I always dread the end of the school year. There is so much pressure put on students regarding end of grade standardized testing. The teachers have pressure put on them for their students to perform well, so many of them in turn put pressure on the students. This can cause even the best of students stress and anxiety. So what about the children with learning disabilities? Research has shown that these students experience more stress and anxiety on tests than their non learning disabled peers. So imagine having to cope with your disability as well as an added amount of stress.
I personally don't agree that all children's competence or knowledge can be assessed by the format of standardized tests. As we have hopefully become more aware over the past several years, children learn differently and need to be afforded differentiation in instructional and evaluative strategies. Not all children learn through pencil and paper question and answer (especially the LD child), which is the format of the standardized tests. This being said, standardized end of grade tests are the reality and we need to know how to prepare our children best for them.
