Follett teaches a combined third- and fourth-grade class at Grantham Elementary School, where the number of students who qualify for free or reduced meal prices - often used as an indicator of poverty - is around 85 percent.
"They haven't had opportunities, they don't have access (at home), they've never had any reason to need these skills," Follett said. "They are used to playing video games, but this is more involved."
The tests that started March 10 in the Clarkston School District and April 6 in the Lewiston School District are administered entirely online. Referred to as the SBAC in Washington, for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium that developed it, and the ISAT by Smarter Balanced in Idaho, the set of standardized tests align with the more-rigorous Common Core Standards both states adopted in recent years.
Taking the English test, Follett said, involves navigating between screens, typing several paragraphs of text and using word processing skills to cut and paste and add bold or italics.
"They're not used to that," Follett said of her students. "We have to teach them how to navigate the computer on top of getting them prepared academically to take this test."
Grantham third-grade teacher Kathy Hocking said for the littlest students, just the logistics of typing can be a barrier.
"By third grade, kids don't have the reach. Their hands are just now getting big enough to use a standard keyboard," Hocking said. "That's a huge concern."
Teaching and learning director Jim Fry, who oversees testing for Clarkston schools, acknowledged the steep climb some students are being asked to make this year.
"There are a lot of things on this test they don't do on a daily basis in regards to technology," Fry said.
Lewiston School District curriculum director Lisa Fenter said students in her district, where every school field tested the assessment last year, are as prepared as possible.
"We've set things up as best we can for our students to be successful, based on our knowledge right now," Fenter said.
Karen Pell, a librarian at Lincoln Middle School in Clarkston, is helping administer the tests there. Pell said computer skills aren't as much of an issue for older students.
"So far, our students have been really prepared," Pell said. "They're pretty comfortable with it."
Clarkston's Heights Elementary School field tested the assessment last year, but students at other schools in the district are experiencing the tests for the first time.
"These kids have never taken this test before, and we've never given it," Fry said. "One of the wins going forward is we're going to have a lot more knowledge - and they'll have the experience doing it."
On the first day of testing, one of the Clarkston district's schools was among several across the state at which students were given the wrong assessment. The problem stemmed from confusing choices on the test website, a problem state officials say has been resolved.
Instead of viewing the mix-up as a setback, Fry said district officials chose to see a silver lining in that the students who had to retake the test benefited from the experience of taking what amounted to a practice test.
Fry said the district has sent letters home to parents and posted information to its website explaining how the assessment works and emphasizing that the content is more advanced than past standardized tests.
Students who scored at the highest levels on assessment tests in previous years will likely see their scores decline to average this year, he said, and he wants them and their parents to be prepared for the change.
Fry used the analogy of practicing basketball with a group of kids only to have the hoop raised.
"The bar has been set exponentially higher," he said.
Fenter said the new assessments are more challenging academically for good reason.
"We want kids to be accountable for more rigorous standards," Fenter said. "That means that the test needs to be more rigorous as well."
Those who already began taking the assessments were not permitted to speak to the Tribune, but Lincoln Middle School students still preparing for the tests said they felt ready.
"For me, it just seems like another quiz," eighth-grader Estes Ruble said. "I think it'll be fine."
Eighth-grader Samuel Shaw said he and his classmates understand they are likely to get lower scores this first year.
"Don't sweat it, but think about it for next year," Shaw said he has been told.
Common Core Standards have been incorporated into their classes the past couple years, eighth-grader Baylee Borley said, so "the test shouldn't be a whole new shock."
Unlike past assessments, this year's allow students to return to the test and take as much time as they need to complete them within the school district's testing window.
Clarkston administrators expect testing to continue until the end of the school year during the first week of June. Lewiston's testing window will continue through May 22.
Fenter said the test administration manual used by Idaho schools estimates the total time students will spend taking the math and English tests at seven hours for third- through fifth-graders, seven and a half hours for sixth- through eighth-graders and eight and a half hours for high school students.
Adjusting to a new test that is administered differently will take some time, Fry said. But the results are intended to help teachers and parents see whether students are meeting standards aimed at preparing them for college and careers.
"The data we'll be getting back should be helpful for us and for kids - and for parents too," Fry said.
The tests are used by more than a dozen states, from California to Maine, but in Idaho there's some doubt as to whether students will be taking them two years from now.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra's chief deputy, Pete Koehler, said the state is locked in for this year and probably next year, but will pursue an Idaho-specific assessment going forward.
The state joined the Smarter Balanced Consortium under former Superintendent Tom Luna.
Taking into consideration concerns from teachers and parents, including the length of the Smarter Balanced tests, Koehler said education department officials hope to see a new assessment designed and implemented as soon as 2017.
He said developing it could cost about $2 million, not including the expense of hiring a company to administer the test.
"The standards will still be extremely high," Koehler said.
©2015 the Lewiston Tribune (Lewiston, Idaho) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
