Testing Kids In America
My oldest has just did a week (4 of the 5 days) of Stanford Testing at his school. Several grades do the testing and it ranks the schools for comparisons across the state. Then across the US.
My son told me how some of this works and I thought it was cool that the schools are laying the groundwork to help the kids achieve their best. I don’t know if this is done for provincial wide testing in Ontario, but I know we did not do this when I was a kid. Here are some of the things they do:
- Kids are drilled on the length of the tests, the entire morning of each day, and are encouraged to get a lot of rest leading up to test week.
- Kids are to bring a bottle of water and a snack for during the test so they can keep refreshed during the exams.
This is the one I found the best:
- The kids all go out and run a lap around the school field first thing in the morning before the test.
I thought the use of the exercise before the tests and the reminders to keep water handy for the testing where great.
I think this is great that the school is trying to tweak the kids brains to maximize their potential.
I am not sure that Canada schools are this hardcore. Anyone have kids in Canada that are doing Provincial exams for ranking like this? Are the schools having kids exercise before they start their exams?