Yup. It’s the season for ELA
testing, and when I go back to school, it will be crunch time.  A teacher at Gotham Schools wrote, “Wouldn’t it be great if the high-stakes tests
were in September? Then teachers could have the rest of the year to inspire and
transform their students.”

I responded, “Wouldn’t it be great if the tests were designed such that true
teaching and authentic learning led to higher test scores? Right now, there is
nothing authentic about this ELA test. Students must choose the best of four
answers, none of which they created, in response to questions they never asked,
relating to passages they would never have read were it not for this test. The
same is true for the writing portion. We all know there’s a formula for how to
score well on the writing, even though those of us who actually write for a
living as adults would never dream of using this formula. So we are stuck
teaching skills that are not applicable to the real word of thinking, reading
and writing. This is why our students rebel and why teachers feel so conflicted
around this time of year. If we could redesign the test to be relevant to the
world our students are living in today, 2009, what would it look like?”

I decided to take up my own
challenge and create The New ELA test. 
Here are a few sample questions from the 8th Grade edition.

The New ELA Test Sample Questions [Draft]

1. Revisions. Steve is writing an essay on the poor quality
   of school lunches in his building. 
   His classmates read his essay and offer feedback.  They say that he makes a strong
   point, but suggest that his introduction could be more compelling.  One student says, “Based on this
   introduction, no one would want to read the rest of the essay, even though
   they would probably think it’s interesting if they did.” 

He currently begins the essay like
this: School lunches in my building need to improve for three reasons.
First, they are not healthy enough. Second, they don’t taste very good.  Third, the cuisine at my school is all
from one culture, even though students at my school represent many cultures.

      Write 2 alternate introductory paragraphs Steve could use to begin his essay. 

2. Essay. Pick one of the three Hans Christian Anderson
   fairy tales printed in the Literature Packet.  Answer the following question in an
   essay.  You must support your answer with evidence
   from the story. 

Would you read this tale to a
younger child who asks for a bedtime story?

3. Fiction
   Writing.  Pick another story from the literature packet.  Create a new character to add to
   this story.  Write a new scene
   in which that character enters the story, or rewrite an existing
   scene to include the introduction of this character.  You must include dialogue in your scene.  

4. Discuss and Evaluate your choices for number 3.  Describe the character you added, including basic traits and motivation.  Why did you choose to add this
   character to this scene?  What
   else did you have to change in the scene to accommodate the new character?  Overall, how did your addition strengthen or weaken the story?  

5. Classroom
   Community/Persuasion.  Your class is about to begin a new project, which will be conducted in groups.  After the last group project, some
   students in the class complained that certain members of the class had not
   contributed significantly to their group’s project, but had still received credit for the group’s finished project.  This seemed unfair to the other members of their groups who had to take on extra work in order to complete the assignment.  The teacher asked for
   proposals from students for a new policy that would make group work
   fairer.  Write a proposal to the teacher that you believe would solve the problem described
   above.  Describe your policy in
   detail and explain how it solves the problem of inadequate student contributions
   to group projects.  Explain any potential imperfections with your policy and how the class could address them effectively.

6. Grammar
   & Mechanics.   Fix the following run-on sentence.  Use proper
   punctuation. You may add words if necessary. 

They laid eyes on the center of
the city none of them could believe what they saw it wasn't what anyone had
expected or remembered from the books searching for a web portal but all were
evidently knocked down by the storm and a tinge of regret in each of them for
not taking Grampa's advice packing more batteries.

Add your own questions to The New ELA Test!

[image found at www.edgewoodexecutiveeducation.com]