Incentives to Pass a Standardized Test for schools

I guess I'm confused by your question, in that, the majority of the children I know don't pass those tests because they can't, not because they don't want to, know what I mean?

Sorry, I'm too busy urging teachers in my district to call in sick on the first day of testing. No teachers = no test. These things are out of hand and no way would I be involved in urging kids to pass a meaningless test.

I'm pretty sure in our school the test is also available in Spanish. But that is second hand information.

If the kids can't pass the 5th and 8th grade tests they do not get promoted to the next school.

High school students have to pass EOC tests in English 2, Algebra, Biology, and US History to graduate.

My children who can pass the State tests do so with ease and without motivation, my child who can not pass the test doesn't need motivation, he needs a miracle.

ETA:  My point is, if the threat of not being promoted/graduating isn't motivation enough I doubt any other "prize" is either.

I had a dream right before out testing started last year that every student in the school just Christmas tree'd the test and drew pictures in the spaces meant for essays. When I woke up I couldn't decide if it was a nightmare or a brilliant idea. I refuse to bribe or otherwise cajole students when it comes to standardized tests. We already know who can do the work and who struggles. The tests are a form of standardized bullying in my book. They are a waste of tax payer's money and the [HASH]1 reason I am planning to retire soon.

Some students take the test in Spanish.  My school would also need it available in Vietnamese, Chinese and Arabic.  No such luck.

There would never be enough subs to cover every classroom in our district.  And I'm 99% sure that the state requires the tests to be administered and proctored by a certified teacher.  It's not really a "system," just an underground movement at this time.

No big shock that kids aren't very motivated to do their best on a test that has no consequences for them, but instead is used as a stick with which to flog their teachers.  Think your teacher is mean?  Bomb the test and get her fired.  I'm not sure what incentive would turn around that kind of attitude.

Yes, I wasn't actually thinking of our native Spanish-speakers when I responded up-thread. They can have it read to them in Spanish (because so many of them can't actually read Spanish very well). But we have all sorts of kids in this county -- Mongolia, Turkey, Ethiopia, Iran, just to name four that I saw in the class I subbed in yesterday. Also, when they read the tests they are not supposed to do any explaining, they just have to read. This is to keep it "fair" with the kids who are taking it in writing in other classrooms and who don't have anyone explaining anything. And if the kid's English isn't very strong it really won't matter how many times the question is read to him, he's likely not to understand it.

I am happy, though, to see how many others in this thread feel the same way I do.

And for the OP, I wasn't "taking this up" with teachers at all. They all feel the same way I do. In all the time I've done substitute teaching I haven't met a teacher yet who says "Oh yay, it's almost time for SOLs! We love those tests!" 

I'm another that doesn't understand. Do you think kids are purposefully failing? I think the teachers and admin would do better by figuring out how they could encourage student''s confidence and lessen their stress.

In my kids high school......for the 11th grade testing.....they are told if they get proficient or better, then they will not be required to take final exams as seniors. However this does not apply to AP tests. This works! The students take the test seriously and only a handful need to take finals their senior year.

I'm sorry but I think the kids have enough stress about passing these tests, they do not need more.  If they do not get a good enough score, they get nothing? No, not good.

There are quite a few kids who don't try on the test because they feel they have no value. I taught sophomores, and when we began offering exam exemptions if they did well enough on these test the scores went up dramatically.

I didn't have to take these high stakes tests, but we had one we had to take in specific years that was a day long, the Iowa standardized teat. Every year up to my 8th grade year I scored in the 9th percentile. I took the SAT in my 8th grade year and got a 1050. My Iowa standardized test was miserable that year because I didn't care. I made designs, patterns, copied others... I just didn't care. There was no reason to do good on that test.

I've had students who answer in a smart assed way or write I don't know or purple because the ocean has water.

The test scores in our state don't come back until august/September. They take them in march. The tests don't inform instruction, are not factored into grades, and don't have anything to do with classes they take. The only thing the test does is allow the news to report the scores and to evaluate teachers a year after the tests are taken.

I totally feel for teachers and students. I in no way think teachers should be hostage to student's test scores. If our kids don't pass there are consequences. They have retakes, loss of electives, summer school etc so I honestly didn't think a high percentage of kids would purposely fail. You can't graduate high school without passing them. I'm not anti-standardized test but I definitely think we need an overhaul. My kids spend so much of the school year pre-testing, practice testing and testing that it's serious overkill. Their incentive is to pass and be done with it.