The Tri-Caucus Love Affair With Testing
Now that the final stretch of the Illinois 2010-2011 school year is in site, I wonder if teachers and students agree that the sky did not fall without the writing portion of the ISAT. In fact, while it's fresh mind, I wonder if people think that the net effect was positive. Nobody had to waste the day giving this test, and nobody had to shoehorn their students' minds into the the production of the formulaic claptrap that this test requires.
One of my favorite conference speakers is Nancie Atwell, the great writing teacher, who tells her audiences that she has come to terms with standardized writing tests by teaching them as a genre-- a genre that only exists in schools. With her wisdom as guidance, I used to take this approach as well. The problem is that it is all such an inauthentic writing experience that it requires a great deal of prep work to get kids to set aside good practices for a while-- so that they can write something that will gain the approval of a stranger, in another state, working a
One of my favorite conference speakers is Nancie Atwell, the great writing teacher, who tells her audiences that she has come to terms with standardized writing tests by teaching them as a genre-- a genre that only exists in schools. With her wisdom as guidance, I used to take this approach as well. The problem is that it is all such an inauthentic writing experience that it requires a great deal of prep work to get kids to set aside good practices for a while-- so that they can write something that will gain the approval of a stranger, in another state, working a
