Testing and the end of the School Year

I have always disliked that we test our students on the state test WAY before the end of the school year. My two biggest complaints are that the students haven't even had time to learn all of the material that they will be tested on and the time that we have after the test is WAY too long

The state test supposedly measures what the child has learned that year. However, it is given about 80% of the way through the year. Next year the window will change to the 85% of the year but it is still problematic. It really isn't fair to students and teachers. In second grade for example, division and multiplication come at the end of the year mathematically. There is good reasoning behind this too. Children have to be developmentally ready for this and really need to have a good foundation in addition and subtraction. I always end up cramming in these two subjects right before the test. Why? The kids really aren't ready for it but I just don't feel that it is fair to let them take a test and not been given the chance to practice the material, or at least have seen the material ahead of time.

The time we have after the testing window is painfully long. We finished testing around the 20th or so of May. We are in school until June 29th. That is a month and a half that we could have had to extend our teaching cycle in preparation for the test. It is NUTS!

I guess that the one thing I have to be happy for is that my grade, second, will no longer be testing students! Thank goodness for small favors!!!