Friday, February 7, 2014
EQAO
With the buzz of EQAO in the air, I've been hearing students question the testing. In one of the schools I volunteer in the students in grades 3 and 6 completed a practice EQAO test last week. I provided assistance as a scribe for both grades. I found students in grade 3 don't really question much in terms of the test. The students accepted the questions as they were written and quickly (and do I mean QUICKLY!) chose an answer. However, the students in grade 6 were a completely different story. The students that I scribed for, and some students that I didn't scribe for but tutored later that day or the next, were quite vocal about how they felt the test was unfair. Generally they felt the test was unfair because in their everyday learning and testing they are allowed to use reference text to help them find an answer. They complained the during regular testing the teacher can help them understand a question or word, whereas EQAO testing did not allow for that. I must say that whenever a student asked me to explain a question during EQAO testing and I could not answer them, they appeared to shutdown. They gave up. They felt defeated. Listening to the students, they feel the EQAO testing should reflect regular classroom experiences; they should be allowed access to resources that will help them understand what they are to do. I'm thinking the students may be onto something. Allowing the students to find their own resource to aid them in understanding the question may be something to consider. What's more important in life: having all the answers right now, or knowing where to look for assistance to understand the question?
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You bring up some good points Andrena. If the students are allowed on other assessments to ask for assistance, then I think the same procedure should be followed. Students may understand the question and know the answer but not understanding the wording, and therefore get the wrong answer. However, one of the issues with this is that the term “assistance” differs from teacher to teacher. Some students are probability receiving more “assistance” than others and this would result in inconsistent test results. I don’t think anyone always has the right answers, even as adults. This is a difficult question as the students are still young, but I think it’s more important to know where to look for assistance; however, having said that, I think it is very important to teach students how to be resourceful on their own and not too dependent on others.
ReplyDeleteThis was a hot topic at our last School Council meeting. Standardized testing is meant to equalize students- bring everyone to the same level in order to complete the test and measure the results. It's contradictory, because we teach students that fairness does not mean sameness. We create anchor charts, asking a friend, and being resourceful...but these methods are used in theory, not in practice (when it comes to EQAO anyway). I often feel like EQAO says just as much about the teacher/school as it does the student- if not more. It's difficult for grade 3 and 6 students to understand and process the stresses of standardized testing.
ReplyDeleteI've both administered EQAO to grade 3's and marked the reading comprehension section three times. All of your points are definitely valid. The test is in no way fair to all involved, so many times you see answers that show the student misread something or didn't understand part of it. I remember one question that was about events in the story affecting the main character's "daily routine" So many students, for whatever reason did not know what a daily routine was, so there answers were mostly level 1's or 2's. If a teacher could have explained that one thing they would have easily been level 3 or 4. There is nothing worse than helping the students all year long and then telling them "Sorry, I'm not allowed to help you". The standardized tests just seem outdated. I agree that they are supposed to create a level playing field but as it was said before by Candice that fairness does not mean sameness.
ReplyDeleteI think that EQAO is really not achieving what it is meant to achieve. It has become simply a means of scoring and comparing schools instead of helping students. A lot of teachers now are afraid to teach grade 3 or 6 just because they know EQAO will test them and not the students. If they had a choice, they would teach a different grade. So instead of teaching, they will teach to the test, and thus not doing anything to really help the students grow. It is a disservice to the students and the teachers. Instead of being an enjoyable year of learning and growth, it becomes a year of total stress and regret.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good question you ask at the end, Andrena. When I was a student teachers did not allow us to use any type of help during any test. We never complained simply because we didn’t know there was an alternative. I am not sure if my comparison is adequate but you cannot let your child sleep with you five days a week and then demand they sleep in their room on a weekend. Wouldn’t this upset your child? It is sort of the same with tests. They should be consistent. If children have more freedom during their tests in the classroom than, of course, they get shocked by those strict rules EQAO. This is wrong. In my opinion it’s either they should never be allowed to use helping resources or they should be allowed to do it during the EQAO test as well.
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