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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2007 > March > 08 > Entry
Confessions of a smarty pants
Claire Elliott, smarty pants
So here I am the guy who killed a million trees writing about the problems of standardized testing and some of the dangers such tests can pose for kids, and for adults, who might put too much emphasis on the need for high scores, and this week my own eight-year-old daughter is taking her first standardized test.
Claire is a very good student and is used to good grades and lots of praise about her schoolwork. And at first she had questions about the Terra Nova test her school is taking this week.
But in the end, her reaction to her first standardized test was not what I expected.
For those of you not familiar with Terra Nova, think California Achievement Test. It’s also a nationally-normed test that tells you how a child compares vs. all other kids in the nation who took it. It’s actually made by the same people who made the California test that many of us took as kids and its also roughly comparable to the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, another nationally-normed test you may recall from your youth.
At my daughter’s school, they take this test beginning in second grade. It covers reading, math, social studies and science. In third grade, she will also begin taking the Ohio Achievement Test in math and reading.
I talked briefly with Claire about this exam just to see what she knew about it and make sure she wasn’t worried about it. She understood that the test was important to teachers and the principal and I’d say she was a little nervous about it.
So after three days of taking math, reading and social studies, I asked her last night how it was going. Her answer?
“It’s fun!”
That’s right she actually LIKED taking the test. She described to me how she caught herself almost choosing the wrong answer on a couple tricky questions and she told me she thought she got most of the questions right.
What a smarty pants.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: My Favorite Posts, Testing
Comments
By Lea
March 9, 2007 2:30 PM | Link to this
I remember the Iowa tests years ago. I used to score in the 99th percentile until I discovered that, since the tests bored me to tears, I could make designs by filling in dots. My scores dropped to the 95th percentile. This is not a joke - several years later someone noticed. Thank goodness I had graduated by then, or they’d have held me back!By Nettie
March 9, 2007 10:36 AM | Link to this
I find that many of my higher students enjoy standardized testing, because they enjoy finding out exactly where they stand. Many of them view it as a challenge and a way to prove their excellence.By Mary
March 8, 2007 6:22 PM | Link to this
I am much older than your daughter and nephew. However, I enjoyed taking standardized tests when I was their age as well.By Video Game Loving Nephew
March 8, 2007 5:18 PM | Link to this
I like the terra nova tests as well. They aren’t very hard and after I check my answers I usually have about 15 minutes to read a book. I’m looking forward to taking the terra nova tests next year in 8th grade.