For this learning experience, my group taught the class on material based on the following chapters: “Time to get off the Testing Train”, “Authentic Assessment for Learning Experience”, “14 Days SBAC Took Away”, and “Testing Assumptions”. All of these chapters shared a common idea that standardized testings are bad and the makers of them are corrupt. Our lesson plan objective was to highlight the negative impacts of high stake testing as well as combat high stake testing with alternatives to assess children.
After reading the first chapter, I was reminded of the dreadful memories that come with standardized testing. The stress, anxiety, and pressure that children are under for a high score that really reflects nothing about their IQ. I had the idea to give our class a brief quiz with that included questions form the ACT. My group liked this idea, so we decided to start the learning experience with having the students take a standardized test. The students said this pretend quiz brought them back to the feeling they used to get while taking real high stake tests. “Taking the real tests made me feel like I didn’t know anything…It made me feel that I wasn’t smart enough to be in the class… It was so hard to sit still for such a long period of time and focus”.
The next reading was about how standardized tests affect the curriculum because it takes time away from learning. From the teachers point of view, SBAC tests took away 14 days of valuable time she’s could’ve spent teaching her students. Next, we gave an overview of the chapter testing assumptions. The organization called Providence Student Union protested the Rhode Island Department of Education because they had a high stake test that dictated whether or no students get their graduation diploma. They related themselves to zombies- making their whole future based upon a test score was like taking their lives away. We emphasized that these tests are completely unfair, because successfull men and women took the exam and 60% of them didn’t score high enough to graduate under Rhode Island graduation requirements. This showed the class that these tests don’t define you nor reflect how successful you will be based upon a number. It also showed that you can achieve anything, especially when you protest together.
Our Learning circle decided to place emphasis on ways that students can be successfully assessed without the use of high stake testing. For example, the chapter “Authentic Assessment for Learning”, some models for authentic assessments include: portfolio based assessments where students reflect on their work and what they have learned throughout the year, capstones, and student led parent teacher conferences. We also included data from the survey that we took in class the previous week. The question asked was “Can students be effectively successfully assessed without high stake testing?” and 91% of the class answered yes to this. We put this data on our powerpoint because it proves our point that there are so many more beneficial ways to assess students knowledge without the stress and dysfunctionality of standardized tests.
To solidify the students comprehension of our learning experience, we came up with a prompt for a letter they could write to the creators of standardized testing. In that letter I had the idea that students should reflect on their past experiences with these kinds of tests, what specific kinds of flaws that these tests have, and alternative ways students can be assessed. To sum up the responses, most of the letters said that standardized testing used to make them feel worthless, exhausted, anxious, and bored. They also said that these tests are flawed because they aren’t an accurate display of learning, and should be eliminated completley. We then read some of the letters to the class and proved that the learning experience was successful based on the responses.
Our learning circle faced some obstacles when coming up with ways we could involve the class and insure that they took away some knowledge from the learning experience. We met 3 times to make a valuable lesson plan for our class. My responsibility was to pull out some main points in the first chapter titled “Time to Get Off the Testing Train”. I chose to emphasize that children get more out of arts, plays, and poetry rather than studying and test prep. I also talked about how standardized tests are not an accurate display of students knowledge, and that they definitely do not improve teaching and learning. We were able to involve the class by splitting up into groups and discussing how everyone feels about standardized testing and the responses were all negative. This shows that we, as future teachers, need to make the neccesary changes for our students so that they do not have to go through these pointless tests, and invent new idea to properly assess student growth and learning.
References:
Christensen, L., Karp, S., Peterson, B., & Moé Yonamine. (2019). The new teacher book : finding purpose, balance, and hope during your first years in the classroom. Rethinking School.
Sophia 
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