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Mother Lode schools are giving students free snacks and other rewards to coax them through the STAR tests, California’s annual standardized exams, which are taking place this week and next in many local classrooms. Summerville High School students can earn higher grades in some courses by doing well on the tests, while students at Soulsbyville Elementary got an ice cream party shortly before this year’s round of testing. The ice cream party rewarded students who improved on last year’s tests. It also helped “talk up” the test and build students’ enthusiasm to do well, according to Soulsybville School District Superintendent Jeff Winfield.
Soulsbyville Principal Bart Taylor said that the school tries to boost confidence along the way. “We do a kind of pep rally a week or so before the test to encourage all our students to put forth their best effort, to have confidence and know that we’ve taught them well … and don’t have anything to fear from the test,” Taylor said. Schools take steps to make sure that students are well fed during STAR testing weeks. Winfield said that Soulsbyville Elementary provides free snacks for students on test days, with the cafeteria stockpiling items like raisins and carrots far in advance. Sonora Elementary School is giving what Principal Pam Vlach describes as a “higher protein” breakfast in the interest of helping students do better on the tests. Breakfast is free on test days. STAR testing refers to a series of standardized exams that students must take in second through 11th grades. General education students take the California Standards Tests, while students with special needs may take other variations. STAR tests assess math, reading, writing, science and history. They’re split across several days, with the exact schedule varying across grade levels and school districts. Since STAR tests were instituted by the California Legislature in 1997, many parents and teachers have come to regard the tests as a necessary evil. “There’s two sides to it,” said Tammy McVey, parent of a Sonora High ninth grader and Sonora Elementary kindergartner. “First of all, I’m glad to see the results every year, because then I know what my child is learning and what their strengths and weaknesses are. But now it seems like we’re teaching to the test, I find that very frustrating.” Approaches to STAR testing vary between school districts. Belleview Elementary Principal Paula Maucere said her school doesn’t hold any assemblies before STAR testing or give rewards for good scores as some California districts have. “We don’t give awards (for test scores) because we encourage kids to do their best and be proud of what they’re capable of doing,” Maucere said. She explained that some students may struggle on standardized tests because of learning disabilities or test anxiety. “To leave them behind and not give them an award for putting in effort isn’t doing them a favor at all,” Maucere said. “It’s very disheartening when a child picks up their STAR testing results and sees their bar graph low … We don’t go the extra mile to point that out.” Belleview Elementary provides snacks to younger students on all school days and encourages older students to bring healthy snacks from home. Vlach said that Sonora Elementary holds schoolwide celebrations when there’s an improvement in its Academic Performance Index, part of which is determined by test scores. “Our teachers do incentives in the classroom, and we talk a lot about improving their individual test scores from basic to proficient,” Vlach said. “They know where their scores are … the teachers make them aware of that.” Bret Harte High School and Calaveras High School both give teachers the prerogative to implement rewards for good STAR test scores, allowing some students to earn higher grades by doing well. Calaveras Unified School District Superintendent Mark Campbell said that the awards for schoolwide improvement in his district “are usually just the principals agreeing to do something crazy.” Students and parents get their STAR test results in August or September, Winfield said. He said that the tests change every year, making improvement difficult to assess. “The tests are sometimes hard to compare from year to year as students are improving,” Winfield said. “When you have other kinds of testing like benchmark testing, you really see how the child is progressing from one month to the next.” Maucere said she would like to see standardized testing postponed until third grade. That will happen in 2014 as the state switches to “Smarter Balanced” assessments, part of a broader transition to new curricular standards. |