Standardized Test Rant

Standardized tests are the biggest waste of tax dollars and classroom time. My school-age kids have taken the ITBS tests and have Lexile scores over 1000. Last week, while cruising through Barnes & Noble to look for summer reading material, a book caught my eye that looked interesting to me. Yellow was in the title, it was a fictional story based during the yellow fever epidemic of 1900 & something. I asked the kids if that looked interesting to them . . . oldest says, "no, we can't read that . . . it's only an 800 lexile and I have to look for books over 1000". Forget the fact that it looks good and we might learn something. So, I decided to look up the Twilight series books we've been reading (which are written for 12+ years old) and their lexile is in the middle 700's! So, I looked up Peace Like a River and it's Lexile is 900, still short of the target. Maybe we can have a word with their teacher about allowing it. Lexile measures text & structure difficulty. However, there are many other factors such as how age-appropriate the story is, interest level of the child to the subject, and the reader's background that cannot be measured. My son's teacher says he can read lower lexile books for his enjoyment outside the classroom, but for class projects he must read at or preferably above his lexile. My son had talked to kids in 7th grade who intentionally answer questions wrong on standardized tests to lower their lexile and read books that interest them. Kids who are involved in sports will also intentionally throw the test to be placed in math or english classes that are below their level to be able to keep up their grades during the sports season. What will these kids do when the football scholarship thing doesn't pan out after goofing off for 4 years in high school? My biggest concern, as a mother, is that this sucks what little joy there is out of school. When kids read something they enjoy and understand they are more likely to retain the information. I worry that they are just learning to be good test takers and honing skills so they can "play the game". Is reading a good book you like 3 times a waste of time? No. I understand the need to motivate lazy kids to read at their evel, rather than picking easy books way beneath their level just to ensure a good grade. The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner is 870 lexile, but my 11 & 13 year olds would not likely understand it. No matter, they wouldn't be allowed to read it for a school project anyway.

New Moon is as good as Twilight and as soon as we read the last Harry Potter book we are going right to the bookstore for Eclipse!