Test Prep/Diagnostics Gone Wild?

[grntuscarora]

My kid’s school is employing an outside, private company to provide diagnostic tests. The purpose of the tests hasn’t exactly been made clear to me, but I gather the goal is to identify the geniuses from the rabble, and perhaps, somehow, to improve school scores on the yearly, mandated state tests.

The diagnostics work on the basis that every correct answer deserves a more difficult question. For every correct response, a student is rewarded with a more complex question, until the child is completely overwhelmed, and crumbles from the strain. In short, the agony does not end until the student repeatedly gives wrong answers.

Here is a sample of what my fourth grader was expected to digest and respond to: seven pages from Great Expectations:
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And this gem from Ovid:
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I repeat, my child was in fourth grade when she took this test.

After the testing I did something I never thought I would do. I explained to my kid that the next time these tests are given, she can pull the plug when she sees fit. Just start giving random answers. With enough wrong answers, the test will stop. Somehow, this seems saner than asking her to agonize over questions that are clearly beyond her. I’ve always taught her to try her best on tests, but I never anticipated tests like these.

A quick, online search of the company marketing the test revealed that, of the six people listed on their executive team, not one has a background in education.

I do not understand the point of these tests, unless it is to enrich the private companies selling them. I am convinced they do nothing to help my child. When I spoke to the teacher about my reservations, she simply said “Our school is data-driven.”

I’m a parent, not an educator. Is there a method behind the madness? If any DU teachers feel I’m over-reacting, feel free to talk this parent down. I’d like to hear your views.