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What do you see as the benefits and consequences of high stakes literacy assessments?

This creates an accountability system where teachers can be assessed on their progress with teaching and improving instruction. It can also be a tool that teachers can use to assess their own skills and allow them to see what areas need more focus an attention.

What is one way you can advocate for culturally responsive and equitable literacy assessments?

By using your voice and voicing concerns to colleagues, parents, and the board of educaiton.

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How would you feel if you were a Black student or parent in this community?

I think that I would feel greatly targeted in that position. I think that the letter really targets minority groups in a way that only talks down upon them and will only cause tension.
What are some of the problems or concerns with this letter?

The letter did not need to address what racial groups did the worst or the best in the school. If they really wanted to support those students they would do it in a way that is for all students including whites. They created a label on those children as being undereducated then the other races and did not need to specify on what race was doing the worst on these tests.
What other steps could the principal, teachers, and school community have taken?

They could have sent a letter home to children that did not perform to their standards, but did it in a way that did not mention race. They could also even create a survey for parents and students to assess the resources that they have available to them.

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How can teachers provide emotional support for their students before and during standardized assessments?

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How can teachers provide emotional support for their students before and during standardized assessments?

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Teachers can host a variety of test preparation events in order to help students prepare with the help of other peers and their teacher. They can also express the issues with these assessments to their students as a way to ensure they understand that they should not be defined by the score of the test. There are many ways in which a teacher can emotionally support their students and I think just being open and comforting with them is a great start.

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How can administrators and teachers effectively communicate with policy makers regarding their concerns with standardized literacy assessments?

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How can administrators and teachers effectively communicate with policy makers regarding their concerns with standardized literacy assessments?

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You can record your observations and concerns with the board of education and the stakeholders that are represented in your state. You can do this by getting help from others in your school like parents and colleagues and address the matters in a professional manner. Using your voice as a way to advocate for your students and gaining the attention from others in the community or with the same problems can be an effective way to get recognition.

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Self Care Webinar: I thought that it was very eyeopening to hear the webinar about self care. The webinar really allowed me to see the importance of teachers taking care of themselves as it can help them all around. They mentioned very relevant information regarding studies that discuss teacher brutality out and the fascinating statistics that came along with that throughout the pandemic. They supplied many good social emotional resources that teachers can use to support themselves during high stress or strong emotional periods. The podcast was equipped with many tips and tricks that teachers can use to increase the amount of self care and describe the relationship with self care and happiness.

Teaching Empathy: This podcast talked about some ideas and importance of acting empathetic with students and encouraging empathy to your students. They discussed the certain principles that are represented in empathy and how they can be beneficial to all in the community. One thing that I thought was most insightful was how they addressed how outside factors within a persons environment can really impact the actions and attitudes of an individual. They also connected these outside factors to school and discuss how they can impact a child success and mindset while there.

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"Standardized tests have become the most effective racist weapon ever devised to objectively degrade Black and Brown minds and legally exclude their bodies from prestigious schools."

This is something that I would have not been aware of until coming into ISU. I find this information so shocking and believe that it can be changed through activism and support of those members of the dominant community. There is so many differences that appear in the way people communicate orally or written, and I wonder how a test can be given to numerous people from different cultures and still be considered to be readable and valid?

When we look at different areas that often have lower test scores and college admission rates we tend to put blame on the individuals within those communities. There is not anything wrong with the communities or individuals residing in them, but the problem is the tests. There are many factors that can influence a student's performance and those are often not taken into consideration during the creation of an assessment.

I think that this statement form the school was a beautiful one that was voicing for the entire community as well as many more. There is an issue that is clear when looking at the data and number of colored children who are successful within their education. There are many factors that need to be discussed and altered in a way that will cater to the specific group of students that are being assessed with it.

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Ms. Jones is said to have a good understanding of the importance of students finding their own motivation in reading to help build their comprehension skills. She does this by assessing students prior knowledge and diverse interests in order to create a classroom library that will allow them to make connections between texts and their environment,

“Standardized assessments like the PARCC and IAR can help determine teacher effectiveness and provide a benchmark to measure student progress from year to year.”

I thought that the teachers' concerns for the students' results for the IAR assessment was very eye opening and very selfless. The article suggests that the test is catered towards more advantageous students and can be a disadvantage towards students from diverse backgrounds.

“supporters of standardized tests argue that standardized accountability measures “help improve schools by serving as diagnostic tools, measurements of curriculum impact,and assessments of both teachers’ and students’ efficacy and progress”

“Critics of standardized testing argue that, despite intense reform efforts

aimed at increasing equity and accountability, the achievement gap has remained largely unchanged with only modest gains for students of color and poor students”

These exams limit teachers' professional decisions in the classroom and can cause them to choose between culturally relevant literacy instruction or teaching information based on what is found in the assessment.

"Locally created assessment questions may help ensure that students are familiar with the chosen text topics, as students in Illinois, for example, may have drastically different life experiences than students in Texas or Colorado."

It is very interesting to hear that this is not a strategy that is being used considering how much differences there are in just different communities that are within the same state.

Standardized testing is a good way to see how all students stack up against the test. It’s not entirely fair or accurate and the results need to be taken with a grain of salt.

In an ideal educational system, people would be educated according to their abilities to deal with complexity and their rates of learning.

Standardized tests can be used by a teacher to provide data on how well the class did comparatively with others but it will not give insight to what the student knows, understands or how a response was synthesized