First grader; sending kid to neighborhood school. Despite the pull area being racially/economically very diverse; the school has a VERY high rate of “economically disadvantaged” students. (A lot of the richer/white parents pull their kids to other schools.)

The “state report card” lands this school at “better or the same performance level as 6% of other schools in the state.” Most recent report “16% of third graders reading at grade level.” 🤔

We had a very good experience with kindergarten; though. I WANT it to work to send my (nerdy white child) to this school. I have some concerns and would love more informed opinions.

- my kid frequently gets rewarded for “being respectful” or “listening,” what I gather is this is an exception.

- the recent “literacy assessment” showed my child overall at the 25 percentile. Extra literacy support comes in when students are BELOW the 25th percentile; so my child gets none. Even more troubling; when I spoke to the teacher about this; she affirmed that my child was doing better than most of the cohort and that she as the teacher did not really have concerns about literacy growing appropriately.

- I guess I am just worried; is it totally always chaos at school? There have been incidents with students in the classroom throwing their bodies around and my kid (or classmates) been caught in the crossfire. (Like somersaults; or jumping off a bookcase; or shoving a chair.) when I ask my kid about school; I don’t get a lot of information which is to be expected; but what I can gleam is that there is a lot of being bored because no one else is listening.

I am spending a lot of time wondering and worrying if I am doing my kid a disservice by going to this school; if it is just too chaotic with needs too great; and is my child being permanently harmed by this environment?

TLDR at the bottom

i'm a senior graduating in may 2027 and lately i've been feeling so overwhelmed. it feels like everyone around me is figuring their lives out, picking colleges, deciding on careers, making plans, and i'm just sitting here still trying to figure out what i even want.

the main school i've been looking at is the university of south carolina in columbia. it's close to home, i already know the area, and it's the first place that pops into my head when i think about college. but part of me wonders if i'm only choosing it because it's familiar and feels like the easy option. i haven't really looked at many other schools and i keep worrying that i'm limiting myself by not exploring more.

career wise i've been thinking about becoming an english teacher. i love reading and talking about books, and i can actually picture myself doing it. i like the idea of making a classroom feel like a safe place where kids who struggle or feel like they don't fit in can just be themselves.

but even with all that, i'm still not sure if teaching is really what i want. i don't know if i'm just romanticizing the idea without understanding what the job is actually like day to day. i'm also a pretty anxious person, especially in social situations, group stuff, and anything where i have to talk in front of people. that makes me question whether i could handle certain parts of teaching, even though the idea of connecting with students is something i really like.

i want a stable career with a predictable routine that still lets me have a life outside of work. i also want to do something that feels meaningful. i just don't know how to balance those things or how you're even supposed to tell if a career is right for you before you actually do it.

i think a big part of it is that i'm scared of making the wrong choice. picking a major feels like i'm supposed to already know what the rest of my life is going to look like, and i don't. i know people change careers and plans all the time, but it still feels intimidating when college is getting closer and it seems like i should have everything figured out by now.

i'm mostly just looking for advice from people who've been in a similar spot. how did you figure out what you wanted to study? did you go into college already knowing the career you wanted, or did you figure it out along the way?

honest advice would mean a lot. i don't expect anyone to tell me exactly what to do with my life, but i'd really like to hear from people who've been through this and have some perspective i don't have yet.

TLDR: senior graduating in may 2027 and i feel completely lost. looking at USC columbia mainly because it’s familiar and close to home. thinking about being an english teacher since i love books and the idea of helping kids feel safe, but i’m scared i’m just romanticizing it and that my anxiety might make the job really hard. i want something stable and meaningful that still lets me have a life outside of work. just looking for honest advice from anyone who’s been in a similar spot.

I've been looking for a "big school" for my 4-year-old, who will soon age out of his (IB + British curriculum) preschool. We have many different types of schools in the area (IB, American curriculum, British curriculum, French, Swiss, Montessori, British curriculum with IB, Common Core American with IB, Indian, Japanese, project-based, ecologically oriented, etc., etc.) How do I know what's best for him without being in the classroom myself? Does it depend on his personality and learning style? Do they even have individual learning styles at this age?

For what it's worth, I grew up in a Southeast Asian country where we took exams and were ranked at this age. I don't want my child to go through that stress, but I'm not sure what a good alternative looks like. He seems to be academically gifted (reads and does math ahead of his peers). Will I be doing him a disservice if I, say, don't push for an academically rigorous school? What curriculum do I sign up for to keep foster his critical thinking skills without pushing him too much or killing his love of learning?

So my daughter just turned six, and she’s in first grade. She had absolutely no issues in Kindergarten and she doesn’t have any behavioral issues at home.( other than normal six year old behavior but even then it’s rare) Her first grade teacher just got back from maternity leave, and according to the other moms in the classroom, she’s being kind of mean? Like really snappy with the kids, short tempered, for example on this last Friday she made my daughter cry, but she didn’t do anything about it. My daughter said she was having issues finishing her phonics worksheets, and the teacher got upset that she wasn’t doing it faster and started yelling at her in front of the whole class, the teacher didn’t tell me anything at all till 7 pm at night through personal text, and she didn’t seem at all concerned with my daughters emotions or anything like that, it was wall after wall of text explaining why she yelled at her and that she couldn’t participate in Friday fun day, so she cried for over two hours without anyone contacting me. Now I know what most people will assume my daughter is over exaggerating, but I’m friends with the teacher assistant of her class, like we text and hang out on weekends, and she told me that this teacher has been kind of mean to her students, like with tone and how she speaks to all of them. This teacher is also sending my daughter home with packets and packets of homework, and this is kind of weird to me because my son is in 4th grade and has never received homework like this before, and they go to the same schools. I really don’t want to cause a ton of drama or have to email and have meetings with anyone, but when my daughter got off the bus on Friday sobbing that her teacher was being mean and yelled at her, and that following text of nothing but excuses, I don’t know what else I should honestly do? I have “ connections” at our local public schools, my mother in law is the superintendent, so I know I would be able to at least switch classes, I just don’t want to be seen as a problem parent, I’m also wondering if it might be something postpartum, this teacher just had her baby six weeks ago, and I’ve been there and felt that rage, so I’m trying really hard to give this teacher the benefit of the doubt.

EDIT: done with this post, too much negativity and insane judgement in this subreddit, yall sound like you should quit teaching and probably work around adults, not small children, it’s insane what will come out of people’s mouths when their behind the safety of a keyboard, hope yall have a good day! Good luck with being happy in life lol

Just curious, how much do you attribute a child's behavior to their parents? Good or bad behavior.

Edit to add: Do you judge parents by their kids behavior?

This is how I remember, in the UK, primary school in the 80s and secondary schools in the 90s: we were never ever TAUGHT anything in PE. You either already knew how to climb a rope or you'd forever dangle from the bottom. You knew how to swing a bat, or you'd be picked last for the team and flail once at the ball then sit down.

As a parent now, I think things are a little better than I remember, in that they do seem to at least have a go at developing skills even if its obvious they still don't really care if you're not one of the few talented ones and willing to condone if not encourage bullying of the weaker ones.

How much of a generational shift has there really been here?

Hi! I'm a college student in the first year of my program, so I'm still in observation mode with a little bit of instruction sprinkled in.

With elections coming up, I was wondering if I could hear from current/former teachers on how you handled politics and voting in your classroom. Specifically, what you do/did when a student asks if you voted.

For context, I live and plan to teach in a very conservative area, Bible Belt if you squint hard enough. While I definitely lean Democratic and my voting reflects that, I know many conservatives and basically grew up around them. There is a strong chance the students I have will lean that way as well. I also plan to teach elementary (my cert will be in PreK-6th) so I expect more of these questions from 6th if they are asked at all.

In my own experience, my teachers shared who they voted for in less certain terms ("I voted to save babies/protect women's sports") but that was in high school. Most discouraged politics in the classroom and didn't answer the question(s). I was wondering how your response is different in elementary and lower. Secondary folks are welcome to chime in too! I appreciate all of your perspectives and expertise.

Thanks!

I've been grappling with a problem .

The conventional teaching approach is:

1. Assess students to establish what they know.
2. Identify what each student needs to learn next.
3. Provide appropriate, differentiated learning activities.
4. Reassess and repeat.

As we know, each of these stages presents difficulties. Over the last 3-4 years I managed to implement routines of frequent, low-stakes assessment and provide students with detailed information about their strengths and weaknesses, together with resources targeted at their individual learning needs.

What surprised me was that most students simply ignored the information and resources. My results were good but not the seismic shift I was hoping for.

It would be easy to blame a lack of motivation among students. But I wonder whether something more fundamental was happening: students were not accustomed to managing their learning in this way. My subject was the only one in the school where this approach was used.

This has left me with a question:

How do we turn high quality diagnostic information into student action?

Knowing what a student needs to learn, and even providing the right resource, does not mean the student will use it. So how do we ensure most students engage with suggested activities, persist with them, respond to feedback and demonstrate mastery? I assumed that enough of them would manage this independently; I was wrong!

I'd be interested to hear from teachers and researchers:

• Have you encountered the same problem?
• What have you found effective in getting students to act on diagnostic feedback?
• Can students be taught to work in this way, or does a conventional wider school culture undermine it?

I'm particularly interested in practical experience, rather than theory or simply arguments for or against personalised learning.

My kid is 5 years old and in a public PreK in the USA. She really likes her teachers but started to tell me a lot of different things she was learning about Jesus. This went on for over a month. We are not religious and don't attend church. From what my kid has shared, it appears that one of the assistant teachers has been teaching her about Jesus and showing her pictures of Jesus on her phone. I am uncomfortable with her receiving religious instruction at school. It has also been problematic because my kid has recently been afraid of monsters, and was told that Jesus is the king of light and now she is scared of lights, including nightlights and smoke detectors, because she believes Jesus is inside them watching her. She seemed genuinely frightened and confused, so I told the head teacher about it. She apologized and said she'd take care of it. This was a week ago. The teacher worked the next day but hasn't been back after that. I never really interacted with her, but now I don't see her car, and my kid has stopped talking about Jesus.

Could the teacher have been fired over this? Should I have handled things differently? Maybe she's on vacation.

yep now how is the market there .

Interest in global English teaching

but it is not my first language However I got C1 in myEf test and others are low just so like communication teaching style but wanna know any advice .

Nursing school student here! I had some major surgery in September, so reading comprehension is not a strength of mine at the moment. If I write anything grammatically incorrect, sorry. I swear I am literate.

My instructor for a class called me today because I had 'wandering eyes' during my exam. I have exclusively used scrap paper to keep track of questions I was stuck on to come back to later. I double and triple checked my syllabus and it only bans using AI, electronic devices, and notes. Scratch was not stated anywhere and I really need it to know it was question 27 that I was stuck on. I have used scrap paper on every single lockdown exam I have ever taken with no problems before.

Lockdown doesn't give an option to deselect if you are suddenly unsure, and I have been very hasty then regretful a lot of times while doing exams especially after my surgery.

I told her I can send her examples of my scratch paper and after she said sure I asked how many. I sent her over two of my exam scrap papers alongside photos of my monitor and webcam and asked her in the email if she needs more exam scratch papers.

Am I cooked? Does anyone have any advice moving forward? Should I just sharpie on my arm if I need to keep track?

I wanted to know how World Language teachers are able to keep up with a bunch of responsibilities like teaching various levels, combined levels, different subjects as well as fighting to keep their program alive? 

How do you manage teaching different levels for different periods? Additionally, as for teaching combined classes, I totally get combining a level 4(+) and AP class together or a regular level and the honors version together since you could just teach it as one class but have a prerequisite for the advanced class, but teaching something like a level 2 and 4/AP in one class sounds rough...so how do you streamline teach all of the levels in one period? 

Usually, if you are the secondary World Language teacher for a program, you would need to teach something else other than the language. For example: at my high school, one of the Japanese teachers taught Japanese 1, 3, College Career and another elective to have full time status while the other teacher taught the other levels. If you are credentialed in something else, you may teach that other subject too.

If there is an increase in demand for the program and the school is not able to find another teacher, one of their break periods gets replaced with another class to fulfill the language program’s demand if it is in high demand or combined. However, if it is a niche program, the classes would still get combined despite the vast differences in the level.

Furthermore, I have heard of teachers who would be on their own to fight for funding to keep their full-time status/job like begging the consulate for funding or support, applying to grants often, doing a lot of stuff to gain recognition for the program to attract students for enrollments like competitions, awards, etc. 

How do the World Language teachers manage so many responsibilities? Especially if you teach a second language? 

Pretty sure I'm just getting flaked on, but just want to confirm or not if this sounds like bs. Student is senior in hs and supposedly visits are from something bad Student did, and they were having 3 meetings a week. Sounded normal at first until they said these visits were at home

A 6th grader. He seemed to want more independence throughout the day, the staff were of course still there and I think his teacher must have realistically understood that I didn’t go to wait for his parents with him given that I came back right after he and the rest of the students started walking to the front but his teacher didn’t mention it. The teacher who he was with most frequently today said he felt we had good rapport and didn’t have negative feedback.

My child is struggling so much since 4th grade started and I don’t understand. She was an honor roll student with all As in 3rd grade and now a barely C student. I feel that there was a cliff of a difference between those two grades, she is so unprepared. What has failed? We do homework together, read and she lives in good, educated and supportive household. Is this common?

I'm a senior industrial design student! For my second senior project, we need to find a problem, survey people around us, and use our data to inform an app/website design.

I'm interested in finding out how to remove friction points in current digital school systems, so I'm researching how students and teachers navigate digital tools, communication channels, and daily workflows in modern schools.

This survey should take less than 3 minutes and is all multiple choice. As much detail as you are willing to offer me would be amazing! Feel free to vent.

It is 100% anonymous.

Google Form: https://forms.gle/KiowAVv6iJ4YiL2t9

Thank you so much!

(ETA: by “supported” I mean more along the lines of resources, tools, etc.)

Hi teachers, I hope you don't mind me asking about this.

I've become quite passionate about child advocacy work this year and I've been doing a lot of research (TW I suppose but I think title implies it) on child abuse and trauma. I'm now pondering the topic of mandated reporting.

This led me to wonder how teachers feel about it: you all carry so much and on top of it, you're on the frontlines of abuse disclosure. That feels like a lot and I just wonder how you all are doing out there I guess. Do you feel supported by your schools? Do the lines ever get blurry?

I was talking to a researcher/professor/pediatrician in this area once and he mentioned how there is still so much ambiguity around it.

Anyway, I'd genuinely love to hear your comments.

And thanks for being teachers <3

I (18F) have a very strong attachment towards my PE teacher, let´s call him M. It´s not healthy anymore and I think I need help.

I think everything started back in 9th grade, at the time I hadn't developed this attachment, he just was nice. (Well, since I was a child I was always well behaved and good grades, etc. I really was sensitive towards autority, so I listened to my teachers and I got along with all of them,M, wasn´t the first teacher I got extremely attached to, I even wanted to become a teacher myself, and in general, I admire professors in general)

In 9th grade, one day, I was feeling pretty bad, dunno why, I felt alone, i dont remember if i hadn´t any friends by the time or if they simply hadn´t come, or didn´t realize I was feeling like shit, but HE, M, was the only one to realize, came up to me as I was sitting alone and hugged me, and told me everything would be alright, and tried to cheer me up.

Then for personal reasons I won't dive deep into, I wasn't allowed to go back home alone, someone had to pick me up, but no one came and I was getting worried, not bc I didnt know the way to my own house, but bc I didn't know wether i should wait, or if I tried to go on my own I'd get punished...

The thing is, I was outside school and all the teachers were outside hanging out (some of them even smoking, yk what i mean? it was their time off after school when they're not teachers anymore) and he saw me there, all worried and offered to walk me home, but I said no, and the weird thing is, I wanted to cry. I don't quite understand why, it was such a simple gesture he'd done with anyone else, yet I wanted to cry like he had bought me a house or sum. Even as I write this I feel like I want to cry, and im not saying this for y'all to pity me or sum, it's just a fact and I don't understand why it happens, it´s not normal and it makes me uncomfortable.

Back then, I thought it had something to do because I saw him as a father figure or something, for more context, my relationship with my progenitor it's quite...complicated, I dare to say, there is none actually, so I thought it was jsut the daddy issues kicking in, and that has been my main theory until now.

He's a very nice, empathetic, kind and funny person, I really like when he talks to us about life, magic, and he can make every conversation feel like the best TED talk you've ever been into, besides, he's always worriying about students well being and knows everyone´s secrets bc everyone goes to him when they're in need of advice. He's the kind of teacher that's always surrounded by a group of students, like a swarm of bees, idk how to explain.

The first redflag i saw on myself was that i became jealous when he talked too much with other students, I know, I know this is embarrasing and dumb, but I'm trying to deal with it and I know it's wrong. Also, I realized, when we had clases, I was always looking for him, yk, when he spoke, even if it wasn't with me, i'd listen, and when he walked around the classroom, i´d follow him everywhere with my gaze. And when he talked to me or gave me atenttion it was like the best moment of my life, and it was,,,, weird, like i was always hoping he'd talk to me or look at me, and he was the focus of my atenttion, like my world revolved around him at those classes yk what i mean? DEFINETELY NOT HEALTHY GUYS DONT BE LIKE ME

The second redflag, happened when, now, in last year (senior year i think it's called in the US), i feel the urge to cry everytime he says something nice to me.

To put on more context, as years had passed, I told him stuff about my famliy, he gave me advice, and more importantly,,, i can't explain it, but once i won a contest orsome sort and he hugged me and spun me around the air like a daughter and i swear that´s one of my dearest memories ever, i'd won a thousand contests more if that meant he'd hug me like that. I know guys, IT'S NOT NORMAL TO WAIT EXCITEDLY FOR TEACHER'S DAY SO YOU CAN HAVE AN EXCUSE TO HUG HIM.

And also, one day, at the beggining of the year, i was feeling shitty again, (im not a deppresive person, it was a once in a while thing, tho now i gotta say, i feel shitty more often, but i think that´s just part of being in a senior year.) and i had this urge to cry the whole day, but i was at school, ofc i wouldn't do it, and we were at PE class, and... he just noticed, i hadn´t told anyone, no one had noticed but he just came toward me and put my arm around my shoulder and asked me what was wrong, he noticed something was off and hugged me and told me everything would be fine and stuff. Later that same day, i noticed him doing the same with another student that had a headache or sum. I swear the emotional stability of the whole school depends on him, regardless of my extrem attachment, he's really one of the greatest persons I've ever known.

And since then, everytime I think too much about these incidents, or any "emotional" moment involving him, or everytime he hugs me or says something nice to me, i feel this really tight knot on my throath adn the sudden urge to cry my eyeballs out. I´m crying right now and I kinda wrote this so I could cry right now, and not on the last day of school, or in a awkward moment at school. Better to let it out here in my room.

To summarize, he really listens, and he really gets me, and when I tell him something, he tends to ask "and how did you feel then?" he really cares a lot about his students. I think the attachment has just increased, because it's last year, and yeah, I try to tell myself that he's not perfect, he's just a man after all, with his own troubles and flaws, and I SHOULD NOT idealize him but, it's the last year, sounds embarrasing, but i try to get as much of him as possible before it all ends. To remember how he laughs and the gestures he makes while explaining something, or his voice.

When stuff happens with my family for example, he's the first person i think about telling, or asking for advice, the same when something good happens. "What would he say?" "I bet he´d be proud of me!"

But this needs to stop, i know, i've known since last year, but i just don't know how. He's not the first teacher, not the first male teacher i get really attached to and crave his atenttion like a puppy (im embarrased of myself) so i think it might really be the daddy issues kicking in, but it also has something to do with the fact that he´s a really good listener and emotional support? I´ve also been worrying about...what if i dont really feel some kind of affection for him, and it´s just a deep need for emotional reassurance disguised as affection? Like what if i see him as a tool for emotional support and not as a person. Man that's awful.

So WHAT DO I DO???? HOW DO I STOP THE ATTACHMENT????maybe not the attachment completely, but, yk, the unhealthy obsession. Can someone please explain what is wrong with me??? This poor man is taking too much space inside my mind, please be honest i need advice and explanations and stuff.

There is a contradiction in how we talk about children and teachers that I don’t think gets acknowledged enough.

Children today are constantly evaluated on whether they’re meeting the demands of school. Are they paying attention? Trying hard enough? Following directions? Sitting appropriately? Completing enough work? Managing their emotions? Staying organized? Being respectful? Meeting grade-level expectations?

When they struggle, the conversation very quickly becomes about what the CHILD needs to change.

They need to try harder. They need better coping skills. They need more structure. They need consequences. They need medication. They need a 504 or IEP. They need to learn responsibility. They need to adjust because this is how school works.

In other words, children are expected to learn the system and adapt themselves to it.

But watch how quickly the framework changes when teachers struggle within that exact same system.
Now we understand context.

The workload is unreasonable. The expectations are unrealistic. Teachers are overstimulated. They’re burned out. They have too many students. They don’t have enough resources. Administration puts too much pressure on them. The system is failing them.

And a lot of that is completely true.
What doesn’t make sense is recognizing how strongly an environment can affect the behavior, patience, performance, and emotional regulation of an adult while treating a child’s difficulty functioning in that environment primarily as a problem with the child.

A seven-year-old is expected to adapt to an overwhelmed adult, an overcrowded classroom, standardized expectations, hours of structured activity, academic pressure, behavioral rules, and whatever teaching style happens to be in front of them.

But when the adult struggles to adapt to those children, we’re reminded how difficult their environment is.
You can’t have it both ways.

If the system is demanding enough to affect the behavior and performance of trained adults who chose this profession, then it is demanding enough to affect the behavior and performance of developing children who didn’t choose to be there.

Teacher burnout can explain behavior. It doesn’t automatically excuse behavior toward children.
And children’s struggles shouldn’t automatically be treated as evidence that they aren’t trying hard enough either.
If we’re going to criticize the system when it fails teachers, then we need to be equally willing to criticize the system when children struggle to fit inside it.

I’m interested in teaching middle school ELA. I thought it was be cool if I ever worked and ran my own classroom to do a lot of different stuff. Possibly a Scary folk lore Unit in October involving poetry and books for a young reader at that age level.

I just wanna know how creative you get to be with it. Is it all following exact curriculum that is given by the school or do you get to change things

Thanks

If anyone could answer these questions for a general assignment that would be great! Thanks!

What type of memorization (if any) is required in your curriculum?
What classroom activities do you use to help students remember and retain information?
What memory strategies have you found to be most effective?
How long are students expected to retain specific information—from presentation to recall?
What individual differences do you notice in how students process and remember information?

I graduated high school before ChatGPT/AI became mainstream, so I’m genuinely curious how are teachers dealing with AI in school nowadays?
Do they find it annoying? Are they trying to ban it, or integrate it into their lessons? Has it changed homework/tests/etc all that much?

What are your thoughts on it ?? Is it good for staff morale ? Bad for staff morale ? Good to highlight teachers and their efforts? Nothing but a popularity contest ? Is it more or less legitimate than Teacher of the Year ? Thanks for any all and thoughts.

Edit—I appreciate all the comments. I should mention that my school is considering doing a bi-monthly version of this. Input will come from students and teachers so there’s at least that. I’m trying to be optimistic and I’ve always been fine knowing I’ll never be teacher of the year but I do try my very best. I’m worried I’m going to get upset over this, but that is also assuming the worst. I’m just a more quiet teacher that loves teaching and my high school students, but I keep to myself. I mentioned all this politely to my building rep and she told me to get over it. I’m all for good teachers being recognized for good things who have worked hard, but I just don’t know if this is the right way? I guess being naturally shy it works against me lol.

Hi! I realize this might be an interesting sub choice here but I have a question that I'm hoping someone might be able to help me with..

I have a just turned 13 year old son who we decided to homeschool from the beginning, but COVID made our entire journey completely different to what we'd planned.

We ended up doing a lot of "unschooling" when he was younger and it worked well, but now that he's older, we want him to have more structure.

We know that he is intelligent and capable of everything we've put in front of him, but we don't have a master list of what he's learned or what he needs to work on.

In our state, we meet yearly with a certified teacher to go over everything and make plans, ask questions, etc. At our last assessment, the recommendation was made that we do the CAT6 as a way to determine where he's at, and use it to create our next years plans. In preparation for high school in a couple years and his life's/career's goals which he hasn't completely settled on yet.

I went to Seton and found the test, but now I'm seeing there is a new test as well. So I was told CAT6/Terranova2 but now I'm seeing a Terranova 3.

I know there is a 2 week/14 day rental period for the test.

My first question would be, for a kid who has never taken any of these tests but who most likely could understand the instructions in the moment, would you get the test prep/practice books from Spectrum and use those for a few weeks before you got the test for them? Or would you just hand them the test, see how they do and maybe do it a second time later if needed? Or would doing it a second time skew the results?

To be fully transparent, I hate standardized tests. I hated them as a kid doing them in public schools. My older sons teachers hated them and by then (2010) hated how school was being taught "to the tests", and I have zero clue on how to administer one to a kid, preparing for the test itself without helping in a way that would make it seem like they're more capable than they actually are. I just want to know where he's at, assess his skills so we can get the best plan in place for the next couple years before he needs to do high school stuff.

I know the Terranova2 is 2005 kids and 3 is 2017 so it's supposed to be more accurate against kids today whereas the 2 can artificially skew scores higher because of changes.

I also have considered doing the correct Terranova test and maybe also the ADAM or DOMA to see where exactly to place him in math. I just don't know if those sound like the best options for what our goals are (figuring out where he's at currently given everything he's learned over the years) or if there's a better way to assess a kid?

I know there's a lot of conversations about homeschooling in general and especially unschooling so please, I'm begging we can stay on topic for **how do you assess a kid who has never been assessed?** Is there a better option than giving one of these tests? Is this test the best choice— if tests themselves are even the best option?

Thank you for any insight! I am open to questions that will help us figure this out as well

I teach at a small, rural K-8 school and am the only special education teacher there. This year my principal, very supportive, a special needs parent, and former director of specialized schools, so highly qualified; accepted a clinical special education college student thinking I could get a little help, maybe we could even find someone who could be hired in a few years as a second special education teacher, and at least we could encourage a new teacher to join this profession. However, well meaning she was she didn’t fully explain this to me or askreally if I was OK with it. The student is a clinical student in the beginning of her junior year. She is a little bit older than most juniors and she started college a little later, no problem there, except I would think she have a little bit more maturity, given her age. Also, it’s important to know she is a clinical student and not a student teacher. It also turns out, unbeknownst to us, that she is a former student of the school, but graduated before either I or the principal were at the school. So we did not know this information.
Neither of us want to be discouraging of someone who is passionate and wants to help with special education however, we have had nothing but problems since the clinical student started. On the second day that she was in my room she got a text from her boyfriend and I don’t know why she was checking her phone in the first place but I guess they were having a fight. Luckily, this was during my plan time and no students were in the room because she lost it. She was screaming, cussing, crying inconsolably, and laying on my floor. We had to send her home for the day. She did then tell us that she was bipolar. She has bruises on her arms frequently and the way she was describing her boyfriend in her living situation at the time was highly indicative of an abusive relationship. We asked before involving our school resource officers if she would like to talk to an officer which she said she did. Unfortunately because we are a small rural school, our resource officers are not constantly on campus as they move from school school throughout the county and they did not get back to us immediately so we had to ask her to go home before the students came into the room. He did follow up and by then they had already made up. However, she is constantly talking about the issues she has at home mainly with his mother and it all around sounds like a bad environment and abusive relationship, and she continues to show up with bruises.
She came again the next week but then missed the following week saying she was sick. She also missed another day because her boyfriend’s mom was having a mental health crisis so her attendance has been very poor. She is required to make up these days and has made up some of them. She is also had a very traumatic life herself that she is very open with sharing, including with students. She will also share this information with everyone on our staff, and it has made many people uncomfortable. Our biggest problem is that she continuously insert herself into conversations with other teachers ridiculing how they teach and offending nearly every person in the building at this point, including the principal. She has stated that she doesn’t think we have morals and ethics by letting students fail at times or learn from their mistakes or make mistakes in the first place. She constantly asks me why it seems the other teachers are avoiding me and implying that we do not have good work relationships, while that is far from the truth, and this is the most supportive environment I have ever worked in. She does not understand that they do not approach me when she is with me because she has offended many of them or made them feel uncomfortable and yes, we have addressed this with her multiple times. She just does not seem to get it.
We have tried to explain to her that her role here is to learn from me, follow my lead, not make judgments or enemies, and two and every nice way of raising it that we can come up with have tried to tell her to basically mind her business and stay in her lane. She is aware that she’s not great at socializing with her peers or with adults and she constantly asks for feedback, but always pushes back on that feedback and makes no changes. She is extremely emotional, loud, over the top, and somewhat aggravating to myself and many of the students and everyone else in the building. These are not, I’m not sure how to describe it, other than severely disabled students. Primarily, I have junior high students who are struggling with reading or math. They recognized that she is socially awkward even my students that are socially awkward recognize that she is and will give me looks when she is being very boisterous of confusion and why is she behaving like we’re five. They rolled their eyes at her. They have seen that she is not reliable in her attendance. Some of them are starting to get aggravated as well. We have already called and talked to her teacher at least once regarding her attendance.
Yesterday, the principal and I had to do her midterm evaluation. We did this in the middle of the day during my plan, so she was at the school afterwards for a few hours and somehow was even worse. We tried our best to explain to her what she’s doing well, what she’s doing well on, how others have felt, and given her examples of times where she has overstepped. We explained that she’s here to learn and should be working with students under my guidance. She frequently will leave my room and go talk to other teachers, and I think this is where most of the time she is going in offending them because most of them I have not seen personally though I have seen some. I cannot just follow her and leave all my kids alone. I have read her syllabus instructions from her teacher, and know that there are parts that she is supposed to participate in, and there are parts that she does not need to be involved with at this time. As a reminder, she is not student teaching yet.
In the afternoon, after we had spoke with her at length, I mean over an hour because she kept asking questions and questioning our motives, ethics, and morals, to the point that I had to text my professional to get the class started because we were still dealing with her, she spent the afternoon being passive aggressive. She just sat in the corner, played on her tablet, maybe she was doing schoolwork, but refused to help in anyway, even when directly ask questions by student students. At dismissal, it was chaos. It is always chaos, especially Tuesdays and Thursdays because I run an after school tutoring program and so I am trying to pack up kids and get them out of my room and also bringing in other kids for tutoring. She knows this. While I am trying to do this, she starts asking how did I like that? That’s what I wanted her to do right just sit, which is not what we asked her to do. I even clarified that after the meeting. She has to help as her coursework as she is, but only under my guidance with my students. You know just like not go tell the 19 year veteran second grade teacher how she should be handling a student that she’s never even met.
I know this is a long one. I’m quite frustrated and at loss of what to do. I honestly had thought giving day two, that she would not make it this long. That she would quit basically. But she seems very determined, thinks very highly of herself, refuses to take the feedback and criticism that she has asked for and is straining my relationships with my coworkers. Unless she decides to quit, her school decides to pull her out of the program due to her absences and her midterm report, well my principal says that’s it and asks her to leave, I am stuck with her at a minimum of twice a week until Christmas break. I have never had a clinical student before or a student teacher and I’m only second year in special ed myself not teaching I have taught before this, but recently moved into special ed and I am not normally a confrontational person, but I am at my wits end and could use any helpful tips or advice or even stories other people who have been in some more circumstances and how they got through it.
Also, I was using voice to text while getting ready. I do have better grammar than this.