By America Rojas, Allie Bernocco, and Clarion Staff
For those students who guessed their way through the CSTs, there’s a new test in town and you can’t just choose “C.”
By now you may have heard about Common Core. It’s a new set of educational standards being used nationwide and a new sort of test comes with it. The new test has questions that require you to write in your own well-developed, analytical answers supported by evidence.
It’s vastly different from what you’re used to. For example, the eleventh-grade English CST required students to read short stories about colonial times, or perhaps peruse the “terms and conditions” of a rental car agreement, and then bubble in answers about symbols, or where the rented car could not be driven.
However, the new tests require students to perform tasks such as writing an argument letter regarding the benefits of meditation, and that’s after they’ve analyzed the sources provided.
Additionally, the math portion of the Common Core is going to be very different from what students are used to. Rather than being tested on one concept per question, each problem is going to force the students to combine multiple math skills and concepts. Mrs. Sim-Kim, the chair of the math department, said, “I think it is a better approach to testing.”
Nevertheless, this new test has some drawbacks for students. For example, because the majority of the problems will be word problems, this new test may be more difficult for English learners, Sim-Kim said.
One concern multiple teachers are experiencing is the fact that the new tests will be taken online, but not all computers on campus are working, therefore having several hundred students take an online test would be challenging to overcome.
However, the school gets a six-week window to administer the tests, said Mr. Jarvis, the assistant principal in charge of technology. The district is also working to give every student and teacher an iPad and keyboard on which the tests could be taken. It’s unclear when CCHS will get the devices.
Teachers have tried to expose students to the new form of Common Core testing by giving their classes practice assignments. Sophomore Florence Lee has completed several of these assignments in English, math and science. After one such assignment in English class, she stated, “It was more complicated and took more thinking than the usual district assessments.”
For those students who guessed their way through the CSTs, there’s a new test in town and you can’t just choose “C.”
By now you may have heard about Common Core. It’s a new set of educational standards being used nationwide and a new sort of test comes with it. The new test has questions that require you to write in your own well-developed, analytical answers supported by evidence.
It’s vastly different from what you’re used to. For example, the eleventh-grade English CST required students to read short stories about colonial times, or perhaps peruse the “terms and conditions” of a rental car agreement, and then bubble in answers about symbols, or where the rented car could not be driven.
However, the new tests require students to perform tasks such as writing an argument letter regarding the benefits of meditation, and that’s after they’ve analyzed the sources provided.
Additionally, the math portion of the Common Core is going to be very different from what students are used to. Rather than being tested on one concept per question, each problem is going to force the students to combine multiple math skills and concepts. Mrs. Sim-Kim, the chair of the math department, said, “I think it is a better approach to testing.”
Nevertheless, this new test has some drawbacks for students. For example, because the majority of the problems will be word problems, this new test may be more difficult for English learners, Sim-Kim said.
One concern multiple teachers are experiencing is the fact that the new tests will be taken online, but not all computers on campus are working, therefore having several hundred students take an online test would be challenging to overcome.
However, the school gets a six-week window to administer the tests, said Mr. Jarvis, the assistant principal in charge of technology. The district is also working to give every student and teacher an iPad and keyboard on which the tests could be taken. It’s unclear when CCHS will get the devices.
Teachers have tried to expose students to the new form of Common Core testing by giving their classes practice assignments. Sophomore Florence Lee has completed several of these assignments in English, math and science. After one such assignment in English class, she stated, “It was more complicated and took more thinking than the usual district assessments.”