Does the PARCC Make Students Puke?

While the PARCC test itself doesn't seem to be too grueling for students (although some kids have been "clicking through" and others have been "napping through" and I heard rumors that one kid wrote his essay in French and another wrote the lyrics to "Bohemian Rhapsody") the actual administering of the test has been a logistical nightmare for my high school-- you've got kids coming and going at all times of day, classes that start with eight kids and then kids return two at a time until you've got a room full of thirty, classes divided by the kids taking the PARCC, the kids opting out, and the kids who don't have to take it because it's not their day-- teachers aren't supposed to give quizzes or tests for the two weeks of testing and then try to "spiral back" over curriculum that test-taking kids missed -- and this could be anyone because there aren't enough computers to administer all the tests at once, so some kids take it in the AM and some kids take it in the PM, sophomores take it one day, and juniors another, and all the different math levels take different tests, many teachers (including myself) have to proctor at times when they normally grade or plan, and many teachers (including myself) have their classrooms changed for the duration of the test, so kids are wandering all over the school, trying to find their classes . . . the loss of instructional time is enormous, everyone-- teachers, students, and administrators-- has been completely disrupted by this thing, so unless the inherent value in taking the test and the data collected from the test (which is getting more and more skewed by the day, as smarter kids decide to opt out so they don't fall behind in their classes) so unless the experience of this test somehow proves more valuable than all the time and education lost, then I don't think it's going to last very long without some major changes (and-- perhaps because of all the anxiety and frustration produced by the major changes in schedule, there have been two hallway puking incidents during the test . . . yuck).

6 comments:

Clarence said...

I've paid my dues
Time after time
I've done my sentence
But committed no crime

Dave said...

when i finish a sentence, i definitely feel like a champion of the world (or at least the internet).

zman said...

I'm still not sure what PARCC is, other than something specifically designed to make your life miserable.

Dave said...

it's the opposite of PORK, which is specifically designed to make your life wonderful.

rob said...

this feels like whining. is this whining?

Dave said...

no . . . honestly, with all this testing, i'm working less and grading less and teaching less and still getting paid the same-- i just don't think the benefit of the test and the data collected is equivalent to the loss instructional time.

A New Sentence Every Day, Hand Crafted from the Finest Corinthian Leather.