One Busy Week For Me

[lilclyde54]

We gave our fourth grade state-wide writing assessment Wednesday. All of our standardized testing involves a bunch of security oriented stuff to make sure no one has any temptation or opportunity to cheat. Writing our school test security plan and keeping all the required documentation is my responsibility. By the time we finish our last round of tests in May, that School Test Security Plan will be between 3 and 4 inches thick. Each book is numbered and you have to keep track of them on several different tracking forms the entire time they are in your possession. Actually, I have done it for over a decade and have the drill down pretty well. It is just a bit tedious because you dare not get complacent and have some sort of testing irregularity that can get your entire district put on probation. We did the 5th grade state science assessment last week so we are in the testing groove right now.

The thing that made things really busy this week is that someone over at the middle school level suddenly figured out last Friday that they needed to have all of our 5th grade students fill out all the registration documents before this week. Since I was busy Tuesday putting together the class packets for 4th grade writing, busy Wednesday actually giving the 4th grade writing, and busy today giving all the makeups for those students who were absent yesterday; it has left very little time to get those 5th grade registration documents done. So I have been scrambling to get a homeroom done here and another one done there. I finally got everyone all their registration done and have it ready to take to the middle schools. Somehow, I have to think that they should have known that they needed all this back in February and could have set things up then so that all of us elementary people weren't having to scramble around and get that done in the middle of testing.

Now all I have to do is get all my writing test books in sequential order and check them off the master list to get them ready to turn in tomorrow. It will take me a little longer to do the actual response books that will be scored since they have to be divided into class packs with two forms of identification and documentation on each pack. Once that gets done, I am ready to be done with them and can start looking forward to Spring Break.

[Appa23]

Who grades the tests?

I think that my kids' writing evaluations are coming up sometime in March. Unless they have changed the method, the actual writing portion is centrally gathered by the school district, and then teachers are assigned papers from schools other than their own.

[lilclyde54]

Every one of our state assessments, including 4th, 7th, and 10th grade writing are sent to the testing company (Pearson) which is located out of state to grade. Heck, we don't even let our teachers administer the test to students that they teach.