Proctor PASS Testing

Yesterday, today and tomorrow I am proctoring in a third grade class for PASS testing. The South Carolina standardized test for students. This is the test that gives each school their scores for the year and whether or not they met AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress). I have to say it is a painful experience to stand over third graders is a room that is completely silent, no getting up from their seats and timeless. However most students finish in two hours, and the teacher I am in the room with has the students close their test booklets and allows them to have a snack at their desks silently for ten minutes.

The most interesting thing I have observed in this process, is how the student actually takes the test. Not knowing any different way other then my own to take a test, I was very intrigued on how the students took the test. Some students followed the way in which I employe. Read answer the question mark the appropriate bubble. I never imaged all the different ways students would take this test. Some answer just in the booklet and then transfer there information to the scan tron. Some do this technique a page a a time. Still others bubble in sections at a time. Some students use the booklet for scratch sheets some not a scratch anywhere. I wonder how the different modes of taking a test are similar to their learning styles? Is their a correlation between the two? Or even a correlation in the answers and how well the individual student does on the test? Are the students taught all these different ways and given options on how to take the test, that best suits the need of the learner? Are there studies done on test taking for standardized test?

We studied multiple learning styles in school, multiple ways of testing students knowledge (assessment), why not study the way students take standardized tests? If they are here to stay and we will make all our decisions based on test scores, then we need to be studying the way students take the test and their process of thinking when taking a test. This way we do not teach to the test but understand the test outcomes in relationship to the child.

Teacher in training,

Heather Roller