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This year, Oregon school districts will be administering the so-called Smarter Balanced Assessments in English and math to Oregon schoolchildren as part of a nationwide movement. It's all supposedly to raise achievement levels for kids and teachers.
The tests—part of the Common Core State Standards—are so new that state officials haven't decided yet how high a student will need to score in order to pass. The tests are set for April and May.
This morning, parents and teachers in the Portland Public Schools district are buzzing about one detail of a third grade practice test that's available online: the incredibly complicated instructions that one teacher said scored at eighth-grade reading level in online calculators.
"Jimmy Fallon or SNL could turn this into a great skit," one flummoxed adult wrote online. "Perhaps comedic ridicule would bring attention to this mindlessness."
Check out the first set of instructions for yourself. How do you think the average third grader would respond?
The student here answers a few questions. Then he or she is directed to read additional instructions.
WWeek 2015