Rites of Spring, II

The state testing schedule we're trying this year makes sense: kids show up to a different "period" each day for a big testing period: the first day of testing, to their first period class; the second day, to their second period class, etc., then the rest of the day is a block schedule, where they go to three of their six classes on alternating days. The block schedule never brings them back to their "testing" period on the same day. Sounds more complicated than it is.

So on any given morning, kids are taking all different tests all over campus: the English test in their English class, and so on. I have no idea what they're doing in their elective classes for over three hours.

But it's working for me: I administer the same test day after day. No having to remember what test, or two tests, have to be done on any given day. Big relief, because I've made mistakes in the past, not giving the test I should have, then having to squeeze it in on another test day after my kids finished that day's test. This is much easier for me, but more difficult for the administration and the clerical staff: every day the test booklets and answer documents are collected, and re-sorted so that each kid's test booklet and answer document matches the "period" that the next day's test will take place in for every student on campus who is testing (basically, everyone but seniors). That's a lot of hand-sorting, but so far it's been flawless on my end. We have a fantastic clerical staff up in the front office.

The last good part of this schedule is that instead of trying to cram in five other periods after the testing period that all last half an hour, we have only three, so they can be just about a normal class-hour long. Feels much more normal, and my planning hardly hiccups, aside from not burdening them down with a lot of taxing work during "dead week." Fortunately, we're reading and discussing a book, so their brain cells are not being called upon for yeoman's work right now, anyway. "Dead week" mostly signifies the school's suggesting that we not assign homework during the testing period.

Other schools have approached state testing by having a series of minimum (time on campus) days: test from 8AM to noon, then turn them loose until the next day. Our minimum day runs from 7:30 to 12:16, with a 10-min. break in the middle, so totals 4hrs. 25min. of actual instructional time. Right now we're covering everything easily with 3 1/4hr. testing blocks, so we'd have to figure out what to do with them for about 1.25hrs. Considering our contract's stipulations, and bus schedules, it's probably not feasible for us to go that route, as direct and simple as it is. Welcome to bureaucracy-ville. I'd say let's go from 9AM (that's when we begin on Mondays anyway) 'til 12:30. That would give us the 3.5hr. testing block we're using now, then nada.

Not likely to happen. You can't turn the Titanic: all you can do is re-arrange the deck chairs.