Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/94609
Susan Huls plays "Around the World" with flash cards to help prepare students to take tests. Parents expect high scores, she says. That adds pressure to both students and teachers. Maratea. Teachers with higher scores may feel happy, but there's pressure to stay on top. This competitiveness concerns many because it can decrease collaboration, which negatively impacts student learning. Maratea sees this happening locally. "It's sad, but it happens. There's so much pressure. " In fact, prepping should not happen until after the curricu- lum is taught, he adds. "We ask for multiple measures to get " 18 California Educator November 2012 DO GOOD TEST SCORES MEAN GOOD TEACHING? Test prep includes drills, practice tests and going over strategies on taking standardized tests. CTA's policy is pretty clear, says Assessment and Testing Chair Cliff Kusaba. Test prep should not interfere with teaching time. "We have developed account- ability standards. Test prep should not take 60 percent of classroom time, and it should be embedded as part of the cur- riculum, not as a separate activity. away from the focus of a single test to determine student learn- ing. Teachers prepare students for all kinds of tests, mostly for the important test called life. with standardized testing. "It used to be that we had an entire year to teach curricu- Kusaba says CTA is concerned with the craziness that comes " teachers with the best scores may not always be the best teach- ers, says Adams. "Average teachers may get great scores, but good teachers lum, but from a standardized test perspective, the last day of the school year revolves around the California Standards Tests," says Jeremy Adams, author of the teacher memoir Full Classrooms, Empty Selves. "Our calendar and pacing revolve around this reality." Test scores are now defining "good" teachers, although make lifelong learners out of students. Teacher A could teach exclusively to the standards and drill-and-kill for months leading up to the test. Teacher B might take time for projects,