Time to sharpen the pencils! Standards tell us what our kids should learn; standardized testing tells us what they have learned
Ah, springtime, that time of year when our children’s skills are put to the test and adults keep score. I’m not talking Little League or softball.
I’m referring to the standardized testing window that’s about to open for school children across the country. If you’re like many - maybe most - parents, you probably question why our kids who are in at least the second grade spend hour after hour filling in bubbles with a No. 2 pencil.
I have to confess I counted myself among those parents until I plucked the California content standards off their cyber shelf on the state Department of Education Web site and took a good, hard look. What I found was list after list of everything our children are supposed to learn during each year of school.
So much common sense, I thought as I read though the standards for each grade.
Here are a few benchmarks for second graders:
Now, I will agree that testing takes way too long. And it makes me laugh when schools send home reminders for our kids to get a good night’s sleep and eat well during testing season. Why not the rest of the year?
But I see the value in having uniform state standards and testing students and holding their schools accountable.
If you’d like to look at the standards your child is expected to learn this year, I’ve made it really simple if you live in California. Copies are available here on the site, filed under Smart (and free) Guides. You just might be pleasantly surprised by what you find.
(If you prefer, you can go to the state Department of Education site. The standards are listed by subject, not by grade. So finding everything you need is downright unwieldy. Standards on Such A Smart Mom by compiled by grade for grades K-8. High school standards are listed by subject since the order in which students take courses varies from student to student and school to school.
Keyword search the name of your state and content standards.
