In the Weekly Quandary, we pull from the comments, the weekly open thread or email a question that we know (or at least suspect) plagues more than one parent. You — the readers — provide the advice: How have you made this work better in your family? This week’s quandary comes from a much-commented-upon article in the National section. What can parents do if school testing is overwhelming their students, or their school?
As Lizette Alvarez wrote in “States Listen as Parents Give Rampant Testing an F,” what once was vaunted as a way to achieve teacher and school accountability seems to be taking over the curriculum. “In Florida, which tests students more frequently than most other states, many schools this year will dedicate on average 60 to 80 days out of the 180-day school year to standardized testing.” Parents there are protesting. Some teachers and schools are refusing to test. The state and the district are paying attention; Florida’s love affair with testing may be short-lived.
But most schools conduct some form of standardized testing. If that testing is stressful for your son or daughter, what’s the best course for parents? How can you help your child to get through the testing as it is, and when should you begin trying to get that changed, not just for your child, but for all of your district’s children?
What helps with standardized test anxiety, and when is the testing too much?