Julian Vasquez Heilig recently delivered the Social Justice Keynote for The California Association of Latino Superintendents and Administrators (CALSA). He posted his remarks on his excellent blog, Cloaking Inequity.
Heilig reviews the racist history of standardized testing and its use to sort people by their socioeconomic status. He refers to court cases brought by civil rights groups in opposition to the use of standardized tests for high-stakes decisions.
Then he proposes an alternative means of assessing school quality, which he calls “local accountability” or “community-based reform,” using multiple measures and reflecting the ideas,, values, and priorities of local communities.
He writes (and says):
“We must press for community-based reforms in the public discourse instead of top-down, privately controlled reforms.
“We can utilize community-based, democratic approaches to student and teacher assessment.
“We must also support stakeholder collaboratives such as community-based charters instead of corporate based charters.
“We must do this because democratic control of public schools drives the health of our democracy!…..
“Community-based reform and policy changes the conversation from educators and local stakeholders as the “problem” by instead re-empowering them as the solution and strengthening the thread that links communities to vibrant, participatory neighborhood public schools.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I wish more people in the civil rights movement would vote their conscience and not their wallet. The truth about testing needs to be understood.
LikeLike
Two comments based upon research and experience.
(1) In K-12, a larger percent of Asians and whites are promoted by proficiency than blacks and Latino students. Therefore, the proficiency and achievement gaps among the first two groups vs the second two groups must grow as the grades increase.Until all groups are promoted by proficiency as the federal NCLB law mandates, the difference will continue to grow.
(2) Achievement gap is a reliability(comparison) term that increases the relative differences among groups. What should be measured is the proficiency gap – a standard- which is a measure of validity. This goal of proficiency promotion among grades of the NCLB law was the purpose of the 2002 law and what the general public desired, but did not get, unfortunately.
ekangas@juno.com If additional discussion and R & D is desired.
LikeLike
“Achievement gap is a reliability(comparison) term that increases the relative differences among groups. What should be measured is the proficiency gap – a standard- which is a measure of validity”
What??? You’re statement makes no sense whatsoever to me. Please explain.
LikeLike
From the blog post by Julian VH and my response:
“Tests were first spurred on by the racist* Eugenics movement (See Film Review: Defies Measurement weaves together problematic purposes of ed reform) and also IQ exams that were used to sort soldiers during the world wars.”
I have been seeing idea that standardized testing was a product/spurred on of the Eugenics movement more and more (internet echo chamber??) in the last couple of months or so. From my reading of the history of standardized testing-mainly Callahan’s “Education and the cult of Efficiency” and Lehman’s “The Big Test” and miscellaneous other readings over the years, the Eugenics movement did not “spur on” the testing phenomena. The original tests were designed to find students from across the country to go to the upper level universities who didn’t have the “legacy” tag which at the time was the main criteria for entrance to the elite Eastern colleges. The Eugenics movement latched onto the results, which we know were completely biased towards an upper class white upbringing, to supposedly “prove” their theories, hey it’s all so scientific, eh?!?! And yes, out of original IQ work came tests for the military to first use in WW1.
Julian, if you have any citations for the claim that it was the Eugenics movement that first spurred on, advocated for these educational malpractices I’d appreciate reading them.
*The Eugenics movement was not only/necessarily “racist” but included attempting to find differences in the various European “white” groups with Northern European features being extolled as better than those “swarthy” Southern European folks. Adding the term “racist” limits what the Eugenics movement was in an almost uniquely American perspective of race/racial issues.
LikeLike
Duane,
Read the chapter on the history of standardized testing in my book “The Death and Life of the Great American School System.”
Also go to the library and read Carl Brigham’s “A Study of American Intelligence.” The IQ testing movement gave fuel to the eugenics movement.
LikeLike