The Rookery

We are always struck by the irony of MCA timing and Honoring Week.  Both the MCAs and personal projects are ways for students to show what they know.  Through projects, students demonstrate who they are as learners – how they ask questions and seek answers; how they synthesize information and communicate it.  When we talk about the MCAs we frame them as another way for students to show what they know.  We share that projects and observations are a much richer way but that it would be way too expensive for people from the state to come and watch our number talks or our projects so that they could see how much every one knows.  Testing is an efficient if very imperfect way for the state to make sure we are doing our job as a school and that kids are learning.  

We also share that testing is often a way that kids are asked to show what they know.  It's a good idea to learn skills that help you demonstrate what you're able to do in a variety of settings – and learning how to take a test well is a part of that.  To that end, we emphasize the following things:

1. Relax.  Have Fun.  We make sure to keep things low keys and we encourage the students to use relaxation tools like breathing or power stances.  We have been known to do a chicken dance to get ready.  Relaxed brains function a lot better than stressed ones.  (And well-rested, well fed brains have an easier time, too!)
2. Think of It as a Puzzle.  Be interested in what you're doing.  Sometimes kids look at a question and instantly think, "I don't know it."  Usually, they can figure out a lot if they just take a deep breath and puzzle things out.  Re-read.  Eliminate outliers.  Use clues from other questions.  Being interested in the content, especially during the reading test, helps a lot, too.
3. Know What to Expect – know how the test works.  Know what tools you have access to.  Know what content is going to be covered.  We make sure students have a chance to see what the on-line tests look like and how they work. We spend about an hour doing the practice test so they can see what it's like.  Students get a chance to work on sample items in a relaxed setting where they can try out tools and ask us questions.
4. Check Your Work, Use Your Tools – Our students are so used to us having a lot of data from which to form instruction that they do need a reminder to make sure that, on the MCAs their answers reflect their best work.  As I tell them, the computer isn't going to realize that you mis-remembered a math fact but actually know what you're doing when you do multi-digit multiplication.  Instead, it'll just think you don't know how to do multi-digit multiplication.  We teach students that "checking your work" means re-thinking the math and re-calculating answers.  Any time students use the calculator, they should do the calculation twice to make sure they get the same answer both times.  We also make sure students know to use scrap paper, the calculator, and other tools they're given.

These four tenets hold true for any test – from the MCA to the GRE to a Foreign Service Exam.  We want our students to feel competent and well prepared for any situation and standardized tests are no different.  While we believe that standardized tests offer only a snapshot of a student (and often a very flawed snapshot), we also believe that it's our job to make sure students feel ready for them.  So here we go!