A little note to standardized testing...

So EOGs and retakes and makeups are finally, finally done after three straight weeks of testing. And that also means that final scores are in as well.

Had a very (VERY) scary week or so there where I learned how my students did on their tests...

• ALL of my 3rd graders failed.... allllllll of them  :(
• 4th graders did okay - about half and half - but there are definitely some retakes in their future
• The 5th graders blew their tests OUT OF THE WATER!!! High 3's and 4's all around... Fantastic!!!

So although I was very, very happy about the 5th graders and so very proud of them, because I got the news of all grade levels at the same time, I couldn't help feeling terrible for the 3rd and 4th graders that would need to retest the following week.

This was my 3rd graders' first time in the EOG dance, and they were all so very nervous. I watched them as they tested and they tried soooo hard. They took their time and read, they used their strategies, and still... still they didn't pass. It totally SUCKS that I'd have to tell them that they would have to sit through all that craziness AGAIN to try for a passing grade. Many of them broke down and cried, and I wanted to cry right along with them. They're too young to have to go through this kind of crazy stress just to pass a freakin' test!!

Anyway... once retakes were done, just about all of the 3rd and 4th graders that needed retesting had passed, and for those few that did not, both I and the parents could really care less. These were students whose amazing growth this school year really couldn't be captured in anyone's standardized "test"... growth like learning HOW TO READ, growth like learning to differentiate between vowel teams and use the Silent E rule consistently... growth like being able to get through one entire cold read (yeah, one - the test had EIGHT) by themselves without having to ask for any help... Growth that is not measured anywhere on the wonderful student nightmare that is End of Grade Tests.

So, there, EOGs. Regardless of the need to retake and whatever their ending scores happened to be, I am so, so proud of the growth my students have made this year. I have seen their confidence increase in ways that I never could have imagined when I first met them in August. I have seen the "lightbulb" go on countless times when something they were learning about finally began to make sense to them, and watched it burn even brighter when they realized on their own that what they were learning actually connected to something they'd learned previously in another class. I have seen them reach and surpass their IEP goals and track their own progress on wall charts, beaming with pride each time they realized they'd just beat their own best and would get to color in their bar graph sections a little bit higher. I've seen them grow so much. So much.

So regardless of whether we all reached our "Big Goal" or not (and we came pretty dern close, thank-you-very-much), I learned this year that my students' progress isn't tied to any one test that "someone" decides to come up with to determine whether or not they've been successful in a given grade. My students are successful anyway, and I remain incredibly proud of them.

So take that, EOGs!  ;)