Benchmarks

I am feeling discouraged. It is demoralizing when a teacher’s worth, value, and perceived ability are derived mostly from student test scores. As a teacher, there is only so much I can control in the classroom, only so much I can do to force students to pay attention and read. There is only so much I can do to combat the apathy that has settled in the minds of my students. 

This week we had to administer benchmark exams to our students. These exams are given multiple times a year to students to chart their progress in English and math—just one of many reasons why I had initially wanted to teach history. In September, I gave the benchmark and glanced at the data. It was discouraging. Most students were not meeting the standards and expectations for English. That was three months ago. This time around, they did worse. Looking at the charts, the data, comparing where students were in September to where they are now has me questioning what went wrong. If it were just up to me, I would shrug my shoulders, and shake my head and just keep plugging away at my job, trying new things in an attempt to better reach my students.

Unfortunately, I can’t do that because I am not the only one looking at the data. I am not the only one seeing that my students did worse after being in my class for three months than they did coming off summer break. I am just waiting for the administrators to question me, to use this data in an effort to paint me as a non-effective teacher. So before I get called in, before I have to answer for my “failures,” perhaps it’s best if I take some time to reflect on why the scores went down.

In September students are coming off summer break. There is a freshness about the new year. It doesn’t matter what happened the previous year, because with a new grade level (for most of them), a new teacher, and new material they are not yet consumed with boredom, nor are they feeling overwhelmed. They have not been sitting at desks day after day, their attention spans strained by teachers continuously calling them back from wherever it is their minds have drifted. When they sit for their benchmarks, perhaps they are a little less restless, because school has not yet become a tedious endeavor. For many of them, they are still feeling refreshed and excited to be back with friends they may not have seen all summer. School might suck, but friends inject their lives with vigor. 

After two and a half months of reading The Great Gatsby, they are completely checked out. No matter how hard I tried to bring the novel alive in the classroom, the students had no interest. Every student, at one point or another, grumbled about how difficult and boring it was. I understand why. The characters and plot are so far removed from their every day existence they couldn’t find anything to grasp hold of. They just couldn’t find their way in no matter how hard I tried to get them there. Seriously, Fitzgerald wrote about rich white people living the high life out on Long Island. What can my struggling immigrant and socioeconomically challenged students possibly connect to? Plus, the 1920’s are so far removed from modern day. Yeah, I love stories that transport me to different time periods, whether they are historical fiction or novels written a century or two ago, but I also love and understand history. My students do not. Even with my help, they could not comprehend all the ways in which Daisy was a victim of 1920’s society. No matter how many times I reminded them that women weren’t permitted to be economically independent, they didn’t get it. 

While many of my preferences for education are outdated, I am not rigidly tied to the classics. Yes, I think they are important to read. Yes, I think they tell us something about life--even today. Yes, I would hate for them to disappear from schools entirely. But, most of them were written by straight white men whose perspective was limiting. In order to fully engage students they need buy in. They aren’t going to get it from a rich white man who lives in a mansion and has been operating under the delusion that if he accumulates enough wealth he can buy the love of a woman with whom he is unhealthily obsessed. Maybe save the classics for the honors classes, but the struggling students need something that might ignite a bit of passion. Give them a book that will make them feel something. Let them react emotionally. 

I hate that this question has even entered my thought process, but is it possible that I’ve asked too much of them? It is possible that the novel was simply too difficult. They have been complaining repeatedly that it’s too dense, that they don’t understand the vocabulary, and that the language—to them—is outdated. And here I’ve been requesting that they read daily, annotate, and respond to the high level questions the administrators want to see. Perhaps it was too much. Perhaps they needed to read fewer pages, refresh their comprehension skills sooner, and take the time to look up words they didn’t know. If you start training for a marathon before you're ready to walk a mile, your muscles will crash. Your body won’t be able to keep up. Perhaps the brain isn’t any different. Maybe I overwhelmed them with my expectations.

Finally, is it unreasonable to think they are completely indifferent to all forms of standardized tests? Do they even care enough to put forth much effort? We test these kids constantly. When you add up all the state testing and benchmarks, is it any surprise that they just don’t care anymore? How important are these tests? How drastically do their lives change based on their scores? Yes, there is the occasional one that is a requirement to pass high school, but what about the rest? In theory, some tests—such as these benchmarks—are supposed to serve a “noble” purpose. Teachers are expected to analyze the data to gain insight as to where their students are struggling so they can better plan lessons to address their individual needs. But if the students are burned out and apathetic from so much testing, how accurate is the data?

Maybe the real question is: In a society that over tests its students, how is it that so many students are below grade level? If test scores really mattered, would we continue to promote students who weren’t ready for promotion? But maybe the testing was never really about the students, only the teachers. An imprecise, biased way to assess how well or how much teachers are teaching. And that’s what concerns me the most.