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Writer's pictureDr. Nadine O'Garro

It's Test Taking Season!

Updated: Oct 7

Not for your students, for YOU! 


Prepping for the school year during the summer gives you the opportunity to take the tests your students will be taking, without the harried momentum of the school year "to-dos". This ensures you will have time to internalize and understand the level of rigor your students will be assessed at.


Why is this important? Because there's an achievement gap that won't close. I believe this is partly due to unintentionally lowering the rigor in our classrooms.


Example of Lowering the Rigor

  • Grade-Level Standard: the grade level standard says - Students must write using evidence from the text.

  • Assessment Expectation: the assessment requires - A two-paragraph response citing evidence.

  • Classroom Practice: in the classroom - students are asked fill-in-the-blank questions checking comprehension, but are not required to write a two-paragraph response citing evidence from the text..


There are “good-ish” reason for this (kinda, sorta, but not really). Often, we run out of time and never reach the more challenging questions/tasks. However, this unintentionally denies students the opportunity to engage in work at the required level of rigor. Impact matters more than intention.


In a future post, I'll discuss strategies to ensure you complete entire lessons. For now, let's focus on taking the tests.


Test Taking: The How

Here are the two tests I recommend you access:

  1. State Achievement Test

  2. District Interim Assessments



State Achievement Test

Set aside an hour to take this test, paying close attention to the questions and how they are asked. For example, here is a 5th-grade science question from the Colorado state test:


Three-Reads :

  1. First Read: Understand that students are asked to analyze four claims to identify which one best supports the given information.

  2. Second Read: Use the process of elimination to determine the best claim.

  3. Third Read: Make a mental (or written) note of what students are being asked to do and how.


Now this is what I came up with, on my own (having never taught science).  And I implore you to do the same thing - its not great, but that's not the point. The point is to familiarize yourself with how your students are going to be assessed.


Trust yourself, trust the process. Answer each question for all released items, making mental or written notes about what and how students are being assessed.


THEN and only then… look up the scoring guide for each of the questions.


Most standardized assessments include an answer guide that provides the correct answer and the aligned standards for each of the released items.


Here is an example for the 5th grade science question above.



Remember: One of the most important things you are doing when you complete these tests is building muscle memory for the level of rigor your students will be assessed.  This will come in extra handy when you are lesson planning.  


Next up: District Interims Assessments


District Interim Assessments

Use the same process as completing the state test. Take the first interim assessment and make note of what questions are asked and how students are asked to answer these questions. Compare the rigor of the interim assessment(s) to the state test. 


Interim assessments might be used by administrators to progress monitor students’ learning. However, as the classroom teacher you need to know if the rigor on the interim matches the state test. 


Completing the interim(s) helps you gauge how much you can rely on the interim assessments as a measure of student preparedness for the state test. This is crucial for lesson planning.


Benefits of Taking The State and Interim Assessment(s)

  • Muscle Memory: Build familiarity with the rigor your students will face.

  • Lesson Planning: Ensure your teaching meets the required standards.


Sidenote

In the past, interim assessments were under lock and key until the testing window opened. Nowadays, many districts release them early, trusting teachers to use them for planning rather than teaching to the test. If your district doesn't release assessments early, use assessments from the previous year for guidance.


Please comment and share:  What is the testing culture in your area? Are assessments locked away, or is this kind of preparation encouraged?

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