[LM_NET] Sec: Rules while testing

[Marian Royal <mroyal@SOCORRO.K12.NM.US>]

This is my first year working in a high school after being in the elementary
schools for 6 years, so I'm still learning about the differences.  Right now
I'm curious about what rules your schools impose on students during
standardized testing and the consequences for violating those rules.  This
week we are testing here and the library is being used as a testing venue,
so I'm getting to observe a freshman group in the mornings and a junior
group in the afternoons.  Increasingly, I am appalled at how much noise the
students make while testing is going on.  Today, at least eight students
were allowed to wander in at their leisure after the period began.  Those
that have finished their tests are allowed to get up, walk around, talk to
others, etc., while those that haven't finished are still trying to
concentrate.  There seem to be no consequences.  Supposedly, we have a "No
Move" in the school, but people have been coming and going in the hallways
all day.     I guess by law we now have to provide a snack in the break
between tests, but the students can keep the food and wrappers when the next
test begins and they're all sitting around rattling snack wrapppers and the
leaving them on the floors all over the building.  Also, students are
allowed to come and go to the bathroom while testing.  I wouldn't be
bothered by any of this except my daughter had difficulty with her test
yesterday because there was so much noise in the room. At the elementary
level, we had very strict rules about talking and moving around during tests
and most of the children were able to follow them easily.  Those that
couldn't were removed from the classroom and tested individually by the
counsellor.  When I was in school, if we talked during a test, the exam
would be taken away and we would have been suspended for a few days.  Are
such punishments a thing of the past?  Do any of you have any consequences
for students who violate test rules and deny other students the right to
finish in a quiet atmosphere?

Marian Royal
Librarian
Socorro High School
Socorro, NM  87801
mroyal@socorro.k12.nm.us

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