How not to write a standardized test for teachers

Last summer, I engaged in a lively letter exchange with the Illinois State Board of Education in pursuit of an Illinois teaching license. At first, the officials in Springfield insisted that I needed an array of additional courses, in addition to student teaching (this, mind you, is after I'd been teaching full-time for three years and held a full license from Virginia). After some negotiating (i.e. a vaguely threatening letter from me, citing some long acronym that stood for an agreement between the states that prohibited them from doing what they were trying to do), we agreed that I would take just the APT -- the Assessment of Professional Skills Test -- for the 6-12 grade level. I signed up to take it last fall, then didn't even go after my teaching jobs ended in misery. I was convinced, at that point, that I would never teach in Illinois.

The charter school I'm starting at Monday isn't limited to hiring Illinois certified teachers, but it does make them look better in the eyes of the city school board. Consequently, I'm preparing to take the APT in early September so that I can be fully certified by the state. I printed out some questions today just to see what they're like. There were 30 practice items, and I 9 wrong. Mind you, I'm considered to be a pretty good teacher, and I'm a generally intelligent person. But these questions are ridiculous. They range from insulting to completely situational to entirely subjective regardless of the situation. Let me give you some examples.

#6. Students in an eighth grade social studies class have been asked to do a writing assignment in which the students are to pretend they are newspaper reporters reporting on some local current event of interest to them. One student, James, has just returned from a trip and asks if he may write about that instead. Which of the following would be the best way for the teacher to respond to James' request?

A. Point out that the next time they have free writing in class James can write about his trip.
B. Give James the option of pretending to be a reporter sending a dispatch about his trip.
C. Propose that James write about a local event from the perspective of a journalist visiting from another state or country.
D. Require that James do the assignment as given, but encourage him to write about his trip as well.

Do you have your answer ready? A didn't seem like it had any relevance to the assignment, so it was out. I eliminated B because it didn't seem to serve the objectives of the assignment. This is a social studies class, so the emphasis would likely be on the local events, not the role of the newspaper reporter or the writing itself. C actually was appealing, because it would have allowed him to use a recently gained perspective (as an outsider) in the assignment. I chose D because, frankly, it's what I would have done -- encourage him to follow-up on what was interesting to him, but, as an eighth grader, require him to meet the minimum expectations for the assignment.

The correct answer was B -- I can't even begin to explain why. It allows him to write about his trip, which is what he's excited about -- but that doesn't have anything to do with local current events or with social studies. For me, this question falls into the "completely situational" category. Anyone?

#26. A teacher discovers that the printer for a classroom computer is not responding to print commands even though the printer is turned on. Which of the following steps should the teacher take first?

A. Run a diagnostic program to ensure that the computer is operating properly.
B. Reinstall the software that runs the printer.
C. Check the cable between the printer and computer to make sure it is securely connected.
D. Call the school's computer technician for help.

Hopefully you all got this one correct -- C. This falls under "insulting." I must admit that for a minute I thought D might be the right answer. A lot of teachers I know would do more harm than good by trying to fix it themselves.

#17. A teacher has a culturally diverse student population and is hoping to involve the students' parents and guardians in a unit about the various cultures represented in the community. Which of the following is the most effective way to involve the parents and guardians in this part of their children's education, while promoting student learning?

A. Call parents and guardians directly and ask them if they are interested in doing hands-on cultural presentations related to the unit.
B. Provide all interested parents and guardians with a copy of the lessons to be taught during the unit and ask them to suggest material to augment a particular lesson.
C. Send home a letter describing the unit and invite interested parents and guardians to a meeting to discuss how they would like to participate.
D. Call parents and guardians with diverse cultural backgrounds and suggest they participate in the unit by doing recommended activities that go with specific lessons.

The correct answer here is C. Rereading it, I can draw some conclusions as to why it's that and not A, but the experienced teacher in me knows that letters usually don't get home to parents and that offering a suggestion for a specific contribution is likely to get more takers than asking the parent to come up with something on their own. This falls under "subjective." I think A or C could be equally effective, and D might get the most takers. What is the primary goal?

I have included below two other questions that I missed. I'll post the correct answers under "Comments" if you'd like to try your luck -- which I'll clearly need come September 9!

#11. A new second grade teacher is considering what to include on the list of classroom rules prior to the start of a new school year. Which of the following is critical to consider in composing this list of classroom rules?

A. Anticipating the range of behaviors to be expected from the particular group of students in the coming year.
B. Establishing a system for rewarding adherence to the established rules and managing exceptional situations that may arise.
C. Making sure that classroom rules do not conflict with the administration's school-wide rules and regulations.
D. Ensuring that students are part of the rule-making process so they share the responsibility for maintaining an orderly classroom.

#20. A fourth grade teacher witnesses an incident in which several students engaged in verbal bullying (e.g., name-calling) toward another student. The students who were involved in the incident do not have a history of such behavior. In general, which of the following should be the teacher's first step in responding to such an incident?

A. Reduce the likelihood of future incidents by helping the student who was the object of the bullying learn age-appropriate social skills.
B. Report the incident to administrators and parents so that an appropriate intervention can be designed.
C. Make clear to the bullying students that their behavior is unacceptable, and that in the future it will result in disciplinary action.
D. Provide a model of accepting and inclusive behavior that all students may follow.