Tests So New They Outpace Lesson Plan [View all]

[elleng]

At Public School 10 on the edge of Park Slope, Brooklyn, parents begged the principal to postpone the lower school science fair, insisting it was going to add too much pressure while they were preparing their children for the coming state tests. . .

And at Public School 24 in the Riverdale neighborhood in the Bronx, a fifth-grade teacher, Walter Rendon, has found himself soothing tense 10- and 11-year-olds as they pore over test prep exercises. “Sometimes, I say: ‘Just breathe.’ ”

New York public school students and parents are, by now, accustomed to standardized tests. But a pall has settled over classrooms across the state because this year’s tests, which begin Tuesday, are unlike any exams the students have seen. They have been redesigned and are tougher. And they are likely to cover at least some material that has yet to make its way into the curriculum.

The new tests, given to third through eighth graders, are intended to align with Common Core standards, a set of unified academic guidelines adopted by almost every state, goaded by grant money offered by the Obama administration. They set more rigorous classroom goals for American students, with a focus on critical thinking skills, abstract reasoning in math and reading comprehension.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/nyregion/with-tougher-standardized-tests-a-reminder-to-breathe.html?hp



A BIG curve:

The preparation sessions also include anxiety relief. In Mr. Rendon’s classroom in Riverdale, test drills are preceded by breathing exercises and “modified yoga” poses. Some schools, like Ms. DaProcida’s, held pep rallies last week to raise students’ spirits.

The city has spent $125 million on the Common Core, including teacher training sessions and the establishing of Common Core leaders who can teach and evaluate new practices. It also expects to spend more than $50 million on new Common Core-aligned textbooks.

Statistically speaking, city officials said, people should not worry too much about falling marks because everyone is taking the same new tests. Schools, students and teachers will be judged against one another.