Ohio Achievement Tests

[ballparent]

The first article I've seen concerning the test. Oh, the things teachers will do to get their kids motivated.

High-stepping for higher test scores
London middle schoolers march and chant to rev up for state exams
Thursday, April 24, 2008 3:34 AM
By Holly Zachariah

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

TOM DODGEDispatch photos
Seventh-grade math teacher Bev Miller heard at a recent seminar that marching engages both sides of the brain. Trying out this theory yesterday, she chanted through a bullhorn as about 315 students paraded around London Middle School for 20 minutes before taking the Ohio Achievement Tests.

Stormi Hill, right, serves as an impromptu drill sergeant as students circle the school. The 12-year-old and a friend made up a military-style chant to keep their fellow students motivated and entertained as they marched.


TOM DODGEDispatch
Teachers hoped the round-the-school stimulation would carry over and help students concentrate on the Ohio Achievement Tests, which the students began taking immediately after the march.

LONDON, Ohio -- Even at the age of 12, Stormi Hill makes a heck of a drill sergeant.

She led a chant to keep her classmates in step yesterday as they marched around the London Middle School campus.

I don't know but I've been told, our math teacher is mighty old. Been teaching math since '72; I wasn't born, and neither were you.

And Stormi barked out orders whenever someone broke the cadence or stepped out of line.

I can't hear you! Come on! Step, step! March, march!

It could have been her commands or maybe it was simply the idea that the seventh- and eighth-grade students got to poke fun at their teacher. Either way, the 315 or so kids seemed to enjoy the 20 minutes of parading around the block.

It wasn't just for fun. Seventh-grade math teacher Bev Miller, the subject of the chant, learned at a seminar this month that marching engages both sides of the brain.

The theory is that the stimulation would carry over and help students concentrate on the Ohio Achievement Tests, which they began to take right after the march.

Maybe it helped. Maybe not. But Stormi was among those who believed it made a difference.

"It got us going, got us moving, kept us motivated and awake," she said. "It's better than just sitting down first thing with a pencil."

About 810,000 students in grades three through eight will take the Ohio Achievement Tests between now and May 9. Teachers love to find creative ways to motivate them.

On Monday, the kids were less than enthusiastic about the march, so Miller asked a couple of students to make up a chant to increase the fun.

Stormi and her friend, Corie Campbell, composed the little ditty on their way home from a softball game Tuesday night.

Miller was a good sport about it; even chanted it herself. Through a bullhorn, no less.

"I tried to get them to substitute old with pretty," she said. "But I guess they couldn't come up with anything that rhymed."

[orange-n-brown 365]

I am required to teach in a 9 week time 200 hours via home school

[socfan]

Here is just my list of typical interruptions or non academic time in a typical day.

20 - 30 minutes of announcements. So and so come to the office for example.

30 - 45 minutes of restroom time. I call it the bathroom bug, it goes around quicker than the flu, and you cant tell them no! lol

Switching classes, usually a minute or two before the switch and a minute or two after. Typically about 7 class switches so say 20 minutes.

30 minutes for lunch.

20 minutes for recess.

40 minutes a day for a special, gym, music, art or library.



Our day is from 7:55 to 2:05, so it is just over six hours or 360 minutes, minus the 175 for a total of 185 actual class time. What do I think is actual instruction, less than that for sure when you start taking into account of handling social problems with the kids.

So that is 3 hours a day for 185 days.

What school are you at? I teach at an elementary school, with a schedule much like yours; however, our school day is from 7:45 to 3:00, there is an extra 70 minutes which equals an extra 350 minutes (nearly a full school day) extra every WEEK!! You are looking at about 30 extra days we are in session compared to other schools. That makes a big difference; I wish the state of Ohio would look at the hours a schools puts in as compared to the number of days the school is in session.

[eagles73Taylor]

Our kids are at school at 7:30, but I used 7:55 as the actual start time because that is usually how long it takes to get going after lunch count, and breakfast! lol

[socfan]

I thought that what you might have done on your schedule. My first class starts at 8:10.

[ballparent]

Oops.

State goofs, prints too few tests
Glitch affected certain students in 450 districts trying to conduct required exams
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 3:21 AM
By Holly Zachariah

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
As state-mandated testing of third- through eighth-graders kicks into high gear this week, a widespread shortage of test forms used by a select group of students has some districts scrambling.

Marysville is among them. The Union County district had ordered test booklets for special-education students and English-as-a-second-language students who need to have the test read to them. The booklets never came.

Although testing began yesterday for everyone else at Marysville Middle School, those students had to wait.

They are hardly alone. The shortage affected about 450 districts, the Ohio Department of Education said.

Substitutes hired as test readers had to be called off, arrangements for special testing sites had to be canceled and plans had to be adjusted to occupy those students who couldn't take the test.

Officials don't know what happened, but it seems to have been a combination of errors, said Stan Heffner, the state's associate superintendent of curriculum and assessment.

Some districts simply didn't order enough, perhaps because of unclear instructions. Others, based on past numbers, seemed to have overordered and the Education Department erroneously lowered numbers on its own, he said.

Heffner said 20,000 special test forms were printed. It appears 60,000 were needed.

"We are doing everything we can to fix this," he said. "I can assure you we will make everything clear so that we don't have this problem again."

Some districts, though the state doesn't know how many, were able to solve the problem before testing. Marysville wasn't so lucky. Yvonne Boyd, who coordinates the test at the middle school, had ordered 75 tests for students and readers.

Now, she has canceled her substitutes until at least Thursday and found ways to keep those students busy.

"We're trying to make the best of a bad situation," Boyd said. "It's a definite problem."

Even in districts that found a fix, the shortage still caused trouble.

"I was in full-blown panic mode," said Susie Bailey, curriculum director for the Washington Court House schools in Fayette County.

The district had ordered 300 of the special tests; two weeks ago it received 162.

Bailey said state education officials told her she had ordered too many. She was furious.

"I told them no, no and no. This was not my mistake," she said. "They told me it would be worked out, but I wouldn't accept that."

So she haggled for a week and, finally, late Friday, she drove to downtown Columbus and picked up extra tests that state employees had rounded up from other districts. Testing in Washington C.H. began as scheduled yesterday.

About 810,000 students will take the Ohio Achievement Test between April 21 and May 9.

"It was a ridiculous thing to go through," Bailey said. "Someone really dropped the ball."

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[Philly]

Granddaughters go to South Webster, who IMHO is the best school system in Scioto County. They are taking the OAT's this week. They will be glad when they are over!!!

[Bigboy52]

For as important as this testing is I can't believe how badly the state and the districts screwed up the ordering of tests.

[mohawkbaseball#1]

good ole no child gets ahead and standardized testing

[Winchell]

For as important as this testing is I can't believe how badly the state and the districts screwed up the ordering of tests.

Was out of the districts' control. The state messed up the ordering and delivering of certain forms of the test, mainly for IEP students.

[Never Had One Lesson]

In my personal opninion, students are testing too much! From what I've heard, it is a consensus of teachers and parents alike - NCLB is NOT working!

Email your representative today and be HEARD!

The THIRD grade test is 2 1/2 hours long for math and reading!

In Ohio:
Contact Governor Ted Strickland
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/mai ... &chamber=G

Contact Superintendent Dr. Susan Zelman
mailto:[email protected]

Contact Ohio's U.S. senators
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_i ... m?State=OH

You can also go to ODE's website at:
http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates ... spx?page=1
Good luck navigating it! It's VERY confusing and changes all the time!

Finally, I tried to find an email for Margaret Spelling and could not! Here's the address for "CONTACT US" - no email provided!
http://www.ed.gov/about/contacts/gen/index.html

Sorry, I don't have any info for KY or WV!