PASS

I spent Friday's classes giving my students a session I liked to call "My Last Word on PASS." Not much to it; just a general overview of both days next week: the Extended Response and Multiple Choice sections take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. I talked to them about what to expect on each part, reviewed the rubric, reinforced the writing process approach, fielded questions...

I can tell my kids are thinking about it. Many are stressed. Some don't care. I understand both of those positions. I've tried to encourage them to take a big-picture approach. Yes, this assessment matters a great deal, but it's not the be-all, end-all of their sixth grade year. How they perform in the classroom setting will mean just as much to their standing at the close of the year.

I'll admit, it's hard to keep my true feelings about high-stakes testing out of my teaching on the job. And on some days, I don't even try. I'll admit, though, the revamped writing portion of PASS helps a good deal. At least the test-makers got something right and admitted that there's no way to expect kid writers (or any writer, for that matter) to churn out a quality paper with extensive time constraints. You can't score process writing the way you would score a multiple-choice test. Neither one is really better than the other. Just different.

If you're going to give an assessment on an extended writing response, the best route really is to eliminate the time restriction and give students a rubric to go by. Which they've done. I've done my best to incorporate that rubric from the start of the year, using its terms and making refs to it at different points during our units.

Only problem is perception. I stressed to my kids that time is their friend on this test, and they give me those "Say wha?" looks. Hard for them to buy. And when their conditioned response is to zip through the tests, it could lead to lower-quality results. Some will rush through it anyway because they just don't care.

I'll be honest - I don't know how to fix that. It still smacks of attacking the cogs in the machine instead of the machine itself. The cogs work fine, but they can only do so much when the larger machine pulls them, or has pulled them, in a certain direction for so long. I suppose the best we can do is continue to work within the system and try to get little changes made here and there, then document the results.

If they support a different philosophy from high-stakes testing, who knows what could happen?

If not...well, there's always a new test. Like PASS. Or PACT before it. Or BSAP before it.