The Upcoming Standardized Tests in South Carolina {Thoughts from a Teacher}

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UPcoming test in south carolina

“Don’t freak out!”

This is the same advice that I get from my students every year about standardized testing. It is my custom to ask my more successful students what advice they would give to help students get through all that standardized testing that happens about this time of year. Those three simple words … Don’t freak out (or something similar) . . . come up every single time.

This year, I think it’s not only good advice for students, but also for parents and teachers!

There are significant changes in the way the students are tested this year so everyone, including yours truly, is nervous about what the data from all those tests will look like.

Changes in Testing You Can Expect to See

Probably the most significant change is the tests in ELA and math are timed this year.

What does this mean? How is this different than what actually happens in the classroom? Let’s examine the impact it will have on testing in writing.

It means that unless your child has an accommodation related to having more time, they will have thirty minutes to complete a piece of writing. I have to be honest and say I was hysterical when I first heard this. Writing is a process. Good writing takes time. Students should be able to brainstorm, draft, edit, revise, and think (not necessarily in that order) when they are writing. (I should know, I teach it!)

Once I calmed down though, and actually tried timed writing out with my students, I felt a lot better. So, I will take my students advice and not freak out. Parents you need to do this as well! A piece of writing completed in thirty minutes is a different animal than one that your student has spent the last two weeks completing.

As a thinking human being, a parent and a teacher, I am going to have faith that the evaluators of the students’ writing will view their piece as a snap-shot, a draft, not a completed, ready to publish masterpiece towards which my students strive, I am proud to say, most of the time.

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What the New Testing Schedule Looks Like

As an overview, here is what the schedule looks like for most students in public schools in South Carolina:

Date Time allowed Test
April 28 30 minutes Writing for students in grades 3-8
April 28 30-35 minutes according to grade level English for students in grades 3-8 Personally, I am glad this is on the agenda. We have somehow lost the idea that grammar and mechanics are important, both in writing and speaking!
April 29 60 minutes Reading grades 3-8
April 30 55-65 minutes according to grade level Math grades 3-8
May 7 Not timed SCPASS Science grades 4-8
May 8 Not timed SCPASS Social Studies grades 4-8

Note: In some districts, there will also be an additional science test.

My Thoughts, as a Teacher, on Standardized Testing this Year

Standardized testing is a reality in the lives of many of our children these days. Yes, it is a political hot topic for many. My intention is not to become too keyed up about that right now. I am stressed about the tests. What I don’t want to happen is for my students to feel so much pressure that they also become overly stressed about the tests. They have worked hard this year. You know whether your child has worked hard and done their best. I really hope they have learned and, frankly, that is the most important thing.

So, let’s take some advice from my fifth graders and not freak out. We cannot change that the tests will happen. They will. I always tell my students, and my own daughter, that we are more clearly defined by how we REACT and RESPOND to what we have to do than by the events themselves.

Much love to all the students of South Carolina, the parents who raise them, and the teachers who teach every day! Do your best and don’t freak out!

What are your thoughts on the new standardized tests? Are you “freaking out?”

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