Podcast: Teaching the language of tests
October 2007
Amy and Glennon
When kids struggle with standardized tests, most teachers and administrators assume the students don't understand the content. After studying the tests used in their Virginia school, Amy Greene and Glennon Melton realized the source of much of the problem was their students' unfamiliarity with the kind of language used in the test.
In their book Test Talk: Integrating Test Preparation into Reading Workshop, Amy and Glennon tell the story of how they helped turn around test preparation and test scores at their school. In this recent conversation, they discuss the background of Test Talk, the limitations of conventional test preparation, and the sense of agency that adequate preparation creates in kids.
"It seems like almost every student is an ESOL student when taking a standardized test, because the language is so formal that we didn't think that any of our students were familiar with it," says Glennon.
Listen to the podcast by clicking on the link below, or download it directly from iTunes.
Amy H. Greene and Glennon Doyle Melton (06:42)
Read more about Amy H. Greene.
Read more about Glennon Doyle Melton.
