SAGE testing

The above screen shot is a practice question on the SAGE for fifth grade math.  Notice how students need to drag the numbers to the correct spot.  It is not multiple choice in this instance.

I have read and listened to news agencies explain SAGE testing and I am not impressed.  I am not sure how they can even call it reporting when they have such misinformation.  SAGE testing cannot be compared to CRT tests in any way.  News agencies have reported that students scores went down and that shows students are not as educated as they have been in the past.  This is like comparing apples to oranges.  They are two different beasts.

At a faculty meeting we were discussing how to get correct information out to the public.  We decided the best way was to send individual results home to parents and then invite parents to a meeting where they could find out more about SAGE testing.  One teacher suggested putting some actual questions from the SAGE test up on a screen to show parents the difference of SAGE questions verses CRT questions.  What a concept! 

CRT tests measured students ability to regurgitate answers.  Students were given a choice of A, B,C, or D.  They colored in one circle and went on the the next question.  Growing up I was taught that if I didn't know the answer, I should just choose C.  Over the years, it became clear that students were not really being tested on what they knew, but one their ability to take tests.  

SAGE tests are set up to measure comprehension.  Many questions have more than one answer.  Some questions tell students to choose all the correct answers to a question.  There could be three choices that need to be selected in order to get a question correct.  Most questions have students prove that their answer is correct.  Students need to provide a proof drawing that the answer they have is correct by drawing a picture of some sort to show their pathway of thinking. 

As a teacher, it was difficult administering the SAGE test last year.  I would see students only choosing one answer when it said to select all the right answers.  I would see students soaring through the test, not even reading the stories that went with the questions.  The hardest was when it was a question that I had taught all year, and the student wrote the wrong answer.  I am restricted as a test administrator and am only allowed to say certain things.  So to know that a student wasn't done with a test and having to allow them to submit the test, it was a lesson in endurance. 

The SAGE test is a measuring tool for teachers to know what they have taught well and what they should spend more time teaching in the future.  It is also an indicator of what level a student in on in reading, science, and math. 

That being said, parents are at liberty to write their school district and board of education and insist that their student not take the SAGE test.  I believe there are certain students that would be better off not taking the test.  I have opted Kyath out of taking SAGE tests.  They are more of a disservice to him.  He shuts down and has a melt down when he takes tests.  Porter, Zander, and Dresden (when she is in third grade) will continue to take SAGE tests.

As a parent, you should go to www.sageportal.org and try working on some of the SAGE questions.  Then you will know if the CRT and SAGE test results can be compared.  You will find as I have, that the only thing SAGE can be compared to is SAGE.