How To Beat Standardized Tests Scores Legally!
By
James K. Aumack B.A., M.A., +32 Post Grad
A short but true story of a teacher’s success and the success of his students.
I just read a headline in a Philly Sunday Newspaper. It mourned the fact that an elementary school failed miserably in the Math section, in its last standardized testing. I suspect the reading scores weren’t much better. Everyone is running around like their hair is on fire! There is a simple solution to increasing test scores available if teachers only tried it.
I know all about the pressures that teachers and children are exposed to regarding testing. The kids feel the pressure because the teacher feels the pressure. Teachers in some school systems are replaced because of the test scores of their students. There is a tried and true solution to all of the above.
I’m now retired from the classroom. I taught elementary school students for 38 years in a New Jersey Urban Public school system. My last assignment was as a Math/Computer Specialist, serving in an elementary school. All of the students in this school of over 800 students, were children of minority families that lived in publicly funded high-rise apartments. Many if not most, were children with one overwhelmed parent at home, to provide them with direction, security, and encouragement. Needless to say, test scores were the very last thing that entered into their immediate needs. However, soon they recognized that test scores could possibly be a key to a better life. The question was and still is in many schools, how do you score very high on a Standardized Test? Throughout my long teaching career, I also had classes that didn’t do well on these miserable test requirements. However, I discovered an answer that helped the children enormously. After I employed this in my classroom teaching, test scores shot up to the very top. They were, as a group, so high that I was accused of cheating. Fortunately, I had asked my Principal for permission to attempt to beat the ‘tar’ out of the Standardized Test long before the tests were administered. My Principal agreed to my plan because the content was the very same as the reading and math requirements for the grade levels that I taught. The following is what I successfully did!
Every Standardized test is the same in content. It will test problem-solving Math skills by simply requiring the test-taker to solve an example that requires certain knowledge and therefore understanding and use of that skill necessary to solve the example of the problem. Of course, failure comes when the student doesn’t have the skill or doesn’t recognize that a certain skill needs to be employed, or they simply can’t read or understand, what is asked of them. Students that have zero reading ability shouldn’t be required to deal with this test. Failure will only cause more emotional self and ego destruction. Students that do have the reading ability and can read problems that need to be solved have an excellent opportunity to score high on this ‘Standardized Test’.
To help overcome these problems, I employed the Millikan Math Computer Skills Elementary Math Set, which included examples and questions that can and will be required to be answered on every Standardized Test on the market. This program covered whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and word problems. We used this for every possible operation that was taught in the classroom, at grade level, in our elementary school. I had eight computer terminals in my math/reading/writing computer lab. Here, I taught my kids to solve examples and problems on the screen, read math problems and solve them, and also learn how to use a ‘word processing’ program. I had a line of students outside the lab every single day.
A great word processing program for children is the ‘Bank Street Writer’. One of my kids, a student in the fourth grade, was published because she learned to use this program. She wrote a short story for ‘Cricket’ Magazine and of course, we sent it out for consideration and possible publication. They published the story and we all celebrated Every student that sent out one of their stories got a return letter addressed to them from the publisher. This alone was a ‘giant’ step forward…recognition by an outside source! When that happened and the entire school wanted to have extensive computer time and also wanted to learn about a ‘word processing’ program. Writing will improve reading ability and also cause an enormous amount of interest in reading what others write.
Children have wonderful imaginations that lead to interesting stories. They also sometimes write about their home life and this can also help the teacher understand the problems and hurdles that some children secretly endure. This is particularly true in the inner cities of America but it’s equally true in the suburbs as well. One never knows what goes on behind closed doors regardless of where that door exists.
The annual State Certified Test for Math Skills and Reading Skills and Comprehension came and we hoped for the best. The scores came back and we were questioned extensively as to how and why our students did so well in both reading and math! How did we ‘Cheat!’ Did we cheat?
The answer is “Hell No!!!” We learned to use Computer Assisted Instruction(CAI) to our advantage and to couple it with regular standard classroom instruction!
The children worked very hard learning new skills and also learning to employ those skills in the classroom and also while performing and exercising their new abilities in a written(on paper)test format. The test results are simply an indicator of how well these students learned to employ their newfound skills. They also learned that there is an element in our society, that will almost never give them the credit that they deserve. Prejudice is very hard to kill. If this was a group of non-minority children, one has to wonder if the same questions would be asked.
Well, you can imagine my response (*@#&X%) to those that insisted that we cheated somehow!!!
It took several days for me to calm down to the point that I didn’t hope for the opportunity to literally ‘go off’ on these people to the public. Children of color will never get the opportunity to become mainstream in America if this sort of attitude continues. Side remarks, and nasty looks, have no place in education, especially delivered by anyone in any kind of authority. It’s unbelievable that attitude continues to exist in America today after all this country has been through.
The kids loved CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) and responded extraordinarily well, as I knew they would. I didn’t think that they’d entomb the test by answering all of the questions correctly but most of the students achieved a score on the math section over the 90%lie. The question was,” How did they cheat?!” My response was they didn’t cheat unless you consider that learning how to respond correctly is cheating! My Principal at that time was Margaret Penney, also known by reputation as one of the toughest school administrators in the entire city, who backed me up because she had observed the above computer-assisted instruction operation regularly. Her incredible support beat back the non-believers and I continued using CAI in my instructional ‘bag of learning tricks’. The children continued to learn.
Minority children living in the inner-city of the second largest city in the State of New Jersey, in public housing, aren’t supposed to be successful!!! The odds are against them from the day they’re born.
We put this concept to rest, hopefully forever!!!!
What kind of ‘Bull-Dropping’ is that? Minority children of color are as responsive as any child on the face of the earth, to high-quality instruction. We proved that, without any question, CAI works. I suggest that teachers learn and know how to use this teaching tool. It will benefit their students and also them as educators!
For the reading and writing section of this test, we prepared by using the Bank Street Writer, a simple-to-use word processing program. The kids wrote stories longhand and typed the story for publication. Here the computer program allowed them to erase, and rewrite a paragraph to better interest the reader. Initially, they used a ‘hunt and peck’ method to type and very soon they mastered typing well enough to type a letter. Soon after that, they put the pencil down and simply wrote their thoughts on the screen, corrected and rearranged ideas to their liking. We printed and sent stories out to various publishers and every child was responded to, via snail mail, by that publisher. Some of my kids never got a birthday card and now they were getting letters from publishers regarding their work. Their little chests were stuck out because someone, besides their teacher, took them seriously and responded to their writing and their ideas and stories. Each and every one of them was now an ‘author’. Perhaps not yet a published author, there are a lot of them, but still an author!
Because of this experience, I believe that most of these children eventually went off to college to complete their education. Because nobody could see them in person they became prolific authors. Publishers couldn’t see them and didn’t know that they were elementary school students. This occurred not only because of my efforts and the use of a computer and word processor.
I invited an Internationally Recognize children’s author to my computer lab to observe the kids at work and to help and direct me in teaching them to write successfully using the computer’s word processor’.
Walter Dean Myers, a local very successful ‘Children’s author’ and play-write, became a regular visitor to the Computer Lab and our school. As a result of our encouragement, one of our students in the fifth grade was published in “Cricket Magazine’ for children. My information today leads me to believe that this group of kids continues to write as adults. Mr. Myers was the published author of over one hundred stories and is recognized as perhaps one of the most prolific African American Children’s authors of his time. One story was even made into a movie, ‘The Young Landlords’. I suggest that teachers seek published authors and ask them to donate some of their time, to help children become fearless in their writing and storytelling. Many published children’s authors will be pleased to spend some time with those whom they write for and also to help them develop in the effort to author their own work. These authors know that children inspire ideas and concepts, that they can also use and employ in their work. Really, we all learn from each other’s experiences.
I strongly recommend that every elementary school educator introduce and use a computer as they teach young children, even those as young as first grade. Learning Math Skills, becomes a non-threatening easy experience, if not actually fun. Learning to structure a sentence so that says what you want it to say, becomes much easier. Soon stories will develop and be written by this very young generation.
If you’ve read my story and consider trying this, it’s very likely to continue on for generations and perhaps be enhanced in some way. This is how we all really learn and that’s what this is all about! Also, don’t be afraid to contact local published authors, asking them to come and speak with your students. Authors that write for newspapers are also on the list to be asked to come and speak with you students and also perhaps help formulate opportunities to learn and publish in their newspapers. I can think of no better way to increase newspaper circulation than to have parents of student reporters, buy and read the newspaper that has published their child’s work and story. The written word, even a child’s story is among the most powerful forms of communication and it can continue on for centuries.
If further information is required, I can be reached at jaumack64@email.com
(2113 Words)
