Standardized tests don’t measure true reading progress of third-graders

I absolutely agree with Barbara Garrett-Boger’s Sunday commentary, “Don’t believe that Nevada’s third-graders can’t read.”

I am a retired first-grade teacher. Even 10 years ago standardized tests for first-graders weren’t fair in many ways. Teachers were directed to use words such as “word endings”, and “number sentences,” but the standardized reading test used words such as “suffixes” and the math test used words such as“problems.” The brightest students could handle the change in semantics, but for average and low students there was a definitive disconnect.

And in testing reading comprehension, a full-page legend was often chosen. One was about “how the rooster got his comb.” Most first-graders living in Las Vegas suburbs, and most adults, were not familiar with the crest on the head of a rooster being called a “comb.” How confusing for a child.

I now substitute teach, and from what I can tell, the Common Core expectations are much worse. Students with only a few years reading experience aren’t equipped to deal with the questions asked.