Some Georgia students face 70 days of testing this year

A recent article in the Macon, Georgia newspaper The Telegraph outlines the massive extent of time spent on testing in some school districts in the US. Students in Bibb County, Georgia will have 70 days testing in a school year that is 180 days long. More that one-third of the school will be devoted testing.

As Monty Neill of FairTest points out “It is important to note that testing is exhausting for many kids, and even if only some kids are tested it typically affects the schedules of many more children, with the result that even if the tests officially only take a few hours, it is not uncommon for the day to be compromised, affecting other classes.”

Check out readers comments, including some from students here.

Test dates for Bibb County schools

For description of state and national tests visit www.gadoe.org/ci testing.aspx)
SEPTEMBER

19-29, Iowa Test of Basic Skills third-, fifth-, eighth-graders

25, Georgia alternate assessment window opens (for students with disabilities)

27-28, Fall Georgia High School Writing Tests and Basic skills test

OCTOBER

14, SAT and SAT II

18, PSAT exam, ninth- and 10th-graders

28, ACT exam (high school)

NOVEMBER

4, SAT and SAT II, English language proficiency test (high school)

6-10, Winter Georgia High School Graduation Test

DECEMBER

2, SAT I and SAT II (high school)

5-6, End of Course Tests (high school)

7-8 End of Course Tests make-up

9, ACT (high school)

JANUARY

17-18, Middle grades Writing Assessment

27, SAT and SAT II

FEBRUARY

10, ACT

23, GKAP-R testing window opens

28, Georgia High School Graduation Writing Tests

MARCH

1, Georgia High School Graduation Writing Tests retest make-up

2, ACCESS (for English language learners)

7, fifth-grade writing assessment

8, fifth-grade writing assessment make-up

10, SAT only

19-30, third-grade writing evaluations begin

19-23, Georgia High School Graduation Tests and BST

APRIL

3-12, Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (first through eighth grades)

14, ACT

MAY

5, SAT and SAT II

7-8 Advanced placement exams

9-10, End of Course Tests

11-14, End of Course Tests make-up

JUNE

2, SAT and SAT II

9, ACT

25-27 CRCT retests

28, CRCT retest make-ups
SOURCE: Bibb County Board of Education

The Telegraph: Bibb students face 70 days of testing

Posted on Tue, Sep. 19, 2006

Bibb students face 70 days of testing

By Julie Hubbard
TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER
It’s just seven weeks into the new school year and Bibb schoold students are already bombarded with homework, school fundraisers – and yes, standardized tests.

Starting today, through Sept. 29, all third-, fifth- and eighth-graders will take the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

That’s a national exam that compares how students fare in English, math, science and social studies compared to peers in other states.

Next week, third-graders also will take the CogAt, a national exam that tests a student’s ability to reason – the scores help school officials identify gifted or at-risk students. Juniors also take a writing exam needed for graduation, Sept. 27-28.

More than 70 of the 180 school days in Bibb County are earmarked to give elementary, middle or high school students some form of a state or national exam, according to Bibb’s testing calendar.

While some parents feel the tests are too much, most school officials say these mandatory exams are vital for detecting a student’s skill level in the classroom, and to help students improve.

“I know there are complaints on how many testing dates are given,” Heritage Elementary School principal Kaye Hlavaty said Monday. “I feel like the benefits outweigh the time it takes (to give the exams).”

Heritage Elementary uses the reading and math scores from the Iowa tests as a precursor to how well students might test in those same subjects when they take the high stakes Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, a state exam given in the spring.

The Iowa tests give the school system an idea of how students are performing on different subjects at the start of the school year, said Bruce Giroux, Bibb’s director of student assessment and accountability.

“We have the opportunity to have some results earlier on, and we can work with students,” he said.

The federal No Child Left Behind law of 2001 has influenced more student testing, Giroux said. The law says all students, including minorities and students with disabilities – must be learning at their grade level by 2014.

Schools are now held accountable for how students perform, which is why it’s important that systems have test data, he said.

“Do we test a lot? Yes, we do,” Giroux said. “At every grade level, there is some form of testing going on … but you have to have some form of testing to measure and understand where your students are going.”

Some teachers get frustrated with the amount of classroom time spent on testing, and students often “feel very overwhelmed,” said Jeff Hubbard, president of the Georgia Association of Educators. But most educators “see the value,” he said.

Most educators are in favor of standardized testing if school systems use the data for improvement as the data is intended, he said.

“If they do nothing with the results, they’ve lost valuable learning time. Testing for the sake of testing is ridiculous,” Hubbard said. “If it’s used as a diagnostic tool to improve teaching and learning, it’s a good thing.”

And most of the state’s school systems do something with their test data, he added.

Matesa Burnett’s daughter Chasity, a kindergarten student at Burke Elementary, has already taken a state exam this school year.

Kindergarten students took the Georgia Kindergarten Assessment Program during the first two weeks of school, a test to measure social and emotional readiness and literacy and math skills. The tests are used to judge whether the student is ready for first grade.

“I don’t think they give too many (tests), it’s fine,” Burnett said. “It’s teaching children to prepare for the future.”

Another parent, Brenda Johnson, said she didn’t like so much student testing.

“Some kids get nervous taking tests and don’t do well,” Johnson said. Students are often judged just by their test scores, not how well they do in class, she said.

Most of the standardized tests given by Bibb County schools are mandated by the state, Giroux said.

And like it or not, standardized tests are now a part of today’s education.

“We do have more tests … there’s much more accountability,” Giroux said. “We’re measuring students at every grade level, and checking their progress on some form of standardized exam.”