Another Hidden Standard: Time

Like Kentucky, New York City has decided to implement testing for the new Common Core State Standards before the rest of the nation. It is expected that test scores will drop in New York City as they did for the CCSS aligned tests in Kentucky last year.

Is there something to be learned from these concerns? An important concern raised with the NYC tests that were given last spring was the issue of not having enough time. These tests will require more in the way of written responses and essay questions. Many students were not used to writing essays with such a limited amount of time and were not able to complete the tests in the time given.

If you want your students to do well when the CCSS tests are rolled out in the 2014/2015 school year, you will need to help your students become comfortable with writing under time pressures. I have mixed feelings about this. Students really grow in their writing ability when they are given repeated opportunities to review, discuss, and revise their work. You do not want to eliminate this important practice. However, you may need to add timed independent writing assignments, so that students students become used to wrapping up a piece of writing in a limited time.