Proficiencies teaching anxiety for years to come...

I realize for those of you that don’t have school age children this might not be a topic you’re interested in so, apologies to those who don’t find this topic a hot button one. Next week is the big fourth grade proficiency tests for my youngest daughter. I understand the reasons behind the tests themselves and that is not my complaint. The underlying reason behind these tests, making sure all children have become “proficient” is in itself not a bad concept. The way my daughter’s school and I’m sure other schools handle these test though is the problem.

Ask any fourth grader at my daughter’s school and they’ll tell you if they don’t pass the proficiency tests they can’t move on to fifth grade. Of course they should know this, it is important nor am I advocating making children believe it’s not important to pass tests. However, is it necessary to create such fear and stress in children that young? This not even dealing with the larger issue should the mere failing of this test be enough to hold a child back from fifth grade. I’m focusing on the huge deal made of this and how it affects children, especially my child.

Starting in third grade we hear about the “dreaded” proficiency tests; from the teachers and from fourth graders and from their parents. The school system offers special classes for the summer designed to help your child pass certain sections. We hear the horror stories of those who did not pass. At the beginning of the fourth grade school year if you have one of the misfortunate ones who has had to repeat the fourth grade because of this one series of tests it starts instantly. If you don’t you learn soon that this test is the focus of the year. The practice proficiency tests come first. Even if your child breezes thru those (which mine did) the focus is still on the “real” tests. As the school year goes on you start to get more and more “practice” packets, some of them over 75 pages for your child to complete as homework.

The month before the test things start to “ramp” up. We get flyers home reminding us when the tests are to happen to make sure that we don’t schedule any doctors or dentist appointments during that week. Your child comes home focusing on not only the test but the importance of eating “brain food” for breakfast that week and providing “brain food” snacks during that week. This to me is total stupidity; because the focus should be eating a healthy breakfast every day and having a nutritious snack every day not just this one week if the real goal is teaching our children important life lessons. Make sure you get enough sleep that week so you are rested is the next little snippet of advice both in writing and verbally drilled into the children’s heads. Then the “secret envelope” comes home where we as parents are all asked to send in a letter of encouragement to our child about the upcoming proficiency tests. You’re not supposed to show this to your child, you are supposed to do it “in secret” put it in the provided envelope and send it back to school. Woe unto the poor child who feels even worse on proficiency Monday if you as a parent have failed to do the “secret envelope” mission. (For those curious as to what I did, I "recreated" what I sent in on the web: http://www.psyche777.net/aubrey.html)

During this whole month if you have a child that worries about their performance you deal with the anxiety that has been increased thru the schools handling of this. “What if I don’t pass them”? You reassure your child and if you are like me point out that she already passed the practice proficiencies. All she has to do is go in there and do her best. Of course I’m giving her a different message than the school is so this repeats often. I’m telling her she’ll do fine yet every day she hears more about how important these tests are. Then if you are like me you get frustrated and you are honest with your child. You tell her this big huge production over the proficiencies is because her teacher and the school district get graded on these scores too. It’s more to scare the children and parents who don’t do what they are supposed to do every day and for students like her she shouldn’t worry about it. You tell her that the federal government puts pressure on the state, the state the local districts, the local districts the principal, the principal the teachers and then it trickles down to her. That sometimes adults make too big of a deal about things not meaning to freak anyone out but to make sure everyone realizes it’s important. There are going to be all kinds of tests in the future from the high school proficiencies to SAT and ATC, that learning how to take tests is important but not something you should stress yourself out over. That should heaven forbid the worst happens and she freezes and forgets everything she learned in that one moment you can take it again. It’s not a one chance life or death scenario where the future of our planet hangs on her ability to do these proficiency tests.

So then you can ask, if they are teaching to the test anyway if they are really effective teachers should this even be an issue? If with as much focus is given how could any child fail? Don’t ask that question…For some reason the principal didn’t like it.