In March, area schools administered the CMAS (Colorado Measures of Academic Success) tests. The testing can be stressful for teachers, administrators, and even parents. But in the end, the pressure is all on those who take the tests, the students. “My heart goes out to them,” says Westerly Creek Principal Nancy Ortner. “It’s a lot of pressure to have the perceived success of your teacher, principal, and school on your back. I don’t remember if we took standardized tests when we were kids or not, but it seems like there is more riding on them these days.”
Stapleton parents agree that the testing period is a pretty difficult time. “My son is a rock,” says parent Amy Doyle. “I haven’t noticed him being stressed out, or pressured or anything. But we definitely remind him of how important this is. If he does poorly, it reflects badly on us, and if the school does poorly, it looks like we put him in a bad school. I really hope everything went well. If not, we may have to evaluate changing schools.” Other parents feel the same way. “Luckily, my kids are handling it great,” says Luke Hall. “They know what is riding on this, and they are taking it in stride. My wife and I have been a mess, however. Now, the waiting, as they say, is the hardest part.” Indeed, the wait will be a while as results will not be in until next fall.
Prior to the tests, schools tried a variety of things to prepare the students. Many area schools claimed that there was some basic prep work for the tests, making sure everything could be set up appropriately, but there was little actual prep work. “We hardly even talk about it,” said McAuliffe Principal Dan Nielson. “It was maybe one of those things we mentioned after what was on the school lunch. Kind of a, ‘by the way, we have a big standardized test in a week.’ We prepare the kids every day for doing well, so why would we change our entire structure for a two hour test?” Nonetheless, schools wanted to make sure students were ready to go mentally, so experimented with several prep methods.
Some schools tried meditation, others rigorous exercise or yoga. “We are trying to figure out what should be used to keep kids focused and alert on test days,” said Bill Roberts Principal Jessica Hanson. “We also want to keep them stress free.” There were even reports of hypnotherapy, kids playing Angry Birds for two hours, and even one report of kids being encouraged to smoke cigarettes to ease tension. “The scores mean a lot to a lot of people,” says Denver Discovery Principal Bob Connor. “Of course, they don’t mean a lot to the students at this point, but they certainly mean something to the schools and the parents.” School administrators hope to learn what pre-test routines worked the best so they can begin consistently employing them throughout the school year.]]>