Final Exams Week - Advice

This week is final exams week for my sons’ school district. So, here’s my advice to parents on how to handle your kids during this week. (Or to parents of any age students who have tests throughout the school year.)

DON’T BUG THEM!

Our kids know they have tests. They know they have to study if they want to get a decent grade. The teachers tell them this. Their peers tell them this. They tell themselves this. The last thing they need (or want) to hear is their parents reminding them (ie., nagging them) to study.

Bugging our kids about studying (or homework) is like rubbing salt in the wound. It’s already painful enough (usually) for kids to buckle down and study (and do homework).

But, many parents fear that if they don’t urge them to study, maybe they won’t study and then maybe they’ll fail, or get a bad grade on a test. Yes. Maybe. And that’s ok. The point is that kids have to own their own work, their own study habits and their own grades. This is their deal, not the parent’s deal. The kids are in school, not the parents.

Parents should not worry about their kids when they have tests and finals (and homework). If you worry for them, they will sense your worry. I’ve heard many teenagers say something like this, “My mom means well, but she really worries too much about my grades and college, and she doesn’t realize how annoying this is and how it makes it harder for me.”

Don’t give the impression that a student’s whole future depends on a certain score on a final exam - especially if your son or daughter is a junior in high school! Do you remember what scores you got on your final exams? I don’t. But I know they weren’t perfect, and I know I still had a future.

I’m not saying that you should refuse to help them if they ask for help studying. But don’t take over their studying. Or, maybe suggest they study with a friend or sibling if they ask you for help. They will probably get more out of peer studying than studying with you.

And, after the test, don’t ask them how they did. Don’t say anything. They will tell you how it went in their own time. Just ask them how their day was. Period. Let them do the talking, or do none at all. It’s ok. They’ve just hunched over their desks all day and are mentally drained and exhausted. Let them be. Don’t pressure them.

Just make sure they have a good meal and plenty of rest that night.

And, finally, turn off SchoolLoop or whatever electronic grading system your school uses. This tool is meant for middle and high school students to check assignments and grades. Resist the urge to check this daily. Let the students own this, too. Parents should just check it every couple weeks or if you suspect your child is having trouble at school.

Your turn. What advice do you have for parents of kids taking final exams?

Evaluating Teachers with Tests

I came across this in the Reader’s Forum section of the Contra Costa Times newspaper this weekend. I completely agree with the writer and have been thinking recently how much more meaningful education would be if ALL students were given the opportunity to have IEPs (individual education plans). If we did this, the focus would shift from standardization to personalization.

Times is wrong about using tests to evaluate teachers

By Jim Wright

Guest commentary, Contra Costa Times

Posted: 09/05/2009

Your recent editorial, "Allow use of test scores to evaluate teachers" (Aug. 16), cries out for an immediate and critical response.

Granted, there are certainly at least a few teachers out there who should not be teaching. Using a similar line of reasoning, however, I might argue that the evaluations and/or salaries of newspaper editorial writers should be statistically correlated with the number of readers whose opinions are somehow influenced by reading those editorials.

The real question is whether or not state standardized test scores would be an accurate, fair, reasonable, or even useful criterion to measure teacher effectiveness in the classroom.

A basic principle in any investigation holds that the more precisely we attempt to measure something, the less certain we can be of the accuracy of our results. For example: is an electron a wave or a particle? (The answers: Yes/No/Either/Neither/Both/Impossible to Determine with Existing Technology.)

Can we really be sure that we are testing a student's understanding when it comes to any question of reasonable complexity or depth?

Can we accurately "quantify" any student's understanding with a contrived, standardized, multiple-choice examination? Is this really the best way to motivate students to learn to appreciate and solve complex, difficult, and multifaceted problems?

Mathematical Chaos Theory holds that small variations in initial conditions can lead to widely discrepant outcomes. Much as it would be nice to think that our students all think about problems in some generic, standardized fashion, the truth is that they are all uniquely gifted individuals with their own "chaotic" stories to work out and tell for themselves.

We disrespect students if we do not offer them a way to be themselves and accomplish positive outcomes in the classroom on their own terms.

Eight years of No Child Left Behind has given us the current, untenable situation in which many children are being left behind daily in any meaningful educational context. Similarly, many publicly funded school districts will sooner-or-later be left behind, funding-wise.

Enough is enough. It's time to pull the curtains on "objectifying" educational outcomes. Instead, we should be focusing on personalizing and maximizing positive outcomes for each individual student.

That's a much more difficult task, but in the long run, a much more appropriate outcome, for everyone.

Wright is a resident of El Cerrito.