I lied to my students today.
You see, today was the first day of state testing. They showed up filled with anxiety. So I did what any good teacher would do. I lied.
I lied and told them that today was my favorite day of the year. I told them that I loved the smell of fresh tests in the morning. I sang them a song, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” I told them they had nothing to worry about.
The truth is, they had quite a bit to be worried about. You see, there is a dirty little secret that most people don’t know. But ask a Title 1 teacher about it, and they’ll nod. They know. Here it is:
If you’re a student from poverty, or an English Language Learner, or you have a learning disability, well, the test is stacked against you.
<Insert gasp here>
“No way!”, you might be thinking. “That sounds like an excuse a bad teacher might make for failing test scores.”
I’ve heard it before. But when you’ve been teaching for 11 years, you know.
Just hop online and take a math practice test. The first thing you’ll notice is, it’s 90 percent reading. They wouldn’t even think about simply asking a student to multiply 394 x 27. Proving that they had learned a math standard? Nah, that would be too easy. Instead, it’s hidden in a five-paragraph word problem that’s actually testing problem-solving instead of math. Many of the problems are difficult for me; a middle-class, college educated, English speaking, white woman. My Somalian refugee students who don’t hear a word of English at home? They don’t stand a chance.
The reading test might ask them about museum exhibits, or board games, or karate classes (of course, this is merely speculative as I wouldn’t DARE take a peek at the test we have been preparing all year for!). If they’re from a middle-class family, they’re probably familiar with these things. The stories make sense. They have a hook to hang their new knowledge on. However, when their parents are Mexican migrant workers working two jobs just to put food on the table; they’ve probably never experienced any of these things. When the choice is between paying rent or playing board games, I’m sure you know what choice they make. These students? They don’t stand a chance.