State Testing here in CA this week...

[FirstLight]

So my kids are told they should have their mom make them a big healthy breakfast and they can bring snacks for munching while taking the tests. My son just told me the school passes out cheese sticks and juice, etc...

Also, the teacher says to have a 'positive' morning...hugs are mandatory.

I get that the school wants to be a top tester in the county because they get more money that way. But am I just too cynical and see this as some kind of weird bribery/performing monkey thing?

...anyway, I'm off to make scrambled eggs and fruit smoothies... and I guess I have to hug my kids too, sheesh!

[Brickbat]

1. Cheese sticks and juice are bribes?

If kids perform better with snacks, maybe they should hand them out every day.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. Any issues if the students boycott or refuse to fill out the test?

Seeing more of that elsewhere. Not sure what CA's stand on that is

[Fresh_Start]

3. was last week in our school district in NoCal

I don't think its bribery...I think they are trying to get the best scores they can (for the school's reputation)...and kids that aren't hungry do better on tests.
If we were a decent society, we'd worry about the hungry children everyday and not just on standardized test days.

[FirstLight]

4. exactly!

...and for what it's worth, I actually *do* make my kids have brekky every day...but this week I guess I have to spoil them since the teachers said so :rolleyes:

[FirstLight]

5. I don't know about opting out...

I know we *can*....but they surely don't advertize it ...

What galls me is the instructions to the parents on how to best prepare our kids...Why DON'T they care about my kids the rest of the year? This is the school that has driven me to pull my daughter and start independent study because of bullying and crappy teacher relations. (http://www.democraticunderground.com/11245897) This is the school that has the highest scores in the county and likes to brag about it and get more money for laptops...but the principal is a prick and actually blamed ME for my daughter's teacher talking smack in the halls about us.

guh

I don't mind the testing itself, it's the two weeks of PREP and wasted time they spend making it so damnned important. No wonder some kids get test anxiety...!

[LiberalAndProud]

6. If you understand the consequences for teachers, administrators and schools for not doing well,

you will understand that they are doing everything they can to help children excel on the test. Make no mistake, the stakes are high.

[FirstLight]

7. in some districts, yes, agreed

but this school is already at the 'top of their game' and it's like a pony race for them at this point. That's why I roll my eyes at the whole thing. Not to mention, they have not lived up to their "high marks" in other departments throughout the year so the testing being good for this school is like a big FAKE

[LiberalAndProud]

8. It's my opinion that the system is rigged so that

schools at the 'top of their game' are set up to plummet to the bottom. It's a no win for our educational system, teachers, administrators and especially our children, as your observation about other departments attests. It's no longer about educating children. It's about assessment test results, which isn't the same thing at all. Unless we recover control of our classrooms, this is the future of public education, and it isn't good.