No! NoTo Timed Tests!

  The other day, our principal gave his report on the workshops he attended at the last RTI conference.  In one breath he told us he'd been told that its not good to do timed multiplication drill tests and then said we need to use those to teach the kids their tables.

Unfortunately, the belief exists,  the faster a student is at completing their addition or multiplication tables, the better they are.  It sends the message that faster means you are more intelligent but that is not always true.

I've seen it manifest itself in high school to the point that students race to finish an assignment as fast as they can but they don't take the care to make sure their work is correctly done.  When these students finish their assignment in the shortest amount of time, it makes others feel as if they are not good in mathematics even though they make fewer mistakes.

The other day I gave my Algebra II class a test.  The first two tests were turned in well before the period ended.  I glanced at the tests, promptly handing them back before telling those students they needed to check their work because I'd seen quite a few mistakes.  These students checked their work and found several errors but I've had other students tell me their work was fine and they didn't need to check it.

There is concern that timing these types of test may create anxiety in the person taking it which in turn can cause them to forget the facts they've already learned.  Furthermore, this type of testing may interfere with their learning and it does  not necessarily give a true picture of who knows their facts.  Some students love competition and want to be the first done but that is not true of everyone.  Those students who are not competitive may know all their facts but are unable to answer problems in this situation.

There is some evidence out there indicating that timed fact fluency tests may actually cause students to learn their facts slower. create a life long anxiety and  make it harder for them in the future.  The ability to do your facts in under one minute does not indicate a person can apply the knowledge in other situations. 

There are other ways to test for fluency without involving timing.  One way might be to "interview" students by asking them what "5 x 6" mean?  "What is the answer to 5 x 6?"  "How did you find the answer to 5 x 6?"  "Could you have found the answer another way?" "If your friend has trouble remembering this, what might you suggest to help them learn the fact?"  Another way might be to ask them things like "Can you use 3 x 8 to help find the answer to 6 x 8?

These questions require more thought to answer and they require more understanding of the concept.  Timed test are great for checking for rote but they do not check for understanding and comprehension of the multiplication.  I believe it is important to know the facts but you also have to know what they mean and how to use them.  I am working on my students to improve their fact fluency through games etc rather than using timed fact fluency tests.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.