Dear Friends of Little Elk,
We are scheduled to take the MCAs next Monday and Tuesday, March 12 and 13. My best advice for children testing is to get a good, extra-solid night's sleep, and to eat a breakfast with protein. Other than that, there's nothing to study for, or get worked up about. Sam O'Brien has said it better than I could, so I am going to leave you with his words about standardized testing:
Head of School Thoughts on Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments
by Sam O'Brien (originally published March 2017)
Dear Families of Great River School,
This month, we begin our mandated duty of administering the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments. In Minnesota, all 3rd-11th year students are offered the exams. Great River School uses these results as one measure at one point in time for one individual. It's a snapshot, and fails to measure how a student will persist, grow, challenge themselves. The test does not predict how a student will succeed in the world. The test sometimes reflects what we know about a student's academic ability, and sometimes is wildly inaccurate. One thing I know from best practices in education: one-time high stakes assessment is not an indicator of the way a student will perform in a profession, on a team, or in an authentic situation of challenge where clear answers must be found through deep engagement in work and problem solving. However, the opportunity is seen as a challenge work or novelty by some students, and we make every effort to create accurate and informative measures to complement and better inform MCA results for families.... (To read the rest of his blog, click here.)
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