Grrrrrrrrr .......

I just spent 90 minutes going over the 10th grade Math Test and highlighting words that my Vietnamese and Mexican students might have trouble understanding .... they will be translated tonight by someone who knows Vietnamese and Spanish so that these students can use the translations on the test tomorrow.

Here is the kicker .... there were 7 (seven) full time teachers sitting around this table picking apart the Math test so that 6 (six) Limited English Proficient students can take this test tomorrow. Then ... tomorrow, there will be 3 students to a test room and 3 teachers in each room to help them with translations.

Mind you, in all the regular testing rooms there will be 27 students and one (1) teacher.
Talk about a HUGE waste of resources for students who might not even be here legally!!

Grrrrrrr ....

Oh .... and .... we have a whole lot more than just 6 students in our school who don't know English very well ... I am cluless why these 6 get all the special help ....

This is the first time in my teaching career that I have been allowed to look at the TAKS test as it is being given .... my regular 10th graders are taking it today. I am not allowed to discuss it with anyone until the state says I can ... in about a month, I believe. Until today .... if I even glanced for too long at the test booklet on a student's desk during test admistration, I ran the risk of losing my teaching certificate .... and that is no joke ... and no idle threat.

But today .... because we have 6 (SIX) students who are Limited English Proficient (LEP) .... I got to touch the problems and highlight them and read them and study them .... and then I got to just walk out of the room!! Amazing.

Mind you .... when we administer the test to our regular students we are not allowed to help them in any way, shape, or form .... if they don't understand a word ... too bad. If they don't understand what the problem is looking for ... too bad. We are required to say ...."I'm sorry, I cannot help you with that. Please just do the best that you can."

Tomorrow here is what I am allowed to do for our LEP kids ....

• Reading Assistance: At the request of a student, the Test Administrator may read aloud the words, phrases, or sentences in the test question or answer choices that the student is having difficulty reading. (Cannot read aloud numbers: just point and say THIS MANY).
• Dictionaries: Students may use bilingual dictionaries to find the translation of words they do not understand, but dictionaries cannot contain explanations, definitions, pictures and examples ....
• Translation: At the request of the student, the test admin. may translate words, phrases, and sentences that the student does not understand; however, you cannot define or explain mathematical terms, concepts, or skills.
• Bilingual Glossaries: Students may use written bilingual glossaries to find the translation of words that they do not understand. The test admin. may preview the secure test and make a bilingual glossary of words and mathematical terms that the students may not understand in English. NO definitions, explanations, examples, or pictures that will aid the students in understanding the mathematical terms or concepts!!
• English Glossaries: Test Admin. may preview the test and prepare a glossary of simpler English words or pictures that represent words that a particular LEP student is not likely to know yet in English.
• Simpler Language: A student may ask the Test Admin. to say in a simpler language what a question is asking. NO defining or explaining math terminology or concepts.
• Pictures and Gestures: Administrators may use pictures or gestures to illustrate the meaning of any nonmathematical words that the student may not understand.

DOES ANYONE SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH ALL OF THIS????