Teaching to the Test: Just Say No

From the Desk of Hope… According to many people, teaching to the test is unavoidable and those who opt not to succumb to the pressure will reap harsh consequences under tough accountability systems. I was at a school this week in which a principal told her staff that if she saw test preparation in the…

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Test Prep

From the Desk of Hope… Anxious. Frustrated. Unmotivated. Worried. These are all adjectives that describe the behaviors I see in some lessons centered around test preparation. Teachers feel tremendous pressure to prepare students for high stakes tests. In response they spend considerable time (sometimes months) before the test on test-like items and teaching test-taking strategies.…

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