Standardized Tests

I run the computer lab in the elementary school where I work.  From the middle of March until the first week in May, the lab will be used to test students in Reading, Math, LA, and Science. These students will range from kindergarten through eighth grade.  I'm about half way through the testing period.  I am exhausted and I haven't had to take or grade any of these tests.

What I've had to do is make sure every student is in the testing data base.  Make sure they are assigned the right tests.  Print out their test tickets with their name and student identification on it.  Set up test sessions. Pause students who have to go the the bathroom during the test.  Stand by and watch frustrated primary students click on the blue hat that is under the table, with no results because the question reads, place the ? in the correct spot in the sentence: "Where is the hat"

There are students who finish 50 questions in less than ten minutes and other students that take two hours to complete the same 50 questions. There are students in grade three whose reading test is high stakes: it they don't achieve a certain score, they remain in third grade.  These same students are asked to write (type on a computer) a multi-paragraph answer. At our school, we begin developing keyboarding skills in the third grade, but most don't become proficient in it until fourth or fifth grade.