The Teacher Burnout Podcast

Barb: 00:54

Today, I'm republishing an episode that I did last year right before we got into standardized testing time. And I feel like this is such an important topic as we go into standardized testing because we look at testing in such a negative light and we use it to evaluate ourselves as teachers, which can be good and bad if you evaluate yourself in a reflective manner, that's good. When you use standardized test scores as a way to feel bad about yourself and to beat yourself up as a teacher, then that is not helpful. And I know we go into this testing season so nervous, so stressed out. We try to create optimal environments.

Barb: 01:31

I know in our building, we're always trying to create the best schedule to give students the best chance for testing. But at the end of the day, we only have so much control over the test. We only have control over the environment that we create that day. We don't have control over how our students are going to do. We hope that they do well, but there are so many other circumstances that impact standardized test scores.

Barb: 01:56

And so I'll talk about that in this episode, but I just thought this was a really good one to republish around standardized testing time. And just a good reminder for you to remember not to beat yourself up. Do not use standardized test scores as a way to measure your teaching ability only. There are so many things you do throughout the year. This is just one snapshot of one day on a test.

Barb: 02:22

So remember that as you go into the season of testing. And remember, it is just one test for your students. So you have lots of other data on your students. So keep that in mind. I hope you listen to this episode and you find it helpful, and just a good reminder as you go into state testing season that this is one test.

Barb: 02:41

It's one day in time, and it's just another piece of data. So enjoy the episode.

Barb: 02:50

Welcome to the teacher burnout podcast where we explore the challenges of burnout for teachers and share practical strategies to support teacher well-being. I'm your host, Barb Flowers. If you're a teacher looking for ways to prevent burnout or an educational leader searching for strategies to support your team, this podcast is for you. Let's dive in. Hey, everyone.

Barb: 03:14

Welcome to the Teacher Burnout Podcast. Today, we're going to be talking about the topic of standardized testing. I hear from a lot of teachers when I ask the question of what causes burnout for you? Standardized testing is a common answer. And I know that teachers get so stressed out about the test because they want their students to do well.

Barb: 03:34

They feel like this test score defines their teaching from the entire year. And I also know that every district handles it different on how they utilize test scores and so that can be stressful for teachers. And I try to really stress to the teachers that I work with that standardized testing is just one data point. So today we're gonna be talking about the problems of standardized testing, and I'm gonna give you some different ways to think about standardized testing and just how we look at our year in general and reflecting on our teaching. So some of the problems of standardized testing and factors that we have no control over are the achievement gap.

Barb: 04:15

This has been a commonly researched issue that standardized tests often highlight disparities in academic performance between different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. And so we see there's this large achievement gap between low socioeconomic status and higher socioeconomic status, as well as students of color and white students. There are these large gaps. So, and we know these gaps, they show inequities in educational opportunities and resources. So this is a problem that we see with standardized testing.

Barb: 04:47

Also, there's cultural bias with the standardized test. The reading passages, reading passages and things can focus on certain cultural norms, values, and experiences. We know that students come to school every day with their own circumstances and experiences. They bring their trauma, their stress, their own emotional baggage, just like we do as adults. And whatever they bring with them, we don't always see or know about, but they're probably not gonna do as well on a standardized test.

Barb: 05:18

Missy McClain, we had some training in our district with her on trauma. And I love, she talked about this idea of a metaphorical backpack. And she basically said every time that we have a personal trauma or stress or any type of emotional baggage, it goes in the backpack. And when the backpack gets full, you know, we aren't able to deal with cognitive and, emotional tasks as well because we're thinking about what's in the backpack. Not the test, not academics.

Barb: 05:48

Just something to keep in mind is that, you know, students might have other thoughts on their mind. Maybe their parents were fighting that morning or maybe they got in trouble and were yelled at before they got on the bus and they're thinking about that instead of the test that they're working on. Another issue that we see and we can't control is effort given on the test. I've seen this a lot where students rush through the test. They open up the test and it can be overwhelming.

Barb: 06:13

They'll ask, how many questions is this? Am I almost done? And I've seen kids do it in like 8 minutes for a 90 minute test and they hurry up and rush through it and submit the test really quick. Of course, that's gonna give you, inaccurate results on the student's abilities because they didn't take their time or give a lot of effort. And that can be really frustrating because, you know, we've worked so hard with these students and we wanna see the growth.

Barb: 06:37

But again, we can't control that. We have to be aware of what we make state tests mean about ourselves as educators and look at them as exactly what they are. They're a data point. They're one piece of data that we can look at and evaluate our instruction. We get frustrated and make the scores mean that we're either good or bad teachers.

Barb: 06:58

And it doesn't take into account all the ways we support students socially and emotionally throughout the year. And it doesn't look at other areas of growth that students might make. I just want you to keep that, you know, in the back of your mind as we're thinking about standardized testing and and what that means. That there's so many other data points and ways that we can look at our growth and how we did in our teaching. I wanna talk about how can we use state testing data and look at standardized tests.

Barb: 07:27

Well, we can look at a broad overview of what students did well with, what they did not do well with, maybe what areas we didn't get to or cover enough of. We can evaluate the effectiveness of our instruction by analyzing each item on the test and looking at those questions and considering did we adequately cover the depth of knowledge required for the questions on those standardized tests. So that's another good way to use them. Ways to shift your focus about the test though and and looking at other things, I want you to look at your students as individuals. So remembering that this test score is just one piece of data of hopefully multiple pieces of data that you have about your students, and you should know lots about your students at this point in the year.

Barb: 08:10

Thinking about all the growth that has happened and all these things your students have achieved throughout the year beyond state test scores. Also, how have your students grown with behavior? Maybe they had some behavior issues at the beginning and they really matured and they've gotten that behavior under control. So what other areas have they grown in? And then also looking at your own progress as a teacher, what goals did you set out to achieve this school year and what did you accomplish?

Barb: 08:37

What are areas that you're really proud of? Maybe you tried new instructional strategies. Maybe you set out to collaborate more and you did that. What progress did you make as a teacher? And then have students look at their own goals and growth that they made And have them reflect on what they're proud of and share it with you.

Barb: 08:56

And see what impacted them this school year because you never know what little things you've implemented in the classroom that stuck with them that they found meaningful. Another way to shift focus from standardized testing to have a continuous focus on data throughout the year. Instead of focusing on one test at the end of the year, you should constantly be focusing on and reflecting on your teaching practices throughout the year. And we do this by looking at formative data so that you can reteach throughout the unit as you see students are struggling. And you can see how students do understanding the content.

Barb: 09:33

Really looking at data all throughout the year is a way better practice than focusing on just test scores. And then just recognizing your value as an educator extends way beyond test scores. You need to celebrate the contributions, the relationships you build and the positive influence you had on your students' educational journeys. When we set out to be teachers or think about when you were going to be a teacher, I'm sure you weren't thinking I want to go be a teacher so I can get good test scores. You were thinking about all the ways you can help students and impact their lives.

Barb: 10:08

So focus on those celebrations, those contributions that you've made for your students. Think about just your purpose as a teacher. What did you hope to accomplish this year and have you accomplished that? And make that the focus instead of standardized testing. And then remember, you and your students are more than a number.

Barb: 10:28

So your passion, your dedication, your commitment to students' growth, that's what makes you a remarkable teacher. Constantly looking at how they're doing and helping them grow in other ways, using data, watching their growth on, you know, your own assessments throughout the year, looking at their behavior, seeing their behavior growth. Those are the things that are gonna define your success. Remember that test scores are so many factors that we can't control. You can still use the data.

Barb: 10:54

You can still, help use it to guide your instruction to improve your teaching. But you need to think about what you make that data mean about you as a teacher and your students, because it's just one data point. And I want you to remember that. And I hope that this has helped you think about standardized testing and just what you make that mean for yourself and your school. Thank you for tuning in today to the teacher burnout podcast.

Barb: 11:18

I hope you found this episode helpful. Remember, you can follow me on Instagram. Please subscribe to this podcast and stay tuned for the next

Barb: 11:31

episode.