it's the same in TX as well.

I feel there is some information missing: what age is your grandaughter? how much nightly homework does she have? How large are the class sizes etc. Is communication from this teacher always with this tone or is this unusual?

Personally i feel like telling you to unbunch your panties lol and continue to step up and help your gdaughter, ( assuming here that you are the primary caregiver and mom is out of the picture?) Go to this meetign with an attitude of doing all you can to help you gd, and if you have questions about wether or not the teacher covered this material etc then you will have an opportunity to ask and find out more. From my life experience, i would expect that the information in the packets would be stuff i had been seeing all along and that my kid might need a refresher on but not be totally new to them. it out to be an easy practice review. Again I"m not from Ca and my son isn't oldn enought to take these, so maybe i'm coming from a different perspective.
From what you've said about the community you live in, I wonder if the teacher doesn't feel ike she HAS to use that heavy handed tone because if she doesn't, no one would give a you -know-what. if they even bother to look at the paper anyway. That is sad to me but it seems like some people in this country don't appreciate their kids being given a free education.

What the heck do you ladies think is on this test? I've seen them. Its not teaching your child how to make poison or something like that. Its reading comprehension, basic math according to their age etc.
Personally, I don't think any child will be harmed by the teacher teaching to the test and the child learning that material. They are not missing out vital info they need to succeed in life by learning what's on the test.
I don't think the tests measure a child's full potential or how good the teacher is either but it is what it is.
The school does get money if a percentage of the students do well on the tests so your compliance with helping your granddaughter will benefit her in the long run.
That said, the teacher was bossy and could have done with a better tone and explained how the test scores benefit the school but she didn't and at the end of the day you can decide not to have your child take the test. If you do though, it will count against the school

C. B.
I disagree with you here, I believe the education of our children its both hers and your job and I believe you should be responsible for helping your child be prepared for any test. I think its a great opportunity for parents to help our children do better. What I don't like is that this letter seems very bossy, and she is not saying what she is doing to help the kids prepare for this examinations. It would be better if she said while I require your help to do x and y, I will be doing A and B in the classroom so we can together ensure the success of each child.
I think it is very unfair that teachers are assessed on these test, because they do not accurately show what they actually learned.

I have taught high school math (mostly Algebra 1--freshmen) for over 10 years and have never met a teacher who WANTS to "teach to the test." Unfortunately, a lot of times the state tests given don't test the curriculum we are being required to cover. For example, as an Algebra teacher in Texas, I was required to teach XYZ, but the 9th grade TAKS test covered a ton of 7th and 8th grade math that MOST of my students never mastered. "Well, I thought they had to pass the 8th grade (and the 8th grade TAKS) to get into 9th grade." NOT!!!! So many of my students came to me not even knowing their multiplication facts or how to compute 9 + -13!!!!! Let alone knowing the main concepts from middle school math. Soooooo, I had to try to teach the fast-paced Algebra curriculum while preparing them for a test that didn't cover that curriculum all the while only seeing these students every other day!!! How unfair is it that a teacher's performance be judged by the performance of students that came to her not knowing the material from previous years?? (Not blaming previous year's teachers either. I left the high school setting to teach middle school one year to see where the breakdown might be occuring and discovered it was long before a child got to middle school.)

I agree that the teacher's tone was bossy and that she is asking a bit much; however, she is probably frustrated at spinning her wheels and desperate for help.

It is scary when your performance is gauged almost solely on the performance of others.

I agree with you, and would call and tell her so. Kids get enough work during the week, the weekend should be family time and time to relax, it should not be expected to be used to do the job of the school.

My thought is that it's stupid to gauge the teacher's performance via a standardized test. It's the testing, and the funding linked to the results, that is the reason for this admittedly bossy note. (And I'd be annoyed with the tone of the note, but not its content.)

If you don't think the tests impact the child, wait until the school loses funding (or a great administrator or a great teacher) because of poor testing results.

And it is NOT the teacher's job to ENSURE the children know the material. It is the teacher's job to present the material and assign appropriate homework for that child to become proficient with the material (i.e., start the learning process). It is the parent's job to 1) make sure the child is able to learn (i.e., warm, clothed, fed), 2) stimulate the child's curiosity and love of learning, and 3) provide encouragement and if needed support to complete the learning process at home. If the parent is not able to help the child, I would suggest finding a tutor. Parents can not abdicate this responsibility.

My kid comes with A's and few B's, I keep eyes on her grades and had help her where I can and have ask her to ask for help to the things I don't know (ex: grammar).
In this test, I would expect for her to do well on them without the need to spends crazy amounts of hours studding or me having to go to her school and sit and learn in a day what she has "learned" in an almost a year, if the teacher were to send me a bunch of papers with things she has NOT teach my daughter I would pretty much tell my daughter to drop those pages and get a good night sleep.
I have done my part as a parent, keeping an eye on my kid and go to every single meeting the teacher has made, and my daughter has done her part and bring home good grades, so unless the teacher has just give my daughter A's just because or has failed on telling me she is behind, is not reason to fail.
Yes, kids can freeze on test, and I would be piss if the teacher is putting so much more stress in a test where SHE is being evaluated then the ones where the grades actually affect the kid.

I keep reading about what the teacher is supouse to do with so many kids and little time, but aren't this test based on what they already supouse to know, I doubt the teachers just got new material and being told: Here you have a week to teach this new material and we will test on it, NO.
Is more like: your students should have already studied this, we are testing that.

Well two things, I firmly believe that we as patents are responsible for our children's education. It is NOT the teachers job. The teachers job is to provide the amount of basic education/instruction agreed upon in you school district or private school. In other words the teachers introduce your child to whatever the curriculum prescribes and you are responsible for your child to practice it until they get it.
It is in many cases a lame excuse of many parents to blame the teacher for their child's failure in school. Sure schools and teachers leave a lot to be desired and yes there are some bad teachers, but most of them do a good job. The thing is that for optimal learning every child needs one on one attention, addressing questions on the material and practicing concepts they find difficult. How is a teacher supposed to do that with 25 students to a class?
I don't think practicing for a test specifically is the answer, in that point I agree with you. Parental involvement is something that should be practiced yearround... then you don't have to cram for testing time.

Sounds like teacher is using the parents to me. That's what their salary is for and they are responsible for the education. Im street smart but academics, ummm I got left out! Basically my kids would be screwed if it was up to me to teach them!! I would call the school to see what's going on and if I didn't like that answer school board here I come! I don't mind helping my kids, ever. Although id make sure this isn't just a pass the buck kind of thing! Good luck!

You get the answer key? And you have to go over the questions with your child and explain the answers?

My impression? That's cheating.

Added for MommaL and others: These tests are supposed to measure what the kids in that classroom know at that time. If you coach/teach to the test, you are going to get a skewed view of what the kids know. Yes, it will make the class (and school) look better and perhaps they'll get more money that way and teachers will be lauded, but in reality, is that how the kids really would have done? That's why I think it's cheating. If every class is doing this, it could give a false picture of how the kids are REALLY doing overall. And that's a disservice to the kids.

I have a 23-year-old and 14-year-old and have NEVER been asked to do this for standardized tests. I've been asked to make sure they get plenty of rest, have a good breakfast and bring #2 pencils. That's it.

Everyone seems to think that these test are just a given. Maybe for the school and for the teacher, they are. But that is not true for your granddaughter. She cannot be required to take that test. You have the option of exempting her from the test. I remember loving testing days in elementary school, because the test were always presented with the attitude of "we're going to see what we all know. No big deal." Your granddaughter is evidently in a situation that is likely to breed test anxiety. This teacher is making this test into a huge deal and I would exempt my child from the test, based completely on this note from the teacher. Your granddaughter will have to take tests her whole life, let's not make her scared to do so. If you do exempt your granddaughter, I would simply tell her that you don't think taking the test is what is best for her. Also, I would make sure that the school staff knows that your granddaughter is NOT to be criticized or made to feel bad for not taking the test.

How horrible, a teacher forcefully requesting parental involvement to assure academic success. A child's learning is not solely the job of the school. A child's first teacher is the person who is raising him/her. That's a fact. A teacher needs the parent's help.

These mastery tests do teach the children some valuable skills. Part of it is skills they're learning in the subjects they're being tested on, and a big part of it is learning to take standardized tests. It's not just about gauging the teacher but the tests can help determine if certain schools need more funding.

My eldest daughter does incredibly well on these tests every year without even trying. She scores in the top 5-10% of the school, district, county, and state every single time with minimal effort. When she tries harder she makes it to the top 3%. She's just scary smart. But it also tells me that we made a good choice when we chose this town for its educational reputation.

I do worry about my middle daughter, though. She starts the mastery tests this year and will be taking the modified test for special education students. I don't even know if she'll agree to take the test, let alone if she knows the material on it.

C., are you sure that the only reason that these tests are given is to guage the teacher's performance in the classroom? I would check that out thoroughly if I were you. Many states have tests that make sure that a certain standard of learning is being upheld. This equates to the school's performance as a whole, the district's performance, and how the states perform compared to each other. Colleges use this information as well. The State of Illinois gives tests that honor good performance with the accolade Illinois State Scholar. It helps get college scholarships for our students.

I realize you didn't like the tone of her letter, but perhaps the teacher didn't mean the tone to come across in a negative way. There is no time to go through the mechanics of taking the test while she is trying to get through her own lesson plans. Just like studying for the SAT and ACT later on in high school, you are your granddaughter's best chance of learning how to take standardized tests.

My son was actually very good at taking these tests because he started taking them in first grade. I always asked specific questions about each test so that I could advise him about how best to take it. Some will penalize if you don't answer all the questions. Some penalize if you answer a question you have no idea of and you get it wrong, whereas if you didn't answer at all, you wouldn't be penalized. Learning to incorporate this into test-taking skills is a valuable asset.

I always feel bad for the kids who I hear tell me that they freeze up on standardized tests and don't do well. I think that if they had outside help in learning how to do it early on in their school career, things would be different for them. Down the line, if your grandchild needs to take the ACT, you'll be glad that you've done this with her. It really tests what you know, as opposed to the SAT which tests concepts more.

As she gets older, the math and science get hard and you'll have to depend on her to know her stuff. I speak English just fine, but couldn't do my sons' math if my life depended on it. They have to learn it on their own (though dad can help them - they are lucky!)

It's all part of striving, C.. Not all kids are strivers. Your granddaughter may be one just because of your early work with her, and her personality. It's a tough world out there post-school. I know it's frustrating, but it all comes down to preparing them for college and hopefully a gainful career afterwards.

All my best,
Dawn

This shows the broken No Child Left Behind results. Teachers are expected improve their scores(i.e.the schools scores) with no monetary support to do it with. The only measure of their success is a test consisting of only math and English. Forget teaching any well rounded curriculum. Forget actually teaching children how to think, just teach to the test so you can save your job.Teachers are panicking and teaching to the test, and in this case she is recruiting parents to help her do it. Children are not widgets. They are not eactly the same at the outset. You cannot teach exactly the same way from one kid to the next and expect the result to be the same. Children differ in intelligence, homelife, economic background, interests, personality, nutrition and quite frankly children mature at different rates.All affect learning. One test on two subjects is a poor way to measure a teacher, it should be one of several ways to measure a teacher.With that said, parents should be willing to help their children academically to the best of their ability. It is a parents responsiblity to help their child learn as well. This teacher sounds quite demanding in her request. It puts parents on the defensive right away. A nicer letter would yield better parent response. She may not have time to test the children in the "state testing" format. This prep could help them take a test better and not freeze up etc. In a perfect world, the teacher would have the freedom to design her teaching methods and curriculum (after all she is a professional - they learn how to do this sort of thing) instead of being told how to do it, have the financial support, administrative support and support for behaviorally challenged kids that would allow her to teach most effectively. Until then, parents and teachers have to muddle through this together.

This leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It sounds like the teacher is trying to play catch-up. I see no problem with parents helping children, nightly, if needed, but if the child doesn't know the material without cramming each weekend for a month or two, there is something wrong at home or in the classroom. It seems as though the results may not be a true measure of the child's progress. My son does MAPS testing twice a year without advanced prep. It allows parents and teachers to know where the child or an entire class is excelling or where they might need extra work.

This is just ONE of the reasons I home school. Even though this is a team work (parents-teachers-schools) when you send the kids to school, the process of measuring or assessing what a student master or not should be D., in my opinion, in a more educative and diligent way not in a rush to help schools get a Blue Ribbon or alike.
I never ever expected the teachers to do the job for me; I was the parent who always was there to help and cooperate, I guided my kid and I checked my kid's progress all the time while he was there; I always kept good and respectful communication with teachers, we worked as a team HOWEVER, just the fact of sending kids to school means they are there to learn and study, have the right to be well prepared for the future (colleges, universities, superior education) and sadly schools are not doing that. No offense..just reality. I have worked closely with college students and most of them have NO idea what is a noun, a prepositional phrase ,how to write a book report, how to write a research paper, how to solve a simple math problem, and so on....These kids just study for THE test or to get and "A" and sometimes just a "C".. and this is exactly what actions like you C., mentioned H. causes these failures to happen.
This is NOT a matter of wanting to help your kids or not, of course every mom wants their children to be successful at school and everything, it is just a matter of common sense, and good education. There are excellent teachers who are obliged to do the less and still they run the extra mile, but there are also (sorry) not so good teachers who does not have real vocation and skills. There are excellent parents who are well involved in their kids education and others who don't, it is still a team effort, yes....but the reality is that we need a better education for our children.Period. been there, D. that. Both sides.

Wow, how very rude and demanding. She really needs to work on her approach. I would be sending her an email stating my feelings, but not attacking her. Also, I would want to know why she has waited so late and now wants the parents to help their kids cram for the test. When you cram for a test you quickly memorize the information, and then quickly forget.

At the beginning of the school year, couldn't she have explained about the tests and requested (not demanded) your help working with your child on the material? Maybe she could have given monthly assignments with a review right before the testing? Being forewarned would have allowed you more time to work on whatever area(s) your child needs help with.

I don't know about anyone else, but it sure sounds like this teacher wants the kids to memorize these specific answers. I sure she didn't get an advance copy and is cheating!! I also agree with you regarding the fact that the teacher is responsible for making sure her students know and understand the material. I don't mind helping study, but I'm also not a big proponent of the current standardized testing. I was valedictorian, and I always had testing issues :(

I do agree with the tone of the letter. My child's school sends a note home regarding the testing but the content reminds the kids to be on time that week, and to get lot's of sleep and eat a good healthy breakfast. It makes the kids a little more excited but also let's them know this is serious time and I like this because it prepares them for finals etc. that are to come later in school. The teacher should be reviewing these things in class as well as give you a sheet to work on at home way before the testing.

I am with you completely. Sounds like she is trying to work with parents but going about it the wrong way. Btw, the documentary "Waiting for Superman" does an amazing job discussing our public school system but watch it when you are emotionally prepared...

Go to the meeting and see what the tone of the teacher's message.