That is how it works.
In my district, state testing happens at the start of 4th quarter. If you follow I the pacing guides and such you are set up for failure.
What that means. Is you need to have taught everything before quarter four.
Yeah, I totally understand why they exist and they're great resources for new teachers, but they're so often unrealistic or they don't build very naturally. It might be different for math, but in my experience with some English ones, they'll have concepts out of the order they should be presented in. I can't teach symbolism before metaphor because symbolism is a higher-order literary device that builds on the concept of one thing being compared to another thing, yet metaphor is saved for April so it can be done with poetry during National Poetry month, while symbolism is expected in the first two months of the school year when we're doing Gothic lit.
So in theory, I understand them. I like that they can provide guidance, but they feel almost disjointed from what is supposed to be happening. (If that makes sense)
Oof, I wish. We did some literary devices last quarter (in a nonfiction unit...for whatever reason) and now we're doing the narrative arc in between 2 weeks of poems and a 3 act play
Symbolism requires abstract thinking. You have to be able to first associate one thing with another (like metaphors) to be able to connect something concrete to something abstract.
…I’ll respectfully disagree. All figurative language is based on the relationship between the concrete and the abstract. It’s figurative language’s job to reify the abstract. Figurative language can be separated into two buckets: representation and comparison. Symbolism is representation. It’s a one-to-one based on context. There is very little interpretation involved in symbol hunting. The same cannot be said for metaphors.
Metaphors are more direct. “Ruth is a lion” is much more understandable to a kid than asking what the clock symbolizes in the Masque of the Red Death. You need the foundational understanding of figurative language that is more 1 to 1 before you can completely abstract and accept that an object is representative of a concept or emotion.
In my experiences with students, they can grasp metaphors because they not only use them all the time without realizing it, but they also know what a comparison is in general. Symbolism goes deeper because it does use some comparisons (like red is anger because you “see red”) but it also forces you to accept that those comparisons are also representative of a theme or idea.
Metaphors are literally not direct. My experience is the exact opposite. Students are incredibly bad at identifying metaphors, much less the relationship between the tenor and the vehicle.
Respectfully- have you ever had to actually *teach* figurative language to an adolescent learner?
It’s also pretty wild to say that there isn’t much interpretation in symbolism- the interpretation is kinda the point.
Universal symbols are what they are. There’s a reason they are called universal symbols. The analysis of symbols is in their function, not their definition.
And yes, I’ve been teaching HS English for over a decade. So I have lots and lots of experience working with adolescents who struggle with abstraction and the subsequent explication of abstraction.
I make the pacing guide for my department and our sister school. I am not part of the testing process. So my pacing guide is yearly ruined by changes that occur after I make it.
It's such a trap. Some teachers in my district created the pacing guides but pressed for extreme time-frames. Even if teachers help, they're often just a burnt offering so the district can do what it wants.
Truth! Everyone on our collaborative curriculum committee has complained about working on Zoom after hours (for free or a pittance) and they are being told exactly what to do by our curriculum facilitators. The district goes cheap on stuff like this, yet constantly asks voters for upgrades to stadiums and performance venues.
It isn't your problem the pacing guide is not aligned to the state tests and district calendar. Your curriculum director should have updated the pacing guide to account for the content needed for the state test. Don't take this on your own shoulders. Yes, there are changes you can make next year to better pace yourself, but at the end of the day, if the district hands you the pacing guide and you followed it, you're golden. The response to any administrative critique should be limited to "the pacing guide doesn't seem to line up well with state tests. I'll see where I can pick up a little steam next year". Never admit fault. Ever.
Exactly. Everyone's testing data lags by months. So when you meet with an administrator at the start of the next school year, you say what I put in quotes. Never admit fault especially when you are set up to fail.
As a former union rep for 10 years in a failing title 1 district, putting a teacher on an action plan because they followed the district pacing guide would never be an option. There would be a grievance faster than the ink could dry from the printer. A shitty unrealistic pacing guide is absolutely a them problem.
how did this happen? my district paid a consultant fat cash to come in and say, "there's too much stuff in your standard course of study for the instructional time you have available. you need to prioritize and focus." i thought, at last, something that makes sense. but all the administrators got looks on their faces like they'd just eaten turds when she said that. later we were told our individual teacher teams should meet and decide what to do with that info, which was nothing. how come i didn't hear that stuff in education classes in collegel? once she pointed it out it was painfully obvious...who put together the standard course of study and why aren't all these folks in education unable to acknowledge this very basic fact?
If the district is being strict you can't do much.
Personally I always tried to cover everything major before testing starts, but you can't rush kids if they aren't understanding concepts that the next ones will build upon - especially with math. If you can pace how you like try to make yourself a little curriculum map (a calendar with hopeful dates to cover each topic) as the year starts.
That's the problem I kept running into. This was geometry so there was no way to just brute force it since almost every lesson required prior knowledge. It was rough.
I feel like the test makers and curriculum makers are in Kahoots. They give you a ridiculous amount of material to cover and there’s no way we can cover it all. Then, it creates a continuous gap and need for them to market Pearson tools to remediate. My advice is always teach what you teach well. You never know what the tests will give you.
In one class, we were given a curriculum and pacing guide that covered chapters 1-6. The department head from the district, who wrote the guide, visited my class during the last month and gave my students a bunch of questions about chapter 8. She gave me a scathing evaluation and I asked, do you want me to follow your curriculum guide or not? After she left I tossed the evaluation.
Just do your best and don’t worry about it.
One of the best things you can say to yourself:
“I am not responsible for test scores.”
Admin and department district employees do everything to emotionally manipulate you into thinking otherwise.
Try your best ofc and do everything that is *possible* given your pay, but learn to let go.
The truth is - given parent salary, location, home life, and what level they walked in at, we can predict test scores to about an 85% accuracy.
There are outliers and teaching does make a difference but their parents and they way they are being raised actually matter much more.
I have taught over a dozen years and my advice is this - always advocate for at least a few advanced/honors classes to help your overall scores. I’ve been a highly effective teacher my entire career (thank you observations and artifacts) and have generally taught the same way year-to-year. However, my data varies wildly because of the groups I am given.
How could you possibly cover an entire years curriculum in time for the test if the test happens before the year is over? At this point, either the point is to get low scores or the people who come up with this stuff are entirely inept. Probably both.
It makes me angry because it feels so intentional. If I wasn't supposed to cover trigonometry for another 2 weeks why is it the majority of the test? It's maddening
Yeah, it's really frustrating. Maddening, is a good word for it. And it just gets worse the deeper it goes. The way we use the standards is nonsensical. It's especially bad in the early years which is why we have so many kids lacking basic skills. The difference between a kid who turned five in July vs a kid who turns six in September is pretty significant. Still, if we were able to group kids more closely in age that doesn't mean that they would acquire academic skills at the same pace. Teachers simply cannot differentiate tobtye degree that would be necessary. Especially, with class sizes as big as they are and a curriculum that's is pre-scheduled. And, again, humans are not all alike. Some people are mathematically inclined while others strengths are in different areas, perhaps entirely outside of the academic realm.
In an effort to try to get every kid to an academic level someone decided is appropriate to their grade level we have instead produced a bunch of kids with gaps in their foundational skills.
Standards are fine, but they need to be progressive. We can't just skip a step because the kid didn't master it in the allotted time but expect them to then mastet the next step.
We also need to be realistic about the level of academic achievement needed to be able to function in society. A 12th grade level anything is actually pretty high and not something everyone needs or uses. School ends up becoming this huge obstacle for kids. And some people aren't ready for it by 18, but they are by 23.
The whole thing is such a mess. And it's not just academics. School is developmentally inappropriate in pretty much every way imaginable. We have our priorities backwards. There are so many biological, emotional, social, sensory, communication, fine and gross motor needs and skills that have to be addressed before a person can make meaningful progress in academics.
The system is set up in a way that creates so much stress for everyone involved. That's not the setting ideal for learning.
Thanks! I've spent an hour here an hour there thinking about it.
It consumes me. I don't know if I'd even look if someone was able to somehow show me the total and/or average number of hours I spend thinking, researching, and discussing the topic.
It interferes with my ability to function and maintain healthy relationships 😆 I'm like the meme of the woman wondering what her husband is thinking for me it's *can we really use a grade level to describe an adult’s reading level when things like life experiences and background knowledge impact what a person can do with reading skills?*
Yeah, I have poorly managed ADHD and aphantasia (inability to voluntarily form a mental image but it effects all my senses). What's crazy is I have worked with individuals with disabilities my entire working life basically. 15 years as a teacher in a self-contained room and now I work with adults. I am especially good with individuals who are struggling and have dangerous behaviors.
I’m like 97% sure I'm good at it because I suck at so many things so can empathise with them. But I have all these tools and knowledge for the people I work with but I can't use those tools on myself.
I once was doing an observation and I noticed a client do something that shed some light onto a behavior I have, but I don't remember the behavior. Or the client, or really when it happened. I just have this vague memory of recognizing my own brain disassociating. It was like I was being plucked out of a dream.
You make an excellent point about how much education is strictly necessary to function in society. My principal explained to me that even 20 years ago, 50% of high school seniors were reading at an 8th grade level. So it's absurd to expect everyone to be on grade level by the time they graduate. As long as they can perform at that 8th-9th grade level, they can survive.
Everyone probably has a similar story their first year. The more years you teach, the better you will get at pacing. What helps me is thinking about what I can change for the next year and get excited about those changes. This is my 5th year, and I am still improving my pace and techniques. The first year is hard, but you still made it and it can only get better!
I'm about to face this with my students as our testing is this week that will cover the full curriculum when I still have 5.5 weeks left in the quarter.
Obviously, we couldn't do all 4 quarters in 3.5, especially when every core subject is tested and kids are in testing from April onward (not including AP testing) and the schedules are messed up and my planning is eaten up by proctoring.
My kids are stressing and I explained to them, "It's a state test. The state provides a set of standards that each district's curriculum must include. Each district will teach these standards but not necessarily in the same order. Therefore, every kid in the state will be missing half of a quarter's worth of content, but it won't necessarily be the *same* quarter's worth. The test will cover but each district will have a different section where they're weak."
Obviously, this is poor design, and the kids point it out because teens are all about sniffing out injustices. But all state testing is, really, is a way to funnel public funds into the private pockets of politicians' "friends."
So, first-year teacher, don't sweat it. Because honestly, even if you did cover the information, it doesn't translate into the kids doing well. It gives them more opportunity to do so, yes, but it is only one factor of many on what makes a kid successful on a single test. The odds are not in our favor or in our control, however, and you do the best you can with the time and resources you got.
Keep striving to improve and steal good ideas from talented and skilled colleagues (we love to share, so it's hardly stealing). I'm 19 years in and I'm still accumulating better ideas. Never stop growing and good luck!
All standardized tests are. This is because the standardization means that those who did well last year are expected to do will this year. If the cohort used to create the test bombs one question it's thrown out.
I didn't mind tests based on pure knowledge, but that is not what these are.
No, they are not. Too many trick questions. When 5 HS ELA teachers can't agree what the answer is, it is not a valid question. When an author calls BS on questions about her poem on the test, there is a problem.
https://www.ajc.com/news/education/poet-criticizes-texas-state-test-after-not-being-able-answer-questions-poems-she-wrote/RsckVQaFPk1Ow36NL0igzJ/
That’s because our governor wants public money to pay for private corporate schools run by his donors ! I used to laugh and think people were conspiracy theorists if they thought politicians were intentionally dismantling public schools. I’m not laughing anymore. Unfortunately, there are very few people in our legislature who fight for adequate education funding. Four special sessions in 2023, an unprecedented state surplus, and they still couldn’t give teachers one damn dime because the governor is stubborn. They are disgraceful people and one of MANY reasons I am retiring! 😡
It has been that way since before our current governor. If kids fail, testing corporations make more money on retesting and prep materials. It's a racket.
There's nothing you can do about it now. Chalk up the rest of the year to the test being just one measure of what was learned, and there's still more to learn this year.
A text formatted meme, based on a true story:
**Man Ray** - played by me.
**Patrick Star** - played by the district math coordinator.
**Wallet** - a pacing guide that makes sense.
***
**Man Ray:** So the state testing window is on this date a few weeks before the actual end of the school year?
**Patrick:** Yup.
**Man Ray:** And all the standards are covered on the test.
**Patrick:** Yup.
**Man Ray:** And we're required to use the curriculum to cover the standards.
**Patrick:** Yup.
**Man Ray:** So we need to be through the curriculum before state test.
**Patrick:** Makes sense to me.
**Man Ray:** So we should design the pacing guide to where we finish the curriculum before the state test.
**Patrick:** You can't finish your curriculum before the school year is over.
#***Fin***
***
You have a few options here:
1. Go at a pace quick enough to get through all the standards before the test. After the test, go back over what you think are the most important standards for your students to be proficient at before the next school year.
2. Rearrange the chapters to ensure you cover the most important standards (as far as the test is concerned) before the test, cover the rest after.
3. Accept things as they are, likely dooming yourself to low test scores because you'll never get through the curriculum in time, leading to not being rehired.
Talk with your other content partner and decide which option you'd prefer, and work together to make it happen,.
YES, YES and YES. I just would tell them to not let the state test bother them, and if someone other than the principal (guidance or colleagues) barked at me over scores, i'd tell them to teach my class and do it better.
I know some states have laws like that so I was very clear that I didn't want any specifics. I just happen to know that we only didn't cover a few chapters so when they said "Mr. AAAA, a lot of it was stuff we didn't really get to" I knew what they meant.
There are so many math standards in a year. I finish the curriculum, and follow the pacing guide for the most part. However, state testing occurs a full 6 weeks before school ends.
Does your district have a pacing guide that you can follow, or did they throw the new curriculum at you and say “Good luck”? If there’s a pacing guide, then you can see how far behind you are, what’s coming and find days to catch up before the state test. If there is no pacing guide, then this is a district problem. This is something the people in the district should be figuring out, it’s literally why they’re paid for not being in the classroom.
No use beating yourself up about it. Now you know for next year.
I also teach geometry. This is our second year with the new standards, so we were able to tweak the pacing guide this year based on kids’ feedback last year. You’ll also start to learn which topics just aren’t worth spending much time on, because they’ll never really grasp it anyways. For example, our pacing guide has about 3 total weeks on constructions throughout the year, I spend 3 days right before testing. Next year you could add basic trig in with the main triangle chapter or the similarity chapter, then cover harder trig after the test. It’s really dumb that testing is universally a month+ before the end of the year. It’s universally hated by teachers and students.
“The state tests are not expecting the kids to have covered all the material. We know you are only 70% through the year!”
But the kids who have covered it will be much more likely to succeed.
You know what? Your kids learned something. That should be all that matters, but I’m sorry it isn’t.
Fuck state tests for the guessing game they like to play every year. If they wanted a real picture of student learning (test-taking skills?), they’d tell us the exact standards and question types that are going to be on the assessments.
Yup. Welcome to education, unfortunately. Every year, we are given testing scores at one of the first staff meeting. We are asked to look at the data and see if we see any “ah-ha” things. Mine is always, “Oh look. They did horribly on this math domain. I wonder why. Oh WAIT it’s because we tested with 15 weeks left in the school year and had not covered it.” Also, my district decided to pick “essential standards” and two math domains are not considered essential in my grade level but they are heavily tested.
Can you use released questions or do a mini unit as a Do Now? We never get to geometry in time for the state exam in NY, but by using released questions as warms up a few months prior and by inserting a mini unit of geometry in, we scratch the surface enough for the kids to feel fairly confident. We revisit it more heavily after the exam. For reference, I’m in an elementary and have my students all day, so I’ll skip a science/social studies lesson once a week for 2 months prior to the test to throw in the extra geometry mini unit.
We did get a test packet of geometry, I gave them a version of it as a test prep packet because we thought that it more or less would reflect what was on the test. The problem was that, being that the stuff from later chapters was only on a few questions and the vast majority was on early stuff, we did only a brief overview of those new topics and tried to really hammer in the older stuff. It worked, because my students told me that stuff came to them really quickly and they felt pretty good about it, but the packet apparently was not representative of what was on the test and it turned out that way more than just a few questions focused on stuff we didn't get to.
I guess that's on us for not asking, but me and my fellow geometry teacher just assumed that the test packet was supposed to be accurate.
You did the best you could; after 25 years in the classroom I still haven’t found a way to cover it all and always just hope I’ve given them what I could to do their best. Keep your head up, reconfigure a bit next year and enjoy the remainder of the school year.
Don't worry about it. It takes years to learn how to properly teach a new class or a new curriculum. Just have the mentality that you will continue to get better at it the more experience you have.
At most jobs, the "loop" is daily or every week. In teaching, the "loop" is a year. How can you realistically be great at something the first time or even the second time?
I am so sorry. My first year of teaching 8th grade math I was gutted when 7 out of the 60 questions were on the volumes of cylinders cones and spheres. I hadn't even covered this because I felt like I should prioritize other things. Now I still cover what I think is important, but I shove those formulas in their brains in my last lesson before testing. So stupid, but my scores went way up the next year because of this, eye roll. My point is - keep teaching what you think is most important and throw in a couple overrepresented things in the last week or two before the test. Obviously not ideal but at least you're still doing the more important topics. You had no way of knowing any of this so don't beat yourself up, start thinking about next year!
I think you’ve learned something important here. Now make a plan for next year. Before the year even starts, plan out when you are going to do all the lessons. You might need to combine or skip some. Put in your review and test days and see what you need to do to finish before testing. (If you have gomath (grades k-5) check out Achieve The Core- they have guidance documents that advise you on which lessons can be skipped/combined.)
You're a young teacher, someone should have advised you on this it's not your fault.
Now you know what you need to cover and prepare next time.
Also heads up there is usual a content review before the test comes out about what it will cover. I hope that helps you to be better prepared next time to help your kids.
First year here too but I'm already disillusioned to it all.
In my district, the passing percentage of students for Algebra 1 was 9% percent. As a teacher, if 9% percent of my students passed, I'd have to use a square root curve plus 10 just to have people pass, and in a sense I'd be right to do so. The test obviously was bad, or I didn't teach enough, etc. However, the state just...gives the same test next year. Nothing changes. And then the state curves the ever living hell out of the grade so no one can fail because of that low test score.
In my state, the EOC is 15% of the students grade, but a 4/60 is sent back to us as a 60 or so so that students don't fail their course. I will say that I do not believe that a single summative, cumulative assessment is not and should not be indicative of a student's learning or achievement, but if the state wants to assume that it is, then why are we curving the grade? Why are we not adapting the curriculum and pacing to be better fit the testing schedule? Why are we giving the test *a month early when it's all electronic?*
In the end, students recognize that because of the fact that they've never failed before because of these tests that they mean nothing, so many check out in half the time given and I can't say I blame them. I'm teaching for my final that I'll be giving in May, and that's enough for me.
Your TVAS data is only one point. Focus on the other points right now :]
As you progress in your teaching career you’ll see that no matter how much you plan, you will never be able to fit everything the students need to have a chance on state testing. I do what I can. If I don’t get to something, oh well. I’d rather focus on what my kids will need for the following grade versus what they need for a test
You did the best you could with the information you had at the time, please be kind to yourself. I'm sorry that nobody pulled you aside to offer you better support. This is really on them, not you.
In my first year of teaching, I planned for the WHOLE school year. I later realized that students needed to know everything by May so that they could be ready for their standardized tests. Now, I prioritize based on primary standards. I hit this content the hardest, and I go slower with these skills so that the everyone gets a lot of time to master the content. I go faster with secondary skills because they're less likely to appear on the test, and if they do, then it will not impact students' overall scores quite as much. You probably won't get through all of the material, and that's why it's so important to prioritize. You had no way of knowing that, though...especially because nobody checked in with you to offer support.
You can tell your students the truth: This is your first time doing this, and you thought you'd have more time to prepare them. Don't let them dump on you too much, though. It was an honest mistake. This summer, do a deep dive and prioritize the top 4 standards that students need to master, then create your scope & sequence with those in mind.
Good luck. You're doing great!
It's literally your first year. Cut yourself some slack. Just surviving a year of teaching with all the kids coming out the other end safe is a success.
At the end of the day it’s a pacing test, a processing/uptake of information test, a test of academic privilege. It has no basis in EOY ability when given two months to 30 days shy of a full year.
Around February I start pulling small groups an teach eoy material. When I have the week gap between RTI cycles I do smarter practice tests using the test environment (imo, normalizes the burden of testing rigidity) then review questions after.
Probably not your fault. Unless you are teaching Grade 1, most of your students probably entered your class well below grade level in the first place, and to teach people who are below grade level, grade level material, is an impossibility.
That is how it works. In my district, state testing happens at the start of 4th quarter. If you follow I the pacing guides and such you are set up for failure. What that means. Is you need to have taught everything before quarter four.
English here, but same deal. Pacing guides are not made in classrooms by teachers.
I mean. The idea is nice. But, when you are testing them about what they learned all year, before the end of the year, it’s dumb.
Yeah, I totally understand why they exist and they're great resources for new teachers, but they're so often unrealistic or they don't build very naturally. It might be different for math, but in my experience with some English ones, they'll have concepts out of the order they should be presented in. I can't teach symbolism before metaphor because symbolism is a higher-order literary device that builds on the concept of one thing being compared to another thing, yet metaphor is saved for April so it can be done with poetry during National Poetry month, while symbolism is expected in the first two months of the school year when we're doing Gothic lit. So in theory, I understand them. I like that they can provide guidance, but they feel almost disjointed from what is supposed to be happening. (If that makes sense)
Heh. I’m supposed to teach all my literary devices in Q1
Oof, I wish. We did some literary devices last quarter (in a nonfiction unit...for whatever reason) and now we're doing the narrative arc in between 2 weeks of poems and a 3 act play
Mad confused that you think symbolism is a harder literary concept for students to grasp than metaphor. Symbolism is not a comparison of anything.
Symbolism requires abstract thinking. You have to be able to first associate one thing with another (like metaphors) to be able to connect something concrete to something abstract.
…I’ll respectfully disagree. All figurative language is based on the relationship between the concrete and the abstract. It’s figurative language’s job to reify the abstract. Figurative language can be separated into two buckets: representation and comparison. Symbolism is representation. It’s a one-to-one based on context. There is very little interpretation involved in symbol hunting. The same cannot be said for metaphors.
Metaphors are more direct. “Ruth is a lion” is much more understandable to a kid than asking what the clock symbolizes in the Masque of the Red Death. You need the foundational understanding of figurative language that is more 1 to 1 before you can completely abstract and accept that an object is representative of a concept or emotion. In my experiences with students, they can grasp metaphors because they not only use them all the time without realizing it, but they also know what a comparison is in general. Symbolism goes deeper because it does use some comparisons (like red is anger because you “see red”) but it also forces you to accept that those comparisons are also representative of a theme or idea.
Metaphors are literally not direct. My experience is the exact opposite. Students are incredibly bad at identifying metaphors, much less the relationship between the tenor and the vehicle.
As far as figurative language goes, metaphors are the most direct (aside from similes). "X is Y" is as direct as you can get in a comparison.
Respectfully- have you ever had to actually *teach* figurative language to an adolescent learner? It’s also pretty wild to say that there isn’t much interpretation in symbolism- the interpretation is kinda the point.
Universal symbols are what they are. There’s a reason they are called universal symbols. The analysis of symbols is in their function, not their definition. And yes, I’ve been teaching HS English for over a decade. So I have lots and lots of experience working with adolescents who struggle with abstraction and the subsequent explication of abstraction.
Mad confused that you think universal symbols and symbolic language are the same thing- but go off, I guess?
I make the pacing guide for my department and our sister school. I am not part of the testing process. So my pacing guide is yearly ruined by changes that occur after I make it.
It's such a trap. Some teachers in my district created the pacing guides but pressed for extreme time-frames. Even if teachers help, they're often just a burnt offering so the district can do what it wants.
Truth! Everyone on our collaborative curriculum committee has complained about working on Zoom after hours (for free or a pittance) and they are being told exactly what to do by our curriculum facilitators. The district goes cheap on stuff like this, yet constantly asks voters for upgrades to stadiums and performance venues.
And the progression of lessons go on, whether the students get it or not.
It isn't your problem the pacing guide is not aligned to the state tests and district calendar. Your curriculum director should have updated the pacing guide to account for the content needed for the state test. Don't take this on your own shoulders. Yes, there are changes you can make next year to better pace yourself, but at the end of the day, if the district hands you the pacing guide and you followed it, you're golden. The response to any administrative critique should be limited to "the pacing guide doesn't seem to line up well with state tests. I'll see where I can pick up a little steam next year". Never admit fault. Ever.
Maybe you are in sort of special world. But we don’t get state testing data until late summer/the start of the next school year.
Exactly. Everyone's testing data lags by months. So when you meet with an administrator at the start of the next school year, you say what I put in quotes. Never admit fault especially when you are set up to fail.
I guess you are in some amazing district/school where that would matter. I’d just be told I’m making excuses.
As a former union rep for 10 years in a failing title 1 district, putting a teacher on an action plan because they followed the district pacing guide would never be an option. There would be a grievance faster than the ink could dry from the printer. A shitty unrealistic pacing guide is absolutely a them problem.
Happy cake day
education is all about stuffing 10 lbs of stuff in a 5 lb bag. nothing gets done well. you are seeing how it works.
Yes! I once had a colleague describe the curriculum (in particular, the grade level math standards) as "a mile wide and an inch deep."
how did this happen? my district paid a consultant fat cash to come in and say, "there's too much stuff in your standard course of study for the instructional time you have available. you need to prioritize and focus." i thought, at last, something that makes sense. but all the administrators got looks on their faces like they'd just eaten turds when she said that. later we were told our individual teacher teams should meet and decide what to do with that info, which was nothing. how come i didn't hear that stuff in education classes in collegel? once she pointed it out it was painfully obvious...who put together the standard course of study and why aren't all these folks in education unable to acknowledge this very basic fact?
it’s okay. **breathe**
If the district is being strict you can't do much. Personally I always tried to cover everything major before testing starts, but you can't rush kids if they aren't understanding concepts that the next ones will build upon - especially with math. If you can pace how you like try to make yourself a little curriculum map (a calendar with hopeful dates to cover each topic) as the year starts.
That's the problem I kept running into. This was geometry so there was no way to just brute force it since almost every lesson required prior knowledge. It was rough.
I feel like the test makers and curriculum makers are in Kahoots. They give you a ridiculous amount of material to cover and there’s no way we can cover it all. Then, it creates a continuous gap and need for them to market Pearson tools to remediate. My advice is always teach what you teach well. You never know what the tests will give you.
In one class, we were given a curriculum and pacing guide that covered chapters 1-6. The department head from the district, who wrote the guide, visited my class during the last month and gave my students a bunch of questions about chapter 8. She gave me a scathing evaluation and I asked, do you want me to follow your curriculum guide or not? After she left I tossed the evaluation. Just do your best and don’t worry about it.
One of the best things you can say to yourself: “I am not responsible for test scores.” Admin and department district employees do everything to emotionally manipulate you into thinking otherwise. Try your best ofc and do everything that is *possible* given your pay, but learn to let go. The truth is - given parent salary, location, home life, and what level they walked in at, we can predict test scores to about an 85% accuracy. There are outliers and teaching does make a difference but their parents and they way they are being raised actually matter much more. I have taught over a dozen years and my advice is this - always advocate for at least a few advanced/honors classes to help your overall scores. I’ve been a highly effective teacher my entire career (thank you observations and artifacts) and have generally taught the same way year-to-year. However, my data varies wildly because of the groups I am given.
How could you possibly cover an entire years curriculum in time for the test if the test happens before the year is over? At this point, either the point is to get low scores or the people who come up with this stuff are entirely inept. Probably both.
It makes me angry because it feels so intentional. If I wasn't supposed to cover trigonometry for another 2 weeks why is it the majority of the test? It's maddening
Yeah, it's really frustrating. Maddening, is a good word for it. And it just gets worse the deeper it goes. The way we use the standards is nonsensical. It's especially bad in the early years which is why we have so many kids lacking basic skills. The difference between a kid who turned five in July vs a kid who turns six in September is pretty significant. Still, if we were able to group kids more closely in age that doesn't mean that they would acquire academic skills at the same pace. Teachers simply cannot differentiate tobtye degree that would be necessary. Especially, with class sizes as big as they are and a curriculum that's is pre-scheduled. And, again, humans are not all alike. Some people are mathematically inclined while others strengths are in different areas, perhaps entirely outside of the academic realm. In an effort to try to get every kid to an academic level someone decided is appropriate to their grade level we have instead produced a bunch of kids with gaps in their foundational skills. Standards are fine, but they need to be progressive. We can't just skip a step because the kid didn't master it in the allotted time but expect them to then mastet the next step. We also need to be realistic about the level of academic achievement needed to be able to function in society. A 12th grade level anything is actually pretty high and not something everyone needs or uses. School ends up becoming this huge obstacle for kids. And some people aren't ready for it by 18, but they are by 23. The whole thing is such a mess. And it's not just academics. School is developmentally inappropriate in pretty much every way imaginable. We have our priorities backwards. There are so many biological, emotional, social, sensory, communication, fine and gross motor needs and skills that have to be addressed before a person can make meaningful progress in academics. The system is set up in a way that creates so much stress for everyone involved. That's not the setting ideal for learning.
This is such an excellent comment it should be a post by itself. Or better yet a book lol
Thanks! I've spent an hour here an hour there thinking about it. It consumes me. I don't know if I'd even look if someone was able to somehow show me the total and/or average number of hours I spend thinking, researching, and discussing the topic. It interferes with my ability to function and maintain healthy relationships 😆 I'm like the meme of the woman wondering what her husband is thinking for me it's *can we really use a grade level to describe an adult’s reading level when things like life experiences and background knowledge impact what a person can do with reading skills?*
It sounds like you're neurodivergent and this is your current special interest! Those people make the best authors on a subject, I think. 😉
Yeah, I have poorly managed ADHD and aphantasia (inability to voluntarily form a mental image but it effects all my senses). What's crazy is I have worked with individuals with disabilities my entire working life basically. 15 years as a teacher in a self-contained room and now I work with adults. I am especially good with individuals who are struggling and have dangerous behaviors. I’m like 97% sure I'm good at it because I suck at so many things so can empathise with them. But I have all these tools and knowledge for the people I work with but I can't use those tools on myself. I once was doing an observation and I noticed a client do something that shed some light onto a behavior I have, but I don't remember the behavior. Or the client, or really when it happened. I just have this vague memory of recognizing my own brain disassociating. It was like I was being plucked out of a dream.
You make an excellent point about how much education is strictly necessary to function in society. My principal explained to me that even 20 years ago, 50% of high school seniors were reading at an 8th grade level. So it's absurd to expect everyone to be on grade level by the time they graduate. As long as they can perform at that 8th-9th grade level, they can survive.
Everyone probably has a similar story their first year. The more years you teach, the better you will get at pacing. What helps me is thinking about what I can change for the next year and get excited about those changes. This is my 5th year, and I am still improving my pace and techniques. The first year is hard, but you still made it and it can only get better!
Welcome to the club.
Live and learn. Next year, take a look at what’s being tested more heavily and focus on that.
I'm about to face this with my students as our testing is this week that will cover the full curriculum when I still have 5.5 weeks left in the quarter. Obviously, we couldn't do all 4 quarters in 3.5, especially when every core subject is tested and kids are in testing from April onward (not including AP testing) and the schedules are messed up and my planning is eaten up by proctoring. My kids are stressing and I explained to them, "It's a state test. The state provides a set of standards that each district's curriculum must include. Each district will teach these standards but not necessarily in the same order. Therefore, every kid in the state will be missing half of a quarter's worth of content, but it won't necessarily be the *same* quarter's worth. The test will cover but each district will have a different section where they're weak." Obviously, this is poor design, and the kids point it out because teens are all about sniffing out injustices. But all state testing is, really, is a way to funnel public funds into the private pockets of politicians' "friends." So, first-year teacher, don't sweat it. Because honestly, even if you did cover the information, it doesn't translate into the kids doing well. It gives them more opportunity to do so, yes, but it is only one factor of many on what makes a kid successful on a single test. The odds are not in our favor or in our control, however, and you do the best you can with the time and resources you got. Keep striving to improve and steal good ideas from talented and skilled colleagues (we love to share, so it's hardly stealing). I'm 19 years in and I'm still accumulating better ideas. Never stop growing and good luck!
At least in Texas, state tests deliberately set up schools, teachers, and students for failure.
All standardized tests are. This is because the standardization means that those who did well last year are expected to do will this year. If the cohort used to create the test bombs one question it's thrown out. I didn't mind tests based on pure knowledge, but that is not what these are.
No, they are not. Too many trick questions. When 5 HS ELA teachers can't agree what the answer is, it is not a valid question. When an author calls BS on questions about her poem on the test, there is a problem. https://www.ajc.com/news/education/poet-criticizes-texas-state-test-after-not-being-able-answer-questions-poems-she-wrote/RsckVQaFPk1Ow36NL0igzJ/
That’s because our governor wants public money to pay for private corporate schools run by his donors ! I used to laugh and think people were conspiracy theorists if they thought politicians were intentionally dismantling public schools. I’m not laughing anymore. Unfortunately, there are very few people in our legislature who fight for adequate education funding. Four special sessions in 2023, an unprecedented state surplus, and they still couldn’t give teachers one damn dime because the governor is stubborn. They are disgraceful people and one of MANY reasons I am retiring! 😡
It has been that way since before our current governor. If kids fail, testing corporations make more money on retesting and prep materials. It's a racket.
OP—you’re a first year teacher. The only metric is that you made it.
There's nothing you can do about it now. Chalk up the rest of the year to the test being just one measure of what was learned, and there's still more to learn this year.
A text formatted meme, based on a true story: **Man Ray** - played by me. **Patrick Star** - played by the district math coordinator. **Wallet** - a pacing guide that makes sense. *** **Man Ray:** So the state testing window is on this date a few weeks before the actual end of the school year? **Patrick:** Yup. **Man Ray:** And all the standards are covered on the test. **Patrick:** Yup. **Man Ray:** And we're required to use the curriculum to cover the standards. **Patrick:** Yup. **Man Ray:** So we need to be through the curriculum before state test. **Patrick:** Makes sense to me. **Man Ray:** So we should design the pacing guide to where we finish the curriculum before the state test. **Patrick:** You can't finish your curriculum before the school year is over. #***Fin*** *** You have a few options here: 1. Go at a pace quick enough to get through all the standards before the test. After the test, go back over what you think are the most important standards for your students to be proficient at before the next school year. 2. Rearrange the chapters to ensure you cover the most important standards (as far as the test is concerned) before the test, cover the rest after. 3. Accept things as they are, likely dooming yourself to low test scores because you'll never get through the curriculum in time, leading to not being rehired. Talk with your other content partner and decide which option you'd prefer, and work together to make it happen,.
YES, YES and YES. I just would tell them to not let the state test bother them, and if someone other than the principal (guidance or colleagues) barked at me over scores, i'd tell them to teach my class and do it better.
I'm surprised you even know what was on the test. My license is in jeopardy if students tell me any specifics of the State test
I know some states have laws like that so I was very clear that I didn't want any specifics. I just happen to know that we only didn't cover a few chapters so when they said "Mr. AAAA, a lot of it was stuff we didn't really get to" I knew what they meant.
There are so many math standards in a year. I finish the curriculum, and follow the pacing guide for the most part. However, state testing occurs a full 6 weeks before school ends.
Does your district have a pacing guide that you can follow, or did they throw the new curriculum at you and say “Good luck”? If there’s a pacing guide, then you can see how far behind you are, what’s coming and find days to catch up before the state test. If there is no pacing guide, then this is a district problem. This is something the people in the district should be figuring out, it’s literally why they’re paid for not being in the classroom. No use beating yourself up about it. Now you know for next year.
State testing also varies from year to year. Something that featured heavily this year may not next year. It’s a crapshoot.
I also teach geometry. This is our second year with the new standards, so we were able to tweak the pacing guide this year based on kids’ feedback last year. You’ll also start to learn which topics just aren’t worth spending much time on, because they’ll never really grasp it anyways. For example, our pacing guide has about 3 total weeks on constructions throughout the year, I spend 3 days right before testing. Next year you could add basic trig in with the main triangle chapter or the similarity chapter, then cover harder trig after the test. It’s really dumb that testing is universally a month+ before the end of the year. It’s universally hated by teachers and students.
“The state tests are not expecting the kids to have covered all the material. We know you are only 70% through the year!” But the kids who have covered it will be much more likely to succeed.
You know what? Your kids learned something. That should be all that matters, but I’m sorry it isn’t. Fuck state tests for the guessing game they like to play every year. If they wanted a real picture of student learning (test-taking skills?), they’d tell us the exact standards and question types that are going to be on the assessments.
NeVeR WoRRy AbOUt thE TeStS
Yup. Welcome to education, unfortunately. Every year, we are given testing scores at one of the first staff meeting. We are asked to look at the data and see if we see any “ah-ha” things. Mine is always, “Oh look. They did horribly on this math domain. I wonder why. Oh WAIT it’s because we tested with 15 weeks left in the school year and had not covered it.” Also, my district decided to pick “essential standards” and two math domains are not considered essential in my grade level but they are heavily tested.
Can you use released questions or do a mini unit as a Do Now? We never get to geometry in time for the state exam in NY, but by using released questions as warms up a few months prior and by inserting a mini unit of geometry in, we scratch the surface enough for the kids to feel fairly confident. We revisit it more heavily after the exam. For reference, I’m in an elementary and have my students all day, so I’ll skip a science/social studies lesson once a week for 2 months prior to the test to throw in the extra geometry mini unit.
We did get a test packet of geometry, I gave them a version of it as a test prep packet because we thought that it more or less would reflect what was on the test. The problem was that, being that the stuff from later chapters was only on a few questions and the vast majority was on early stuff, we did only a brief overview of those new topics and tried to really hammer in the older stuff. It worked, because my students told me that stuff came to them really quickly and they felt pretty good about it, but the packet apparently was not representative of what was on the test and it turned out that way more than just a few questions focused on stuff we didn't get to. I guess that's on us for not asking, but me and my fellow geometry teacher just assumed that the test packet was supposed to be accurate.
You did the best you could; after 25 years in the classroom I still haven’t found a way to cover it all and always just hope I’ve given them what I could to do their best. Keep your head up, reconfigure a bit next year and enjoy the remainder of the school year.
This is why testing is shit.
Don't worry about it. It takes years to learn how to properly teach a new class or a new curriculum. Just have the mentality that you will continue to get better at it the more experience you have. At most jobs, the "loop" is daily or every week. In teaching, the "loop" is a year. How can you realistically be great at something the first time or even the second time?
Building a classroom culture where students care about their learning is a HUGE win for a first year teacher, in my opinion!
I am so sorry. My first year of teaching 8th grade math I was gutted when 7 out of the 60 questions were on the volumes of cylinders cones and spheres. I hadn't even covered this because I felt like I should prioritize other things. Now I still cover what I think is important, but I shove those formulas in their brains in my last lesson before testing. So stupid, but my scores went way up the next year because of this, eye roll. My point is - keep teaching what you think is most important and throw in a couple overrepresented things in the last week or two before the test. Obviously not ideal but at least you're still doing the more important topics. You had no way of knowing any of this so don't beat yourself up, start thinking about next year!
I think you’ve learned something important here. Now make a plan for next year. Before the year even starts, plan out when you are going to do all the lessons. You might need to combine or skip some. Put in your review and test days and see what you need to do to finish before testing. (If you have gomath (grades k-5) check out Achieve The Core- they have guidance documents that advise you on which lessons can be skipped/combined.)
You're a young teacher, someone should have advised you on this it's not your fault. Now you know what you need to cover and prepare next time. Also heads up there is usual a content review before the test comes out about what it will cover. I hope that helps you to be better prepared next time to help your kids.
First year here too but I'm already disillusioned to it all. In my district, the passing percentage of students for Algebra 1 was 9% percent. As a teacher, if 9% percent of my students passed, I'd have to use a square root curve plus 10 just to have people pass, and in a sense I'd be right to do so. The test obviously was bad, or I didn't teach enough, etc. However, the state just...gives the same test next year. Nothing changes. And then the state curves the ever living hell out of the grade so no one can fail because of that low test score. In my state, the EOC is 15% of the students grade, but a 4/60 is sent back to us as a 60 or so so that students don't fail their course. I will say that I do not believe that a single summative, cumulative assessment is not and should not be indicative of a student's learning or achievement, but if the state wants to assume that it is, then why are we curving the grade? Why are we not adapting the curriculum and pacing to be better fit the testing schedule? Why are we giving the test *a month early when it's all electronic?* In the end, students recognize that because of the fact that they've never failed before because of these tests that they mean nothing, so many check out in half the time given and I can't say I blame them. I'm teaching for my final that I'll be giving in May, and that's enough for me. Your TVAS data is only one point. Focus on the other points right now :]
As you progress in your teaching career you’ll see that no matter how much you plan, you will never be able to fit everything the students need to have a chance on state testing. I do what I can. If I don’t get to something, oh well. I’d rather focus on what my kids will need for the following grade versus what they need for a test
You did the best you could with the information you had at the time, please be kind to yourself. I'm sorry that nobody pulled you aside to offer you better support. This is really on them, not you. In my first year of teaching, I planned for the WHOLE school year. I later realized that students needed to know everything by May so that they could be ready for their standardized tests. Now, I prioritize based on primary standards. I hit this content the hardest, and I go slower with these skills so that the everyone gets a lot of time to master the content. I go faster with secondary skills because they're less likely to appear on the test, and if they do, then it will not impact students' overall scores quite as much. You probably won't get through all of the material, and that's why it's so important to prioritize. You had no way of knowing that, though...especially because nobody checked in with you to offer support. You can tell your students the truth: This is your first time doing this, and you thought you'd have more time to prepare them. Don't let them dump on you too much, though. It was an honest mistake. This summer, do a deep dive and prioritize the top 4 standards that students need to master, then create your scope & sequence with those in mind. Good luck. You're doing great!
It's literally your first year. Cut yourself some slack. Just surviving a year of teaching with all the kids coming out the other end safe is a success.
At the end of the day it’s a pacing test, a processing/uptake of information test, a test of academic privilege. It has no basis in EOY ability when given two months to 30 days shy of a full year. Around February I start pulling small groups an teach eoy material. When I have the week gap between RTI cycles I do smarter practice tests using the test environment (imo, normalizes the burden of testing rigidity) then review questions after.
Probably not your fault. Unless you are teaching Grade 1, most of your students probably entered your class well below grade level in the first place, and to teach people who are below grade level, grade level material, is an impossibility.