Test Results I Worried About – Even Though They’re Useless
I told you about my daughter and her problem with the end of year test but I didn’t tell you the results.
She did fine. On the enire test she missed three questions. I’m assuming one of those was when she wrote in her own best answer. I would have given her extra credit for that, but I don’t think that follows the proper procedure for test grading. Overall she scored in the 96th percentile. So I guess, once again, I worried about nothing.
My oldest had a perfect score in math even though we haven’t used an official math curriculum since the middle of third grade. The only problem she had was with the grammar section. She missed a few of those. I was expecting her to miss all of them since I was waiting until this year to teach her grammar. You know, once I actually learned some. When I asked her how she knew the answers she told me she just answered the questions like she’s seen them written in books. Her language score was in the 96th percentile. I guess she’s not having any problems. She did pick out a grammar workbook for this year. She really hates to get anything wrong!
I wonder why I worry about the test results when they obviously mean nothing in a homeschool setting. I already know what my children have learned and what they need to work on. The only benefit I got from the fifty bucks I spent on the tests was not having to convince my daughter to pick out a grammar book. It didn’t change how or what I plan teach my children. It didn’t give me any insight into how or to what depth my children learn. All it did was prove that my children can pass a very basic test. I guess as long as the test companies are making money and the school board can dot their I’s and cross their T’s they’ll leave me and my children alone. That might be the biggest benefit of all.
We closed out our school year about mid-June and we are getting ready to start our new school year soon. I’m not as excited about it as I have been the past few years. I think once I get my house back in order I’ll have more enthusiam. Until then, we are playing Dance Dance on the Playstation. It’s really fun and I’m sure, in some way, it’s educational. In some way, isn’t everything educational?
Test scores are pretty worthless. I scored second highest in my graduating class on the SAT’s and the army told me I should be a psycologist. Wow, were they wrong!
Exactly, learning is everywhere, from Dora to Strip Clubs.
I took a test in Kindergarten and it said I was mentally retarded. (No Joke) I did much better on the one I took in third grade.
Whit, you know I just made mental image of Dora in a strip club, don’t you? You are evil. But, I like that about you.