He says it makes his life easier, and since the CMTs go after essential skills, so much the better. Fourth grade teacher Kim Cowles agrees, saying that her students' skills were so low last year that to see their math scores going up is reward enough. At the same time, she is looking forward to the end of this intensive period. My day was put together for me, but I know once these six weeks are over it will change. Both McGeary and Cowles volunteer for Power Hour and Super Saturdays, devices that allow even more time for test preparation.
Students spend an hour after school and weekend time to learn more mastery skills.
At Quirk Middle School, Principal Amador Mojica also likes the test. Without the literacy and numeracy skills stressed on the CMT, science and social studies are impossible anyway. If the test is poor, the whole strategy is poor, but I think these are good strategies for reading, writing and mathematics. . . It's a good test, because the state sought teacher input in the development stage. That has to be music to Amato's ears.