The high stakes testing world is now divided into BT and AT-Before Test and After Test. In New York we are now into the After Test part of the school year. Of, course there is still the Math and Science tests to prepare for but the ELA is done for now.

In many schools I work in teachers have just about finished hosting their “after test parties”. These parties are not just a NY “thing”. Just like Super Bowl parties, these “after test” parties, breakfasts or buffets have become a tradition in many classrooms across the country. I know this is true, because when I have spoken at workshops in states outside of N.Y. teacher’s nod and smile when I mention this event.

During the past ten years or so since the introduction of state-mandated assessments I’ve been invited to several of these festive occasions and at almost everyone I’ve attended a teacher or teachers will come up to me and say, “Thank goodness the test is over because, now we can get back to doing “real reading and writing” I have often thought about this statement and along with it the message we must be sending to our kids. Are they thinking that  when we prepare for the “after test” party  all the valuable teaching and learning that went into preparing them for the test now gets boxed away with the test preparation material and  that  the real books and the  real learning only comes out along with the bagels, cookies, and paper plates? 

I have spent a great amount of time in the past few years investigating research centering on how to effectively prepare kids for high stakes testing. I was not surprised to learn that the single most important factor influencing effective test preparation is general reading competence. This tells me that the more we pull kids off of   “real reading” the more difficult it will be for them to score in the proficient range on the state assessments; however  if you were to ask me, “Do I believe “test preparation” is necessary?” Absolutely!! Kids need to be comfortable with the structure and format of the test they will be facing just like potential medical school and law school candidates need to be comfortable with the structure and format of the MCATS and LSATS they will face if they intend to enter medical or law school. 

All this being said I think it is our responsibility as teachers of reading and writing to build links for our students between the strategies and skills they need in order to comprehend and respond to text and the application of those same strategies and skills to effectively read and answer questions on a test. Effective test preparation should not eclipse reading workshop. Effective test preparation should be part of reading workshop. The strategies and skills necessary to be a competent reader and a competent test taker should be modeled and taught together using authentic literature or “real books” Now, please someone pass the bagels!!!