Misbehaving during standardized tests

[In_Correct]

I remember once in high school, we had our standardized test in a huge auditorium. People kept loudly passing gas the whole time. Finally, the guidance counselor (an elderly nun) stood up in front of the room and said, "Whoever is doing that is going to have to be isolated."

nuns work at schools?

This was in a Catholic school.

What does "isolated" mean?

In this context, removed from the rest of the group and put in a separate room.

also as a form of punishment.

[hbelkins]

One of the gym teachers in junior high was proctoring the test I took one year, and she really didn't like me, and was convinced I'd Christmas-treed the test because I finished it so quickly.

Please explain that term. I've never heard it used in this manner before. How does one "Christmas-tree" a test? Hang ornaments on it and draw a star on top? 

[abefroman329]

One of the gym teachers in junior high was proctoring the test I took one year, and she really didn't like me, and was convinced I'd Christmas-treed the test because I finished it so quickly.

Please explain that term. I've never heard it used in this manner before. How does one "Christmas-tree" a test? Hang ornaments on it and draw a star on top? 

Say you have five potential multiple-choice answers on a Scantron answer sheet.  You would fill in the bubbles as follows:

       E
     DE
   CDE
  BCDE
ABCDE
  BCDE
    CDE
      DE
        E

and so on.  When you turned the test sideways, it would look like a row of Christmas trees.

[Beltway]

One of the gym teachers in junior high was proctoring the test I took one year, and she really didn't like me, and was convinced I'd Christmas-treed the test because I finished it so quickly.

Please explain that term. I've never heard it used in this manner before. How does one "Christmas-tree" a test? Hang ornaments on it and draw a star on top? 

I've heard it, it refers to multiple choice tests.

To fill in a test bubbling the answers randomly, like placing christmas bulbs on a tree, to guess because you don't know the answer or are to lazy to do it right.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Christmas%20tree%27d
. . . . . . . .

Many students think that they can "Christmas-tree"  multiple choice tests and pass with flying colors.  As a result, many teachers have started to design harder multiple choice tests that measure the student's ability to comprehend, not just recall the material.  Students who want to know how to take a multiple choice test properly need to realize that teachers have gone beyond testing the superficial recall of knowledge.
http://www.edu-nova.com/articles/multiple-choice-tests/
. . . . . . . .

If there are 4 choices, I wonder how this would get more than 25% of the questions right, based on chance?

[abefroman329]

If there are 4 choices, I wonder how this would get more than 25% of the questions right, based on chance?

I don't know that it's possible to fully randomize the answers, since that would mean you could potentially have a test where all the answers are A, B, C, or D, so I would think the actual chances of getting the correct answer to a question is slightly north or south of 25% (don't know enough about math to say).

[Brian556]

I think its every unreasonable for the teachers to expect students to not fart. Its just not humanly possible to not do it. Most of the time its woman that complain about farting and get students in trouble for it. This is just one of the examples that show how selfish and bitchy a lot of women are

[abefroman329]

I think its every unreasonable for the teachers to expect students to not fart.

It's not unreasonable to expect them to leave the room when they do it and go to the bathroom to fart or, failing that, fart in the hallway.  I spend a lot of time in meetings at work and I've never heard someone fart in a meeting.

[Roadgeekteen]

I think its every unreasonable for the teachers to expect students to not fart. Its just not humanly possible to not do it. Most of the time its woman that complain about farting and get students in trouble for it. This is just one of the examples that show how selfish and bitchy a lot of women are

At least leave the room

[kphoger]

One of the gym teachers in junior high was proctoring the test I took one year, and she really didn't like me, and was convinced I'd Christmas-treed the test because I finished it so quickly.  I probably should've taken my results to her after they came in (somewhere north of the 90th percentile), but I don't think she had the intellectual capacity to understand why that was proof I didn't Christmas-tree the test.

Way back when, my dad took the ACT the day after moving.  He was exhausted from the move, and he just didn't have the energy for the exam.  So, for every question, he picked whichever answer looked the best–without having read the question first.  He ended up testing into remedial English and advanced physics.  Funny thing is, he was very literate (English literature was his concentration during college) and had never taken a single physics course.  Ended up re-taking the ACT a little later.

[Brian556]

Back in my teens and 20's, I farted a lot. A co-worker counted 60 times in one shift, and that was a typical day for me. Due to this frequency, I couldn't really avoid doing it in front of others

[abefroman329]

One of the gym teachers in junior high was proctoring the test I took one year, and she really didn't like me, and was convinced I'd Christmas-treed the test because I finished it so quickly.  I probably should've taken my results to her after they came in (somewhere north of the 90th percentile), but I don't think she had the intellectual capacity to understand why that was proof I didn't Christmas-tree the test.

Way back when, my dad took the ACT the day after moving.  He was exhausted from the move, and he just didn't have the energy for the exam.  So, for every question, he picked whichever answer looked the best–without having read the question first.  He ended up testing into remedial English and advanced physics.  Funny thing is, he was very literate (English literature was his concentration during college) and had never taken a single physics course.  Ended up re-taking the ACT a little later.

Similarly, when we were children, my brother excelled at the quantitative portions of standardized testing, and I excelled at the qualitative portions.  When we both took the GMAT as adults, his qualitative/quantitative scores and mine were basically flip-flopped.

[abefroman329]

Back in my teens and 20's, I farted a lot. A co-worker counted 60 times in one shift, and that was a typical day for me. Due to this frequency, I couldn't really avoid doing it in front of others

It's not your co-workers' faults that you were raised in a barn.

[Ben114]

What the kids at an old school of mine would do is go to the bathroom and talk about it while waiting to get in.

[kphoger]

What the kids at an old school of mine would do is go to the bathroom and talk about "it" while waiting to get in.

FTFY

[Beltway]

I think its every unreasonable for the teachers to expect students to not fart. Its just not humanly possible to not do it. Most of the time its woman that complain about farting and get students in trouble for it. This is just one of the examples that show how selfish and bitchy a lot of women are

At least leave the room

What happens if the instructor won't let you leave the room? 

What happens if you tell the instructor -why- you need to leave the room briefly, and they still won't let you leave the room? 

[abefroman329]

I think its every unreasonable for the teachers to expect students to not fart. Its just not humanly possible to not do it. Most of the time its woman that complain about farting and get students in trouble for it. This is just one of the examples that show how selfish and bitchy a lot of women are

At least leave the room

What happens if the instructor won't let you leave the room? 

What happens if you tell the instructor -why- you need to leave the room briefly, and they still won't let you leave the room?

If you had a doctor's note, this wouldn't happen.

[kphoger]

If you had a doctor's note, this wouldn't happen.

You can get a doctor's note in advance of farting?

[Beltway]

I think its every unreasonable for the teachers to expect students to not fart. Its just not humanly possible to not do it. Most of the time its woman that complain about farting and get students in trouble for it. This is just one of the examples that show how selfish and bitchy a lot of women are

At least leave the room

What happens if the instructor won't let you leave the room? 
What happens if you tell the instructor -why- you need to leave the room briefly, and they still won't let you leave the room?

If you had a doctor's note, this wouldn't happen.

If it is only occasional then you probably wouldn't have a doctor's note.

[abefroman329]

I think its every unreasonable for the teachers to expect students to not fart. Its just not humanly possible to not do it. Most of the time its woman that complain about farting and get students in trouble for it. This is just one of the examples that show how selfish and bitchy a lot of women are

At least leave the room

What happens if the instructor won't let you leave the room? 
What happens if you tell the instructor -why- you need to leave the room briefly, and they still won't let you leave the room?

If you had a doctor's note, this wouldn't happen.

If it is only occasional then you probably wouldn't have a doctor's note.

If it's only occasional then you can a) leave the room or b) hold it.

[Scott5114]

I don't remember any notable examples of kids misbehaving during standardized tests, but I might understand if they did (if they couldn't take one more second of it), since standardized tests were typically the most dismal, stressful, and indescribably boring point of the year. I never personally misbehaved, but when I was real young, sometimes I would freeze up and start crying when I shut down during a hard part of the test. Standardized tests are also heavily worshipped now around here, but I don't think it's so much the fault of the individual schools as it is the corrupt and evil state department of education. They put enormous stress on students, but especially teachers - their jobs being threatened if their students don't do "perfect" on these detestable exams which the state refuses to release any kind of general idea of what will be on it to the teachers (information they kind of might need if they are to best prepare their students). The states doesn't give the schools money and funds unless they do the standardized tests. The tests are also forced to count as 20% of the students' final grade, even though they won't give the teachers any fucking idea of what is on it.

In Oklahoma, the stress on the students is greatly reduced because the standardized tests are not part of the student's grade. Therefore, the teachers and administration plead with the students to try to get them to give a shit, with not much of a success. It doesn't help that the results come back so far after the test (I think sometimes the next school year, even) that by the time you get the results you don't even remember any of the questions or what you could have done better.

Fortunately for the teachers, the Oklahoma education department does at least give the teachers a basic idea of what will be covered, so they can at least be sure that they're covering the material (and there's often a week or two of review).

Also, keep in mind that some of this comes from the U.S. Dept. of Ed., by way of federal laws and programs like No Child Left Behind. State ed departments have to follow federal rules for how to disburse federal funds, like with FHWA and the MUTCD.

Right now the education system is a piece of shit - it values stress, busy work, standardized tests, and grades rather than students actually learning something, and being informed citizens that can do good in the world. Instead of engaging students and teaching them something, every day in K-12 is now just absorbed by testing, stress, and overwhelming nonsensical work loads.

It was becoming that way when I graduated in 2007. This is a salient point that too many adults in this country are blind to–students are helpless upon graduation because the relevant metrics don't measure whether anyone actually learns anything. There were too many classes I just barely skated by because I would sit in class, absorb the material from the book or the teacher, and know, remember, and understand it–but my grade actually measured my patience for fill-in-the-blank worksheets and rote repetition of math problems. I was able to pass by being able to happily regurgitate all the information on the test, because I did know it, I just didn't like having my time wasted when I could prove I knew the material.

Homework is a huge killer of education–after spending all day out of the house doing any one activity, it is entirely human to be mentally exhausted and burnt-out, and to want to use the scant remaining hours in the day on recharging with something fun. It is the same reason why I don't want to come home from work and count change into rolls, because I do that for nine hours a day at work and I need to change gears. But we measure children on their ability to come home and remain focused on busy work.

Is it any wonder that after twelve years of high school, I burnt out of college after one year and found working more appealing?

But if you tell this to anyone who graduated in years past, you get the tired, hideously malformed reasoning that Kids These Days Are Just Lazy, And Don't LikeWork, displaying the irony that they can't entertain an argument more complex than the most banal thinking that can be displayed about younger generations, and has been for millennia. (There are "Kids these days are so lazy!" treatises dating back to Roman times. Look them up.)

And it's not effective work either–there are so many people out there ages 18 to 99 who cannot meaningfully handle the real world because the education system does not even try to address things like logic, or sound reasoning, or encourage intellectual curiosity. Too many people, when confronted with an unfamiliar situation, like an unfamiliar task on a computer or how to use a tool they've never used before, shut down and bray for someone to do it for them instead of taking the initiative to try to collect information and solve the problem themselves.

Public education needs to be retooled to focus on education rather than grades, and to work smarter instead of harder.

Way back when, my dad took the ACT the day after moving.  He was exhausted from the move, and he just didn't have the energy for the exam.  So, for every question, he picked whichever answer looked the best–without having read the question first.  He ended up testing into remedial English and advanced physics.  Funny thing is, he was very literate (English literature was his concentration during college) and had never taken a single physics course.  Ended up re-taking the ACT a little later.

I ended up doing more or less the same thing on a placement exam in college orientation. Better grades are better grades, right? So I naively guessed on the questions I didn't know, same as I'd do on any other multiple choice test. Ended up "lucking" into a math class that was far harder than I needed to be in and lost my scholarship as a result.

[Scott5114]

Most of the time its woman that complain about farting and get students in trouble for it. This is just one of the examples that show how selfish and bitchy a lot of women are

Dude, come on.

[abefroman329]

It was becoming that way when I graduated in 2007. This is a salient point that too many adults in this country are blind to–students are helpless upon graduation because the relevant metrics don't measure whether anyone actually learns anything. There were too many classes I just barely skated by because I would sit in class, absorb the material from the book or the teacher, and know, remember, and understand it–but my grade actually measured my patience for fill-in-the-blank worksheets and rote repetition of math problems. I was able to pass by being able to happily regurgitate all the information on the test, because I did know it, I just didn't like having my time wasted when I could prove I knew the material.

I had no idea how to study or learn when I got to college, partly because I didn't need to and still get grades for most of my K-12 career.

[Roadgeekteen]

I don't remember any notable examples of kids misbehaving during standardized tests, but I might understand if they did (if they couldn't take one more second of it), since standardized tests were typically the most dismal, stressful, and indescribably boring point of the year. I never personally misbehaved, but when I was real young, sometimes I would freeze up and start crying when I shut down during a hard part of the test. Standardized tests are also heavily worshipped now around here, but I don't think it's so much the fault of the individual schools as it is the corrupt and evil state department of education. They put enormous stress on students, but especially teachers - their jobs being threatened if their students don't do "perfect" on these detestable exams which the state refuses to release any kind of general idea of what will be on it to the teachers (information they kind of might need if they are to best prepare their students). The states doesn't give the schools money and funds unless they do the standardized tests. The tests are also forced to count as 20% of the students' final grade, even though they won't give the teachers any fucking idea of what is on it.

In Oklahoma, the stress on the students is greatly reduced because the standardized tests are not part of the student's grade. Therefore, the teachers and administration plead with the students to try to get them to give a shit, with not much of a success. It doesn't help that the results come back so far after the test (I think sometimes the next school year, even) that by the time you get the results you don't even remember any of the questions or what you could have done better.

Fortunately for the teachers, the Oklahoma education department does at least give the teachers a basic idea of what will be covered, so they can at least be sure that they're covering the material (and there's often a week or two of review).

Also, keep in mind that some of this comes from the U.S. Dept. of Ed., by way of federal laws and programs like No Child Left Behind. State ed departments have to follow federal rules for how to disburse federal funds, like with FHWA and the MUTCD.

Right now the education system is a piece of shit - it values stress, busy work, standardized tests, and grades rather than students actually learning something, and being informed citizens that can do good in the world. Instead of engaging students and teaching them something, every day in K-12 is now just absorbed by testing, stress, and overwhelming nonsensical work loads.

It was becoming that way when I graduated in 2007. This is a salient point that too many adults in this country are blind to–students are helpless upon graduation because the relevant metrics don't measure whether anyone actually learns anything. There were too many classes I just barely skated by because I would sit in class, absorb the material from the book or the teacher, and know, remember, and understand it–but my grade actually measured my patience for fill-in-the-blank worksheets and rote repetition of math problems. I was able to pass by being able to happily regurgitate all the information on the test, because I did know it, I just didn't like having my time wasted when I could prove I knew the material.

Homework is a huge killer of education–after spending all day out of the house doing any one activity, it is entirely human to be mentally exhausted and burnt-out, and to want to use the scant remaining hours in the day on recharging with something fun. It is the same reason why I don't want to come home from work and count change into rolls, because I do that for nine hours a day at work and I need to change gears. But we measure children on their ability to come home and remain focused on busy work.

Is it any wonder that after twelve years of high school, I burnt out of college after one year and found working more appealing?

But if you tell this to anyone who graduated in years past, you get the tired, hideously malformed reasoning that Kids These Days Are Just Lazy, And Don't LikeWork, displaying the irony that they can't entertain an argument more complex than the most banal thinking that can be displayed about younger generations, and has been for millennia. (There are "Kids these days are so lazy!" treatises dating back to Roman times. Look them up.)

And it's not effective work either–there are so many people out there ages 18 to 99 who cannot meaningfully handle the real world because the education system does not even try to address things like logic, or sound reasoning, or encourage intellectual curiosity. Too many people, when confronted with an unfamiliar situation, like an unfamiliar task on a computer or how to use a tool they've never used before, shut down and bray for someone to do it for them instead of taking the initiative to try to collect information and solve the problem themselves.

Public education needs to be retooled to focus on education rather than grades, and to work smarter instead of harder.

Way back when, my dad took the ACT the day after moving.  He was exhausted from the move, and he just didn't have the energy for the exam.  So, for every question, he picked whichever answer looked the best–without having read the question first.  He ended up testing into remedial English and advanced physics.  Funny thing is, he was very literate (English literature was his concentration during college) and had never taken a single physics course.  Ended up re-taking the ACT a little later.

I ended up doing more or less the same thing on a placement exam in college orientation. Better grades are better grades, right? So I naively guessed on the questions I didn't know, same as I'd do on any other multiple choice test. Ended up "lucking" into a math class that was far harder than I needed to be in and lost my scholarship as a result.

Yeah, the teachers are like "try your best your parents will see". I still don't give a crap.

[hotdogPi]

In Massachusetts, Lexington and almost anywhere within 2 towns teaches students correctly.

[Roadgeekteen]

In Massachusetts, Lexington and almost anywhere within 2 towns teaches students correctly.

I'm three towns away  .