Georgia students have finished taking the CRCT, parents and their
kids are glad it's over. Every year teachers, parents and kids scramble to
ensure everyone is ready for testing. The debate of standardized testing has
gone on for years but this year is slightly different. This year a Marietta
couple refused to let their 3rd and 5th grader take the CRCT see
http://tiny.cc/crct-testing. A lot of parents and students mumble and grumble
about the fact that 3rd, 5th, and 8th graders have to pass the Georgia CRCT to be
promoted to the next grade. But few parents, if any, have refused to let their
child (dren) be tested. I'm not even sure if anyone thought they had an option.
The million dollar question is, why can't
the tests taken during the school year determine if a student can be promoted
to the next grade? Many feel all the work done and good grades given during the
year has no merit if the CRCT is the only measurement used for promotion of
3rd, 5th, and 8th graders. And now with all the news coverage of the Marietta
couple refusing to let their children be tested and the school's response to
such a request, one may wonder if the state of Georgia is going to review this mandate.
We could argue the advantages or disadvantages of CRCT testing but where would that get us? Yes we do need to ensure that our children
know how to read and understand concepts, know how to add, subtract,
multiply,divide and understand the process of math. Yes it is critical that our
Elementary students be properly prepared for Middle School and our Middle
School students be properly prepared for High School, I don't think anyone
would argue that fact. However there has to be a way to measure, to ensure that
students are capable of performing at the next level without everything "riding"
on one test. There has to be a better way to reward schools, principals, and
teachers whose students perform well. There has to be a better way to link low
performance accountibility.
The main goal of the school system is to
educate our children. To help them possess enough knowledge to become
productive citizens. Let's find a way to do that.Let's not have a repeat of
teachers, principals and other school authorities cheating on the CRCT in order
to retain their jobs. Let's not promote test anxiety by having everything
"ride" on one test. Let's find a way to hold the students as well as
the teachers and principals accountable for performance through out the entire
year. It may be that students receive tests that are weighted greater than
others, I'm not sure. But let's start the dialogue NOW.
I'm Denise Smith and that's my two cents.
To learn more about P.Denise Smith visit
www.tutorbydenise.com
twitter.com/tutorbydenise #crcttesting2014
www.blogtalkradio.com/thetutorwizard
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