The Blogger Expounds on His Strange Love of Writing Tests

I like writing tests.

Does that make me weird? 

I’m sure that there are a lot of ways in which I’m weird, strange, different, unusual, atypical. Is taking joy in writing tests one of them?

Both in my former incarnation as a history teacher and now as an ESL instructor I find it challenging to write tests that are difficult but not impossibly so. It’s important that the tests correspond to the material covered and that through taking them students can discover not only how much they learned (or conversely failed to learn) but also that taking the test cements the knowledge they’ve but recently acquired. (I realize that the preceding sentence was overly long but I feel readers — both of us — can forebear it.)

I also flatter myself that my tests are “interesting.” They should not be entirely predictable. Certainly students should know what will be on the test but the wording of questions and prompts should be revelatory and help inspire revealing answers. “Discuss the causes of the Civil War” is a weak question. “Describe the main events leading to the Civil War being sure to highlight what you feel was the primary cause of the conflict.” That’s a bit wordy but a lot better than the first example. 

For an ESL vocabulary test the following is acceptable but uninspiring: “Use the word evolution in a sentence, be sure that your answer shows you know the meaning of the word.” Better would be something like: “What does it mean when something has evolved? Why is evolution an important process in life?”

Vague, general questions often inspire vague, general answers. Directed questions are more likely to elicit more thoughtful and and specific answers.

Of course a lot of tests primarily consist of multiple choice questions, especially grammar questions. Choosing the correct tense or the right preposition for a given sentence from choices a ,b and c. Those are fun to write. I try to make my sentences interesting. “Yesterday Bob _____ at the store for ten minutes when Lisa arrived. a) have been b) had been c) had gone. That’s okay but if you’re teaching the past perfect you’ve probably got an intermediate level class so you can go with something more interesting. “We  ______ at the party for half an hour when Tom arrived and ruined the evening.” Same response but a more interesting sentence. Right?

Now another confession: in addition to taking joy out of constructing tests, I also like correcting them. This has not always been true. In my my public school teaching days I’d have classes of twenty to thirty and would thus have a rather sizable pile of tests to grade at the end of the day. That could get tedious. I was also constantly disappointed at how the same students earned D’s and F’s. It was a rare if happy occasion when a struggling student exceeded expectations on a test. Facing a huge pile of tests I’d sort them. The ones that — based on reputation and how much was written — looked like F tests were put in one stack. The ones that looked like As were in a second stack and the rest in a third. I’d then breeze through the likely F exams (hoping to be surprised) then I’d tackle the likely A exams (hoping not to be surprised). The third stack — usually the smallest — was next and was more of a slog. 

In ESL I’ve always had either one or two classes (in semi-retirement just the one) so never have more than thirty tests, these days as few as six. 

I always note which questions had the most wrong answers so that I can review those in detail with the whole class. That’s another good thing about tests. They not only measure the progress of individual students but on classes as a whole. 

It is important to note that tests can be a reflection on a teacher as well as students. If an individual fails a test that’s on the students, but if you’ve got a rash of Fs particularly from students who usually do well, than either you didn’t adequately prepare students or you made the test too difficult.

At some point in reading this you may have thought: but don’t text books come with ready-made tests? In fact, aren’t there tests online and in books that you can just photocopy? The answer is: yes. A teacher can conceivably go through an entire career without ever writing a test and I’m sure many do. If I ever used a generic test it was back in my early days as a teacher and I have no specific memory of having done so. Some ready-made tests are fine. But far, far better to tailor your tests to a particular class (or group of classes) after all a good teacher occasionally (more than just occasionally is preferable) deviates from the prescribed material and curriculum. Plus using generic tests deprives you of the fun of writing your own. A teacher is simply not as invested in test she or she didn’t create. Make it your own. Make it fun. 

So that’s a lot more than I ever expected to write about tests and at that I could say a lot more and maybe I will in future. But first this:

In this blog post the author a) wrote of his love of writing tests b) discussed the migratory patterns of Canadien Geese c) extolled certain herbal teas.

If a class performs poorly on a test it could be a reflection on a) the weather b) the price of oil c) the teacher’s failure to prepare the class or having made the test too difficult.

What did the author say about using generic tests? a) it’s for the birds b) it’s okay but better to create one’s own c) it’s a leading cause of divorce.

I’ll have your tests back for you tomorrow. No homework tonight. Have a great rest of the day everybody!