Preparation for the state end of instruction tests.

[Shelly Ferguson]

I am wondering how other biology I teachers prepare for the end of instruction test. What types of resources (if any) are used and how. I go through the curriculum quickly, finishing about 8 weeks before the test, and then use the Buckle Down books to review everything. I then give the practice test that comes with the Buckle Down books to see how my students do. If time permits, I reteach any weak areas again. I hate teaching to the test, but my school district really pushes for good test scores, leaving me with little choice.

[Shelly Ferguson]

Wow, that must be tough on scores. We were on that schedule a few years ago, but in OK they gave the test twice per year and still do for those districts. My district changed about 3 years ago. I have had good test scores with this system, but lab time does suffer some. I still do labs, but try to stick to labs that can be completed in one day. I have them do lab reports over each lab, to force them to reflect on what was done and why, as homework. I spend the rest of the year after the test is over doing nothing but labs and projects to try to make up for it.

[Joe]

I'm in Maryland; I have 6 years worth of released tests and the same items are online grouped by topic. Seeing test items, playing review jeopardy or "I Have, You Have games... I find the questions very similar year to year here. There's only so many ways to ask the function of a ribosome or what shape a graph of enzyme activity vs. temperature will be.
Joe

[Erin Nash]

Shelly,
How do you every get finished 8 weeks before the test! I will still have curriculum to cover by that time! I have the Buckle Down Books as well.

Do you still incorporate inquiry into your classroom teaching at this rate?

Our state just changed to the EOC exam, so this is truly our first year with the program. I am working on putting together online study guides/quizzes to review past material. Also, our Biology department is planning on hosting study sessions before and after school for anyone who is interested a few weeks before the exam.
I would be interested in hearing what your curriculum is like, as well as how you manage to finish so early prior to the test!!

[Shelly Ferguson]

I have to teach only the PASS skills in each chapter in order to finish early. This allows me to combine several chapters in the time that it would take for one. If it is not a PASS skill, I don't teach it. Doing this allows me to do at least one lab every other week. It's more work on my part because I have to make most of my own resources instead of using the ones that come with the book. As a teacher, I have never felt I had to go exactly with a textbook. I provide the information they need in the form of notes and class discussions. The book becomes more of a reference for students instead of something they work out of every day. We just completed our DNA extraction and will do the "Baby Who" lab this week. I will finish my content in a little over two weeks, then we start reviewing everything using the Buckle Down books. This last review gives students who transferred in midyear a chance to learn any content they may have missed.

[Jennifer Hood]

I know it's summer & most people are out of commission, but I am going to try a different approach this year. Instead of giving my students a comprehensive study guide at the end of the year to help prepare for the exam, I am giving it in the beginning. Many of them, when I asked if they would have rather had it sooner than later, responded that it would have been nice to have the study guide from the start. It would not serve as a replacement for student notes, but it would help students focus more on the specific material in the test standards. I could also tell students to refer to the study guide for weekly assessments covering the material we had already discussed. Hopefully it will be better than 'cramming' right before the test.

[J. Gudelsky]

The science section of our state's graduation exam covers every field of science: astronomy, weather, physics, geology, etc., in addition to biology and chemistry. Our students take the test during March of their sophomore year, 2/3 of the way through Chemistry (and having completed Biology). We have not been able to discern any pattern to the specific questions that will be asked from examining released tests and we can't give up class time to cover sciences outside of our courses. We've found that the best preparation is to familiarize the kids with the test itself. To do that, we give our sophomores frequent quizzes with questions from released tests. We discuss unfamiliar vocabulary, discuss how to analyze data, talk about test strategies they can use. Our state test includes open-ended questions and we go over lots of those, reminding them how the response to a 2 pt. question will be different from a 4 pt. question. We hate the test, don't like the format, but what can you do? Our pass rates our good. Our administration wants more grades in the "advanced" categories but we are unwilling to give up any more content time than we already are.

[Jen]

I actually do "continual" test prep throughout the year. I am fortunate to have student response devices (aka "clickers") and the kids LOVE them. I use them to "review" before major tests in class, so they think they are getting actual test questions :) I can load it as "spontaneous survey" so it shows a graph of the responses by students without showing individual responses. If we find a question that EVERYONE missed or came close to missing, we stop and discuss what went wrong. I also have a SMARTBoard, so I can write all over it and show what they could focus on within the question - key words that standardized testmakers use to try to "trip up" kids. This also works REALLY well with my AP kids - they did a practice test (abbreviated with material up to this point), and I did a similar test in FL when I did not have clickers to analyze questions and I had PHENOMENAL results on the practice test. Even with the -.25 guessing penalty, (and I'm taking this with a grain of salt b/c we are NOT done with the material yet) I had a "pass" rate of over 80%. I NEVER had that happen when I was teaching without the tech toys. The kids like it because we never have time to review a test after they take it, so this pre-emptive strike seems to be working well.
If you don't have the clickers, you might be able to use laminated answer cards that kids could hold up simultaneously and do a quick visual to determine if they need more work on the question. I find that half the battle with any standardized testing is simply test-taking skills. If the kids have group practice doing this (where it's not as scary as an actual test), they seem to relax and do better with the test. If it's continual, it reinforces the idea of test prep all year long, but if you sneak it in before a test, they like it as a review.