My son told me yesterday that he had to take in $7 today for an EOG test ready booklet. I told him I did not want to get one--I just can't stand how they cram review for EOGs and that lowest score he has ever made was a 97%--I felt like he would be fine without the review booklet. He told me if he did not have it he would still have to do the review work but he would have to copy all the work onto paper. According to him the teacher told them it would be much more work for the students if they did not have the books. Did anyone else have to buy this?
We are in the Benson Schools and have put 4 kids through with EOGs and all but we have never had to purchase a study book. My youngest is a 7th grader if that makes any difference. FTR...I hate EOGs!
I'd be calling the office and asking why the school doesn't provide this. EOG's, as much as we hate them, are really designed to attempt to demonstrate how effective the school is in teaching what the EOG promoters say that our children need to know. I hate that the schools teach to the test. If they provided a classical education, there should be no need to cram for it. In my mind, this is a waste of teaching time and of student potential to teach the test. Sounds as if your child will be penalized for not buying the booklet. That's wrong. And I'd let CMS and Dr Croom know how I felt.
There used to be optional vocabulary books in high school English classes similar to these booklets. The students aren't required to buy them. If they do buy them, they won't have to copy the questions and answers. If they don't, they will. It's pretty simple, and IMO, there's nothing wrong with that. They aren't "penalized" for not buying them; they are just being given an option to buy that will aid them in doing the work. Also, another reason they have practice booklets for the EOGs is because they like to the students used to the format of test questions and answers. There is a lot of research supporting using mock tests to prepare for the real thing. And I agree with Hat that it's unfortunate that teachers have to "teach to the test," but as long as there are standardized tests, teachers will have to teach to them. In theory, they should be able to teach like they normally would, and the kids should get what they need to know, but that isn't reality with these tests. If the school wants the kids to do well on them (and they definitely do because of the repercussions if they don't), they have to familiarize them with the format, types of questions, test taking skills, etc.
But it does sound like if you don't purchase them, your child is penalized by having to then hand-write everything, and that is a lot of writing. These should be provided by the school. Or better yet, get rid of the EOG's and stop cramming and teaching to the test.
I never bought any for my kids. never. they never had to write anything either. everything is online and the teacher can provide the links.
My daughter is in the 8th grade at Cleveland Middle. She brought home an order form to buy at $10 workbook. I recall that we have bought in the past as well. She indicated that she didn't have to buy it but if she wanted to write in the book, she would have to buy one.
As many know, I try to brag about our schools when we do well, and am one of the loudest critics when we don't do it smartly. EOGs represent, to me, the worst of accountability measures. They measure how well a student does on that particular test, that day, under those circumstances. If students are taught to the test, then they are being taught what to think, not how to think critically. That said, since the EOGs are designed to approximate a measure how effective the school system is, and the school system probably wants to achieve the highest scores so as to reflect highly on the schools, then it seems to me that providing these booklets or photocopies of them is inherently the schools responsibility. I've proctored EOGs where for the first portion, students were busy writing down formulae that had been required to memorize in test prep to apply. All well and good, except that few probably could recall them a week later, much less how to apply that short term learning. What is done for those kids for whose family the 10 bucks per booklet is a financial burden? Lest this gets laughed at, I counsel many families for whom this cost presents a booklet or a meal for the family. Most of those families are right here in Cleveland, not inner city somewhere else. As for teaching the test, this is simply unfathomable to me. I received a classical education in public school, back when the board of education was applied to the rear ends of ne'er do wells, when students who didn't earn passing grades failed and repeated the grade the next year. No teacher of mine ever felt the need to teach to the test, as they and my mother believed that if I applied myself, and used what I was taught, that I could pass any of the tests given, not one for which I had been vigorously and uniquely prepared. And what's up with sending home the notice, dated April 10th with a bold type faced due back to CMS on 'Friday, April 13 to your child's homeroom teacher. The administration at CMS is out of touch and full of themselves. CMS deserves a change from an administration that perceives they dictate to parents, to one that solicits parent involvement and works with them. Time for a new sheriff in town. We support the schools through taxes and bonds. If the administration feels so strongly about these booklets, they should provide for them for every student.
I have heard next year JoCo Schools will no longer be using any textbooks. Instead, all academic instructional materials will be pulled from various internet sites. Has anyone else heard this?
The EOG's are a joke and have been from Day 1. They mean nothing and in my opinion, even less than what Hattaras said they meant. Any test that you can take, fail, retake, fail again, retake and fail again but still promoted to the next grade if the parent, teacher and principal feel that even though "Johnny" does really good on his daily work, he just doesnt perform well on tests so we will pass him anyway...is a joke. My son sort of was nervous when he took his first EOG way back when and when i explained to him how this test really meant nothing, he relaxed and has never sweated one since then. There is no reason to.
Yes, they do. And, for good reason. If those tests are designed to present some sort of accountability for the quality of educating students on a curriculum designed for future success, they are a poor approximation of what students can do. My 2 beefs with NCLB were: (1) that it was an unfunded mandate. (2) it fails to hold responsible those persons who should be most accountable for a child's education: the parents.
