EOGs

Because Taylor Anne is in third grade, she took her first 'End of Grade' exams last week. I'm super excited and proud that Taylor Anne was only 'a little' nervous about taking the tests, and really glad that she came home feeling confident that she did well.

These "EOGs" are the state standardized tests that tell if the student has learned what the state wants them to learn (curriculum-wise) in Reading Comprehension and Math (one test with a calculator, the other without) by the end of whatever grade they're taking them in.

Our state has EOGs in grades 3-8 and then again at grade 10. These multiple-choice tests aren't a whole lot of fun... they're stressful, and in many cases a source of great turmoil in students, teachers, and parents.

Students are scored using four levels of proficiency:

• Level 1 performance means insufficient mastery;
• Level 2 is inconsistent mastery;
• Level 3 is consistent mastery (at grade level); and
• Level 4 is superior mastery.

Most students believe that if the have a low score (1 or 2 out of 4) on the tests they'll be 'held back' next year and will have to repeat the grade, many teachers believe that if their students don't get a 3 or 4 on the tests they're a bad teacher and didn't do enough to help their students learn that year. While either of these things can be true, the test isn't the one tell-all for either holding a kid back or figuring out if a teacher is effective. I'm not a fan of standardized tests as a strict measurement of student learning or teacher success.

All that being said, we got the results back today, and Taylor Anne's teacher told her that she got a score of 4 in all 3 tests! Way to go Taylor Anne!