Hold Students Accountable in Testing

The results just came back, and just 31 percent of my tenth grade English students passed their state high school exam this year. This was my first year teaching a tested subject. My students scored five percent better than those the year before in our school with a different teacher, so though I’m disappointed in the number, I am thankful that we improved.

All of my conservative self-reliant instincts tell me that the low score is my fault. But 180 days in the classroom with my Baltimore students year makes me less willing to take the full rap for this let-down. This year, my students read Animal Farm, Anthem, The Other Wes Moore, Night, and Lord of the Flies. They wrote and read poetry, did a research project, and created a one act play. They studied grammar from the Glencoe series, did daily drills reinforcing good writing, and participated successfully in weekly Socratic Seminars. All of my formative and summative assessments were aligned to the state exam. I even created all of my assignments in the same font as that which my students would see on test day.

For a good solid month we drilled repeatedly on test prep strategies and covered every single concept that I knew would be tested. I tracked the progress of students on certain testing indicators, repeatedly telling them how much I believed in them. Most importantly, I thought, I told them that I knew they could do it if they just gave it their best shot. After all, they only really needed approximately 50 percent to earn a passing score.

But on test day, I saw what I have seen while proctoring this test year after year in the city. Students began the first 50 minute section working very hard. They were clearly reading the passages, marking them up like I had taught them to do, and using the testing strategies that I desperately attempted to instill in them. As the morning wore on, however, they grew fatigued. Heads began slipping into hands and then down onto desks. Eyes began to twitch and then flutter to sleep. I could do little but watch, knowing that if I said anything to students I might be accused of cheating and risk losing my career. By the final section, my students were “just putting anything,” as several told me later on. I just prayed that my scores would show a gain so people reading scores in the newspaper or online would think that I had taught something this year.

Something that frustrates me is that teachers are the only ones taking the heat for these scores. As someone who put in an honest effort to lead students all year, these scores are devastating. I only wish I could say that my students will be devastated when they see the results. They won’t. That is because they know they will get unlimited chances to pass the test before their senior year. And if they fail to pass by then they will work on a project, which will eventually serve as their graduation requirement. All the while, my scores look like absolute crap, thus allowing self righteous media types and politicians to harp more and more about accountability and pay for performance.

I am more than willing to make changes to my planning, teaching, lesson delivery, remediation, etc. to help my students pass their test next year. That is what I spend day after day trying to do. I am willing to be observed every day if that is what it takes to prove that I am actually teaching. But it just seems like teachers are taking all the blame when students should simply be doing better.