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new cut scores are upping the
rigor of Oregon's state assessments. |
In a rare showing of silence and the appearance of focus, the kids in third through eighth grade here at Rural Charter School have been tiptoeing into the computer lab to tackle their Big Fat State Assessments. Round one should be finished tomorrow or the next day (they get three tries here in Oregon to meet the benchmark scores; our district requires all students to take the tests all three times or until they earn an "exceeds" score). I was feeling pretty optimistic about our student body overall, until the day I had to monitor the testing session. Some people just don't test well, and it's heartbreaking to watch them click on wrong answers when you know a simple conversation would get them thinking about the questions and would lead to a much better score.
As an intervention specialist, I spend all my time with the kids who won't pass, or who will but by the skin of their teeth. Some of them are just so close, but won't stick it out to keep their attention focused for the last quarter or so of the test. It makes me tired just thinking about it.
This year 70% of the kids have to meet state standards (in other words, "Pass the Test") for the school to meet AYP. In our tiny school, each kid is a big percentage. No more than 9 kids can fail either test (reading and math) or we don't meet AYP! Third grade looks good so far, though. They all passed their math tests and only one didn't pass his reading. And he was really close.
