Testing!

This week my students are taking the Stanford tests - an American standardized test that is similar to the Iowa tests I took growing up in New Jersey, except that unlike the Iowas the Stanford tests are untimed. These tests are a challenge for my students for several reasons. First of all, almost all of my students are English Language Learners in a non-English immersion environment and so vocabulary, reading comprehension, grammar, and math word problems are very difficult for them. Second, many of the questions use very American concepts or vocabulary like "What shape is an alphabet block?" (my kids were trying to figure out what shape a block in the shape of an A would be) or "At what temperature does water freeze on the Fahrenhite scale?". Obviously these tests are American, so that makes sense, but I guess the question is why is this non-American school requiring the students to take these tests?

I'm assuming it has to do with WASC accredidation, as well as being used as a measure of progress, but I do wonder how accurate the results will be. Particularly because when my kids don't know the answers right away they tend to rush through and just pick an answer without really thinking it through. This puts me in a difficult position; should I emphasize the importance of the test to make them work more carefully or should I just let it go? They're only 8 years old, do they really need to be freaked out about a standardized test now? I think they'll have plenty of time for that in the future!

AND I got a new student yesterday! So this poor boy has to take the Stanford tests all week! Yesterday when we were doing vocabulary he looked at me and said, "Teacher, I don't think I've learned any of this!". Poor boy. Oh well, just do your best!