Pep rally revs up pupils for state tests
It was a full-blown pep rally, featuring original song and dance, raffle drawings, student-made signs lining the auditorium walls and encouraging words from both Superintendent James A. Williams and a local television personality.
But all that hoopla had nothing to do with a football game or homecoming dance.
Instead, 200 Buffalo third-and fourth-graders at School 82 Early Childhood Center were celebrating — and preparing for –next week’s state assessment tests in English language arts.
Since September, the students have spent hundreds of hours preparing for the tests, and Friday they voiced their collective confidence and determination to do well.
“Watch me take my ELA,” sang a group of fourth-graders as they danced on the stage. “Watch me score a 4. Watch me score a 3. Watch me take my ELA.”
The rally was an upbeat but graphic illustration of the immense significance of assessment testing in classrooms across both New York State and the nation.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires such testing for public school students in grades 3-6, and widely publicized test scores put tremendous pressure on schools and teachers — and perhaps the students themselves — to produce good results.
Proponents of the tests say they hold schools accountable, identify students who need extra help and give the public valuable feedback on academic performance.
Critics say they force schools to teach to the tests, limit free-flowing classroom discussion and discourage creativity and critical thinking.
Williams said Friday he is less concerned about taking sides in that educational debate than he is about ensuring that pupils do well.
“I always tell our team: ‘That’s the law. That’s the way it is. Let’s do what we have to do to prepare our students,’ ” he said.
Testing is especially critical in Buffalo and other urban school districts with high poverty rates.
Test scores have improved substantially during Williams’ three years as superintendent but still lag behind state averages as well as scores in most other big cities in New York and local charter schools.
Last year, 50 percent of Buffalo students in grades 3-8 were proficient in math, and 42.5 percent were proficient in English.
At School 82, pupils have a clear and healthy realization of the importance of the tests, said Principal Denise Segars- McPhatter.
“Yes, we can do it,” she said. “We have to study, but we’re capable.”
Channel 4 newscaster Jericka Duncan told the pupils that effective use of language is crucial in her job.
“You’re going to encounter a lot of tests in life,” she said. “This is one of many.”
The signs on the wall at the Easton Avenue school made it clear that the message is getting through. “ELA Rocks,” one said. “We need ELA,” said another.
With Segars-McPhatter dancing and swaying in front of the auditorium, the students left the rally chanting: “ELA! What? ELA!”
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