Adults participate in 'Take the Test Day'
A 12-question test based on recent state assessments was given Monday to about 20 teachers and community leaders at Marion Elementary School.
It was part of "Take the Test Day" statewide. Leaders in communities across the state, as well as legislators in Topeka, took the sample test Monday.
The sample test included three questions each from fifth grade reading, seventh grade science, 10th grade math, and 11th grade social studies.
State assessments have been given since 1991. They measure students from fourth through 11th grade in reading, math, writing, science, and social studies.
Not all tests are given each year, and not all grades take all tests. The goal is to see how a class progresses through the years. Reading, for example, is given to students in fifth, eighth, and 11th grade. Most of the tests have at least 50 questions.
Students with special needs are tested, though modified or alternate tests are used with students whose disabilities would not allow them to participate. Even students with limited proficiency in English must participate.
Testing all students tend to show small differences at the state level, officials said. Also, results are reported in three groups: all students, students with disabilities, and general education and gifted students.
The state assessments are far from perfect. Missy Stubenhofer, who gave the sample tests and heads the curriculum team in the district, said the state often changes its assessment tests and styles.
"A lot of it is piloting the test and rewriting, piloting and rewriting," she said. While this eventually results in more useful tests, it makes it harder to compare results from grade to grade, because the tests change so much.
Nevertheless, the tests have value in seeing how students are progressing and where schools have gaps in their curriculum. The tests also measure how Kansas students are competing against students nationally and internationally.
"We spend a lot of time talking about the importance of doing your very best," Stubenhofer said. "These aren't minimum competencies. It's to determine if you really are learning at a higher level."
Sometimes the problem for students is "they don't understand that the way we taught them may not be the only way to arrive at an answer," she said.
When state assessments are given, teachers try to reduce "test phobia." They don't have required time limits, juice and snacks are offered, and students are reminded that no one is held back because of their score on the state assessment, Stubenhofer said.
However, if a student scores high in one area and low in another, "we'll take a look at you," she said. "If you score mediocre in all areas, we'll take a look."
Reports occasionally surface of schools that don't follow the proper protocol, such as providing students with advance knowledge of tests.
"There's very little to gain by cheating one year unless you cheat every year, which I think would be more work," Stubenhofer said.
