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Health & Fitness

We Finished the CRCT, So Now What Do We Do?

If we consider the CRCT to be the all to end all test, then obviously daily education and learning is not important from mid-April throug mid-August (4 months).

The CRCT starts this week and everyone from students, parents, classroom teachers and administrators are anxious. 

This is nothing new. 

We've created this educational culture of stress with our children because everything rides on this one test or at least it seems that way.  Ask children why they need to do well in school and a majority will say, "So I can pass the CRCT."  That somehow as long as the CRCT is passed then learning can stop until August. 

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Without question, children need some time for summer activities like swimming, art camps, spending time with family and friends, but to what extent should these activities trump daily learning is a question of debate.

Consider this:  the CRCT ends this year in mid-April.  The state will then release the results of the CRCT to the local schools.  These results will provide a list of names of students who are projected to fail portions of the CRCT.  Administrators and teachers then scramble to meet the academic challenges of preparing these children to retake the CRCT during the last days of school.  This compares with cramming for a college exam...but what are the consequences?  How much knowledge does a typical child actually retain?  Probably very little actually.

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This also opens the door for children to be labeled by other students as the students who are projected to fail the CRCT are suddenly attending review CRCT classes, while other students may be working on enrichment, interesting projects or even in some cases free time in class or out on the playground.  Children are very intuitive and it doesn't take long for students to figure out who passed and who failed the CRCT.  Although students may not be physically bullied, often these children find themselves vulnerable to verbal comments about not passing the CRCT. 

As a teacher, I've worked with the very children who feel a sense of defeat during this time.  Imagine what it would feel like as an adult if your co-workers suddenly became aware you didn't pass a test requirement for your job.  As adults, we may be able to overcome these feelings, but with children, it can have lasting consequences on self-esteem and impact their own path of learning through their entire school years.

If we consider the CRCT to be the all to end all test, then obviously daily education and learning is not important from mid-April through mid-August (4 months).  The result, children lose knowledge in reading and even more in math during these months than at any time during the year.

Summer educational activities are as much about creating a mindset and attitude toward learning as they are about building up specific skills that you can test for. Parents taking the initiative to provide educational opportunities in math and reading for their child(ren) throughout the summer will send the message to their child that learning doesn't stop with the CRCT. 

The payoff?  Children will keep current on their academic skills and will also have opportunities to learn new standards which will be taught during the new school year.  Confidence, knowledge and skills are what is gained as a result.  Every parent wants their child to be successful. 

 

Denise Detamore, Director/Teacher of Advantage Math Club in Roswell.

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