Not only do we have continuous testing but all students get the same test. Is this fair? As a fifth grade teacher I would explain to my students that "fair is everyone getting what they need." I would share the story of back-to-school shopping with my own two children. My son needed shoes and my daughter needed a back pack. So, I would ask my students what would be the "fair" thing for me to do? They all agreed that I should buy my son shoes and my daughter a backpack. I tried to explain to them that I wanted to be fair so I was going to buy them the same thing. This created quite the uproar because they felt that both kids getting the same thing really didn't help one of them. At this point, I would tell them that they are correct. "In my classroom, I will be fair, I will give each student what he/she needs and that means that not everyone's learning will look the same."
My second year in fifth grade I gave one student an assignment which another student also wanted to do, but it was not appropriate for him at that time. In anger, the student says to me, "This isn't fair!" to which another student stood up and exclaimed, "IT IS FAIR…REMEMBER? BACKPACK !……SHOES! YOU ARE GETTING WHAT YOU NEED." He got it!!! I loved it!!
We are creating fair learning experiences for our students, how does this relate to testing? Is it fair that a student who is performing "on-level" get the same test as a student that has not yet reached "on-level"? Is it fair that we are giving students so many tests? Does one test fit all?