CTE New Teacher Institute Forum: Test or student, who or what is at fault?

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Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 6

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Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 5

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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Test or student, who or what is at fault?

This situation has a lot of layers to it and should be analyzed before any decisions are made. If a student is consistently performing poorly on tests (notice this is multiple so there may be a pattern) I take a look at the overall performance on each test by the entire class. If the class performance closely mirrors the one student’s, then yes, there may be a problem with the test. However, if the rest of the class is outperforming the one student on the test(s) then, most likely, the problem is not with the test.

Hopefully, you have this information ready when you talk to the parent. I would be well prepared to communicate all details about that particular student’s efforts in class and how he or she compares to their peers. I would also have an action plan ready to suggest to the parent if they do not offer one first.

In the end, professionalism will be the most important factor in the teacher’s conversation with the parent. Being prepared, polite and proficient should allow the situation to be resolved easily.

1 comment:

Mark said...: Terry I agree that we as educators should see if there is a pattern going on with the student's poor test performance. If the student is constantly failing tests, then that means there is a bigger problem. I believe that the parent(s) or guardian should schedule a conference with the teacher and the student to find out what can be done to improve the students test scores. Once the conference happens, I believe that all of the parties involved will get a better understanding of how the student can improve his or her test scores.; April 15, 2014 at 3:12:00 PM EDT