Tuesday Teaser (on Wednesday!!)

Even though I have homework, I still find ways to sneak in "me time" now and then!

I'm still working on making my way through Brisingr and The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide For Women and since I've already "teased" these books, the only other book I'm reading is my textbook. sigh. I'm sure it's not the most interesting book in the world but I have to admit it is WAY better than the research class I just finished!

So today's 2 sentence teaser may not interest too many people but it is relevant to my life as a Special Education teacher. From page 146 of Understanding Reading Problems: Assessment and Instruction (7th ed.) by J.W. Gillet, C. Temple, and A. Crawford,

"Second, formal reading tests typically do not assess reading in authentic ways. In real life, comprehension is often demonstrated by doing something with the information that is gained."

Even though we aren't at this point in the book yet, I couldn't agree with this statement more! When I read, I read for enjoyment most of the time, however, when I read for information, it is because I am going to DO something with the information. Only in school do I ever read something because I know that I will have to answer questions about it.

Also, in real life, if I am reading for information, I don't have a time limit on it. I can take my time, read slowly and re-read if I need to for clarification. Children who are being tested don't have that luxury, well most don't anyway. Unless a child has an IEP or a 504 plan due to some disability or medical issue with testing accommodations, he or she has to read the passage and answer questions within a limited amount of time. Even in college, I rarely had a real time limit that was measured in minutes rather than days. The information was to be read prior to going to sit for the test rather than having to read cold (new) material during the testing.

What are we doing to our kids? Are we actually preparing them for adulthood and life after school, or are we just collecting test data? Thoughts??