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Testing the Standards -- Six professionals, college students take middle school exams
By: Shayna Chabner
NORTH COUNTY ---- How much do you remember from seventh and eighth grades? Six adults found out last week. The group of North County professionals and current college students sat down ---- at the invitation of the North County Times ---- to take a shortened sample version of the high-stakes California Standardized Testing and Reporting exam given to seventh- and eighth-graders each spring.
Take the test.
What they discovered, most said, was that the students are being asked to learn a lot, the test is more difficult than one might expect, and that while they as adults may not have retained all the knowledge learned years ago, they could rely on their ability to analyze information and eliminate wrong answers in order to get the correct answers.
"It's not about remembering what I learned 40 years ago, but remembering how to rationalize," said Charlie, a 55-year-old general contractor who took the sample test Wednesday. "It was difficult ... but I was taught how to learn."
The last names of each of the test takers are being withheld on condition of anonymity, one of the terms insisted upon when they agreed to take the test at the North County Times' Escondido office.
Inviting the group of adults ---- who varied by profession, level of education, and age ---- to take the exam was an opportunity to hear their analysis of standardized tests, the language used in questions, and find out how much people tend to remember from what they learned in middle school. A direct comparison between their scores and those of seventh-graders, however, is not applicable because the sample questions were taken from several different years of exams, it was shorter and the scoring was done differently.
The 36-question exam covered everything from the Greeks' development of the city-state system, to dividing fractions and breaking down the characteristics of motion. The test had four categories: math, English, history and science.
Though there may have been a little sweating over the exam, the angst among the adults involved in the experiment hardly compared to that of thousands of teachers and school officials whose reputations and funding hang on the test results each year. Schools with too many kids who fail could lose students ---- and the government money that comes with them.
One who took the test said that scaled-down version of the exam asked questions that students really should know how to answer.
"I found that it actually provided some practical knowledge that people need to have," said Jeff, a newspaper columnist. "You will actually use some of this math when you are out in the world, in your kitchens cooking. These are the exact types of equations that are needed."
One of the participants, Barnaby, a copy editor for a sports trading card company in Carlsbad, earned a perfect score. Jeff and an area tutor, Dolores, who coaches kindergarten through adult students in all subjects, missed the 100 percent mark by three questions. Kayla, a 19-year-old community college student, was right behind with a total of 32 out of 36 questions right.
The other two who took the test ---- Charlie and Chris, a community college student who works with kids as an after-school educator ---- missed 11 and 8 questions, respectively. Most of the missed questions, the test takers found, were in the single area or subject that they rely on the least in their professional fields.
Chris, for instance, noted how answering the math equations was easy because he helps students on a weekly basis with similar homework problems. He got 10 out of 10 math questions correct. In science and history ---- two subjects he said had not really revisited since grade school ---- he got half of the answers right.
"It's basically just about the task at hand," he said. "As soon as I know that I don't have to know about it, (the material) takes a back seat."
Charlie's weakness was in the math section; he missed all but three questions.
"I just sat in my office and put together a $3 million bid, and I didn't use any of this," he said in reference to the math equations, which covered fractions, percentages and scientific notation.
The test questions were taken from the California Department of Education's Web site, where the state publishes a range of previously used test questions, dating from 2003 to 2006. Although the exam this group took was much shorter than the exam students take, the questions were representative of the style of questions and material that might be asked.
The four test takers that did the best said that being able to break down the questions and eliminate what might be a wrong answer enabled them to make an educated guess when they were not sure about the material.
"I think (the test) is decent," Barnaby said, crediting his success to his middle school teachers, a continued interest in history and mythology, and the use of math for work. "I don't think it's as bad as people say."
The results, seventh- and eighth-grade teachers from around the area said, offer a glimpse into some of the challenges and difficulties students face when taking the exams and teachers try to overcome in teaching them.
In the course of a year, students cover an extensive amount of material and remembering each detail can be difficult on test days, said Tony Ricchuiti, a seventh-grade math teacher at Del Dios Middle School in Escondido.
Ricchuiti added that while the tests mirror the state's standards for each subject, students learn at different paces and in different ways. They also may know the material when they are tested in class, and then misunderstand or overthink a question, just by how it's asked.
"It's always a challenge," Ricchuiti said, adding that offering adults a chance to take the exams themselves might give them a better understanding of what is being asked of kids.
"I think they would see how difficult it is," he said. "It's hard for adults ... and it puts a lot of pressure on us and the kids."
Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 740-5416 or schabner@nctimes.com.
— Shayna Chabner
North County Times
2007-10-01
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