The class was in a bustle when I walked into the room. Students were flying everywhere with notes from special ed. teachers and other advisors. I saw the sign on the door when I had entered, “Testing, quiet please”. I remembered right away that this week was testing for all 4th graders around the state. Mrs. Slaughter looked as if she was going to jump out of her skin because of all the notes that were dancing in her face. She finally shouted, “Class! Get to your seats and I will come around to each of you…. one at a time”. She made her way around the room quickly and shuffled every “special” student out the door. (ESL, LD and CD) I noticed that this 20-student roster had just been cut in half. There were now only 10 students remaining to take the standardized test. This made me realize the diversity of this class, the challenges Mrs. Slaughter had faced everyday and a possible insight on what the scores might be for this test.
Before I continue, I should clarify that Howe Elementary, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, had been on the state “watch” list for the last 3 years because of consistently poor test scores. This was my first time ever observing at a school that was on a watch list. I remembered state testing when I was younger and had recently observed testing at a more affluent school. There were nerves among the teachers and test takers, but in a sense of wanting to do well on a personal level for each student. There wasn’t a cloud of negative consequence if students didn’t do well. This was different. Teachers at Howe Elementary knew that if their 4th graders didn’t do well this year, their school funding would be cut. This test, at this moment, was a big deal.
Mrs. Slaughter passed out the math exam and explained the directions. She read each sentence slowly and clearly, stopping after every sentence to ask if there was any confusion. No one raised their hand; this alarmed her because she knows the level of some of these students. Once the test began she came and sat down next to me. Mrs. Slaughter explained that this testing makes her uneasy because once it begins, she can’t offer any help; each child is on his/her own. And she knows that over half of these kids are going to misread the directions, but they won’t think to raise their hand for clarification.
I walked around the room and studied the tests and answers some of these students were marking. It floored me to see the mistakes some were making! I wanted so badly to stop some of these children and say, “Read the question carefully… slowly… see what they are trying to ask you to do.” The more test booklets I had seen, the more saddened I had become.
- “Which number shows 67?”
Benny had marked the wrong answer; I don’t believe he even thought of flipping his book around. Cassandra marked the right answer, but her entire answer section was full of eraser marks. I walked around the room and saw the same mistakes on so many children’s papers. Why was this question so difficult for them?
- “Which shows an area of a square?”
I wanted to jump up and down and say, “Can you move any blocks to make it a square?” 7 out of 10 kids marked either a or b. I knew they could figure this question out. I have seen these children understand this concept in math already.
- “Who threw the longest?”
I watched so many students just mark down an answer and continue when the chart with the longest throw was right above the question. Anna is the “smart” one in class. She didn’t mark this answer right either.
I wanted to help so badly, maybe because these mistakes were simple errors. These mistakes weren’t an outcome of a class who did not know how to find the answers; these mistakes were caused by the inability to read directions carefully. Each one of these children is intelligent. I know that if I could sit down and read each question to him/her slowly and make him/her understand what the question was looking for, every single child would have a much higher score. Every child in here had the potential to score well on this test; it was a matter of critical thinking and application. Most children in this class did not show the ability to read the question carefully and apply a reasonable answer. I do not believe this test was based on something they knew, it was based on how well they could apply.
I sat down at my table and started writing furiously, trying to remember certain problems and what children marked for answers. Mrs. Slaughter came over and put her hand up by her forehead. “Betsy, I want you to know that you are going to drive yourself up the wall if you continue to watch these students take their exam. It’s only the 2nd day and I have learned from yesterday that I cannot watch what they are doing. I was so upset with what I saw yesterday that I told myself that I taught them the best I could, and now it’s up to them. Besides, it is not based on what I have taught… it is kindergarten through 4th grade. I cannot blame myself!” I was stunned at what she was saying, almost as if she had given up. But I understood what she was thinking because what could she have done? Anyone walking around this room would want to point out simple little errors, tell them to read the directions, make them read ALL of the answers before marking one.
Mrs. Slaughter said things throughout the test like, “Don’t give up class…. keep moving.” “Benny, don’t give up. Chin up and keep plugging.” “I know you are tired Makaya… just keep going.” I know Mrs. Slaughter was disappointed in what she had seen before, and I saw this as words of encouragement from someone who knew the outcome of the test already. I knew the outcome…. I think the school knew the outcome.
Mrs. Slaughter had given the 5-minute warning and students became uneasy. Pages were being turned back and students were, thankfully, checking their answers over again. I glanced over at Benny and he had taken his punch out shapes and made a puzzle out of them. With his head down, he moved the square and triangle across the table like a train. Then I did what the teacher had warned me not to do. I got up to look at his test. With 3 minutes remaining, Benny had 16 more questions to go and he was playing with a make believe train. I truly felt as if I was going to throw something at him to make him keep going. Benny wasn’t taking this test seriously… or was he? Maybe Benny has a disorder and cannot concentrate for a long period of time. Couldn’t he have known the importance?
The test was over and children went outside for recess. All of the 4th grade teachers gathered and talked about the test, what they saw and predictions. It was only a matter of time. I felt as if these women had almost brushed it aside and thought it was of no importance. Maybe this is because it is out of their hands and they are saddened to a point of not wanting to see the scores. Some teachers have been here for a number of years and have watched the scores get lower. I wanted to look at documents and understand why the scores are declining. Does Howe School have a high turnover rate? Do they have a bad ESL program that slows the teachers down? I wanted to know the core of the problem.
The problem is not the material that these students should know; it is reading and thinking critically. I wonder if there is a way you can teach critical thinking to elementary students. Every child needs to know the importance of directions and making sense of the matter that is being talked about. I wanted to know answers, but Howe Elementary might have wanted to know more.