Testing in Fieldwork

Post for 11/3

Unfortunately today was another test day for US II students in Mr. D's class. This time, however, was not nearly as contentious or difficult as my previous experience at MHS. Apparently, students seemed to get the message from their last day. Many kids still had headphones in, playing music I could hear from across the room but I guess there are some battles that just can't be won if nothing is done to enforce it.

Today, students were taking a CRT exam. This is, according to Mr. D, a departmental benchmark test to make sure that all teachers are on the same proverbial page. Every class in US II has to take the test and results are reported to the department. This week's CRT test was about immigration in the US at the end of the 19^th-century and beginning of the 20^th. The test is all written and all document based. Students were given a group of quotes, articles, photos and political cartoons that were supposed to be used as evidence throughout their document based question essay. The main essay was worth 80 points and was set up through a set of 10 scaffolding short-answer questions that were worth 2 points each.

I think the purpose behind the CRT is interesting since it seems to exhibit what the school and district deem to be high priorities. To keep from belaboring the point, I really think that they seem to get it because these tests are built to gauge skills, not just content knowledge or the recitation of rote facts. Of course, the content knowledge and what students learn in class can really help them discern context clues and base their writing on a strong background in facts and historical information. However, if the students have the skills to take these tests, the information provided in the documents and the specific goals of the DBQ alone could be enough information to finish the test adequately. In short, the department is testing for skills of reading, writing, interpretation of context clues, argument and citation of sources. As I've mentioned before, the purpose of knowledge for the sake of knowledge is inadequate and as much as I'd love all my students to be Jeopardy champions, those skills are not realistic or useful to teach. I can understand frustrations behind pushing for departmental homogeneity at the expense of an individual teacher's plans but I think the goal behind the CRT as an exercise is admirable.

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In addition, today was a success in administrative terms, as well. On my first day, Mr. D explained to me that this was not a good year for him to have a student teacher in his class for a plethora of reasons. I understood his reasoning at the time but figured I would take the opportunity to learn what I could from MHS, while I could. As the weeks passed, I became disappointed about this setup since I had come to really respect Mr. D and admire his work and organization in the classroom. In short, I felt I could learn a lot from him throughout the year. So today I got some good news. Mr. D took me aside this morning and explained that he had reconsidered over the past few weeks and asked me if I would be interested in staying on at MHS and in his classroom for student teaching. Between my good working relationship with Mr. D and growing comfort with a lot of the students, I was really excited. Good news!