MAP Testing

So I found this in my drafts - apparently I never finished writing it, but thought I would go ahead and post what anyway.  This was written in October - yikes, has it been that long since I've updated my blog...

It's that wonderful time of the year that the library gets closed down so we can do online testing. In the past I've done a combination of doing lessons in the classroom (and at times in a storage room!). I also hauled around a cart with books for checkout, which was highly disappointing to the students as the selection was rather limited.  I tried to rearrange schedules to have classes visit the library for checkout or to finish up existing projects.  I usually ran myself ragged trying to fit it all in while usually helping students with accommodations.  This would go on for 4 weeks.  Yech!  We do MAP testing twice a year, so that is 8 weeks of frustration every year.  And last year we started doing our state standardized tests online as well, so that was another 2-3 weeks of not having my space to work out of.

So this year I volunteered to be more involved with the testing, and have ended up pretty much in charge.  We have added 15 laptops and borrowed 3 more from our middle school.  Now, I can proctor a group in the library, while our counselor proctors another group in their classroom.  This is cutting our testing time in half.  I'm not visiting classrooms, but have still managed to find times that classes can come into checkout.

So, no, the students aren't getting a library lesson during this time, but we significantly cutting down the time devoting resources to testing.  Now the counselor isn't tied up for a month just doing testing. Our para who is helping administer test for students with accommodations, can get back to helping classroom teachers much sooner.

Basically, instead of messing up everyone's schedule for 4 weeks, we are all working together to get back to normal in 2 weeks.  This is definitely worth it.  Even though previously I was doing lessons in the classroom during this time, I think my lessons go better and are more worthwhile when I have the library resources available.

So we are half way through testing and I think it has gone pretty well.  I'm all about charts, so I have a daily schedule that shows what tests are happening and where, what accommodations we need to have ready, and what students need to make-up a test.  I have another chart that lists every classroom. We keep track of students that need to finish (I try and remember to jot down how many questions they had completed, so we know how much time they may still need.). Once a class has completely finished a test, we color it in with a highlighter.  It's very satisfying to see that yellow take over the paper, and to have a quick visual to see what students need to come back for testing.

I created a chart for each class.  Actually, it is a chart that I use when assessing students.  Since much of what I assess is dependent on being an independent user of resources, I keep these charts handy, so I can mark off when I see students have mastered a task.

I have a clipboard for  the lab and one for the computer cart.  Each day I gather the daily schedule, the classroom tracking sheets for classes being tested, and a copy of the directions that need to be read prior to each test, and the rte scores.  I also prominently wrote the support hotline number for easy reference.  At the end of the day there is a short meeting to review status and to go over the next day's schedule, so there are no surprises.  I contact teachers to schedule makeup testing that works with their schedule.