This is a terrific article about whether test scores lose their value for accountability when so many students opt out.
What’s terrific about it is the comments of opt out leader Jeanette Deutermann, who says the purpose of test refusal is to bring down the system, to make test-based accountability impossible. She is a parent and she knows how testing has undermined education.
Then there is Tom Kane, the Harvard economist, insisting that without the scores, poor kids and minorities will be neglected. Where is the evidence that 13 years of testing has closed gaps or helped the neediest children?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Test scores couldn’t possibly lose their value because of Opt Out – they have no value to begin with.
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TAGO!!
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You have pointed out the difference between value and “value.” Many of our problems exist because on the same issue we have little of one and a lot of the other.
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Nice.
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From 1971 until 1988, the achievement gap in reading between white and black 13 year olds as measured by NAEP shrank from 39 points to 18 points. The gap slowly regrew in the late 1980s through the 1990s and started trending narrower again just before NCLB. During the period of “test and punish” under NCLB the same gap as measured by NAEP has only managed to go from 29% to 23% with the largest gains before 2008.
Now what policies were we actively pursuing through the 1970s and which we largely abandoned in the 1980s that might have had such a dramatic impact on educational opportunity? Maybe someone can remind me…?
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To sarcastically answer the question you pose in the title of this blog entry. I certainly hope so! ANd to answer the awful Syracuse Editiorial that suggest that parents “made their point and the State has heard you so move on and get on board.” SERIOUSLY, the state has heard us? Elia’s answer seems to be “Stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about…” Disgusting display of a fear based shakedown……
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What are these test doing to the ELL and Special need students???? What message are these students internalizing…
Where is the research on language acquisition? I like someone to explain how a grade level exam helps to identify the needs of a student(s) after a year or two of learning the language. What are we measuring? We are missing the point and Common sense has opted out! This is tragic. We need to take back our profession.
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Well, part of the problem is it simply isn’t true that the ed reform movement requires annual testing for equity alone. That’s false.
They also require annual testing so they can set up “choice” systems using a common measure. Obviously. They can’t hand out backpack vouchers without some measure of the return on public dollars that is going to contractors.
As we know the Obama Administration also needs annual testing so they can create a market in ed product that is uniform across states. We know that because they said it.
This might be a better debate if we didn’t cherry-pick politically palatable goals, like “equity”.
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I would go further and say that hardly anybody pushing for annual testing of every student actually believes that it has anything to do with equity. Some people might have initially thought this, but few actually believe it now. The equity idea is now mostly a front for the other motives that you mentioned.
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Yes, “hardly anybody pushing for annual testing… actually believes that it has anything to do with equity.”
And that brings us to the New York Times. We used to depend on our great newspapers to ferret out the truth, but now they seem to be pushing the ideas of their corporate sponsors. I wish I could know how the journalists feel about this. Are they pressured to promote corporate interests or do they believe it themselves? Oh, I’d love to be a fly on the wall in the executive offices of the New York Times.
Anyway you look at it, it’s a huge loss for democracy.
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Ask NY Times editorial writer. He or she must know or otherwise would not have said so? Murray
Sent from my iPhone
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If you go by NYS – the rest scores stayed the same despite the massive opt outs. How could they not when the result is predetermined.
As for the poor – they can be ignored just as well with or without yes scores.
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Test scores
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Standardized tests are a false measure of accountability. This is a “one size fits all” micro-management system designed to put students and teachers in a box. We already know that the scores will correlate to the socio-economic levels of students, and they serve no diagnostic purpose. In Florida I just heard that the results of spring assessments many not be available until November, and one superintendent announced,”We don’t really need them.” That’s a fact. We don’t really need them, and we don’t need to use the results to fire teachers. That is a total misuse of standardized tests! I taught for many years, and I was always accountable for my actions in so many ways that had absolutely nothing to do with standardized testing. Accountability is a daily factor when a teacher steps in front of a class with a prepared lesson and responds to students’ learning in ways that are commensurate with those of a trained professional.
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“Standardized tests are a false measure of accountability.”
They certainly are a false/invalid assessment of accountability but again we need to more careful in our usage of the term “measure”. I challenge anyone to show me the “measurement standard” as understood in metrological terms in any aspect of accountability in the teaching and learning process.
Have at it, I’m all eyes and ears.
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One square on a generic rubric matrix.
That’s the arbitrological organizational maniacal standard.
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STARVE THE BEAST.
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Are opt out parents sabotaging the system? I certainly hope so! How else will it change?
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“I remember the bad old days when achievement gaps between groups of students or between schools and school districts were hidden as if they were a dirty secret,” Thomas Kane, an economist and professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, said in an email. “Obviously, we’ve got a lot of work to do to close those gaps. But we cannot return to the days when the gaps are out of sight and out of mind.”
The work that needs to be done to “close those gaps”, whatever the hell “those gaps” are, is not what Kane would support–progressive taxes, funding that addresses the needs at each school for each child, etc. . . .
Those “bad old days” of “hidden gaps” are just as much false as pining for the “good old days”.*
* and no I’m not talkin bout “The goodle days”:
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This is why “economists”and “MBA’s” should not be given control of any school! They have no real interest in our children other than statistical or monetary.
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I agree!
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Don Corley is so right! But lets delve farther into the real problem. Daniel Katz speaks about the “achievement gap.” Our energies are wasted on wrong directives instead of what we need to do – being positive. Very fundamental is developing positive values in our parents/ caregivers. All the testing in the world is not going to change the negative values. The poor we will always have with us. We will always have greedy scoundrels contemplating how to swindle people out of their money. What scoundrels can not take away is a good attitude and values which will support parents/caregivers with the ammunition to succeed.
We have been so distracted with the lies the media, politician and the corporate world keeps purporting about our schools that we fail to reflect on the real cause of the “Achievement Gap.” Only if parents develop a good attitude and value education they will find a way to educate their children. Ben Carson, in spite of growing up in poverty, not only became a world-renowned brain surgeon but is now a candidate for the presidency.
Thanks to his mother’s values and attitude, Dr. Ben Carson became a success. His mother had only a third -grade education.
What was the cause of his success? “ Carson says when his mother saw her boys going wrong, she prayed to God for wisdom and direction. And you know what, God gave her the wisdom…at least in her opinion. My brother and I didn’t think it was that wise. Though her neighbors said her boys would grow up to hate her, Sonya turned off the TV, allowing only two or three programs during the week, and requiring each of them to read two library books weekly. The boys had to write book reports for their Mom, never guessing that she couldn’t even read them.” (I love it!)
What Ben Carson’s Mom Can Teach Today’s Moms
It takes the community to close the “Gap” – high stakes testing isn’t going to do it.
Our librarians know the value of reading. Where there is a will there is a way. For parents who can’t read, who have no computer or lab top at home, there is now the “Nook” It is like the Kindle to down-load books. You can either select the books yourself or the librarian will already have it pre-loaded with books. The reader can listen to and follow along with the text; read independently. and even to record one’s reading. The Nook can be signed out and taken home- free! Parents/caregivers just have to register at the library.
Oh the power of reading! Through the years I observed the impact of reading to my own children and now my grandchildren. What creative minds my little five year olds and
three year olds have already developed! My children, their father, and I heeded the admonition: “You do not have to read every night – just on the nights you eat.” Dr. Carmelita Williams former president of the NRA
My children have learned how to bring to life the stories read which fire up listeners’ imagination. None of my grandchildren had tutors but all are successful because of their reading through the years- reading to them, reading with them, and reading independently. It didn’t cost any money for my one son to read the encyclopedia through not once but twice!
Take away test prep and use it to read to the students and give them time to read independently. Give the teachers time in school to bring joy into the children’s lives and bring stories to life via drama. Then the achievement gap will narrow – what ever that
means. Students achieve in different areas and at different rates but reading – not testing- certainly will help students to reach their potential.
Are Opt-Out Parents Sabotaging Accountability? Not if they are using that time to read
to their children or provide time for their children to read. We need more parents/caregivers to take the bull by the horns and bring down the practice of harmful high stakes testing.
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Of course reading is important, but not everybody has that luxury. Lack of access to books (libraries are often unavailable), lack of books in the appropriate language for nonEnglish speakers, or learning disabilities which make reading difficult – all are factors which might keep reading books a distant reality. Then you have societal pressures, peer pressures, and even the CC which could easily turn kids off to both fiction and nonfiction due to inappropriate grade level and/or interest selections. And there is also the unspoken reality that many parents (especially in the inner city) are illiterate nonreaders who did not graduate from high school. (In Buffalo parents used to make a big deal over eighth grade graduations because they weren’t convinced their children would make it through high school. One of the Superintendents put a stop to this practice and there are now Moving Up Days instead).
It’s easy to be on the outside and make recommendations, but our lives are totally different from those who live in poverty. Unless you’ve experienced the difference it is hard to truly understand.
And the government’s solution is so ludicrous when compared to the real needs that it borders on criminal.
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fios56, you didn’t read my message – you skimmed it and missed a crucial point. If Dr. Ben Carson’s mom could find a way, other parents can also find a way to get books into the hands of children. He came from poverty. As a teacher I developed back packs to take home and included a read along for parents who couldn’t read. One mother told me that she learned to read and speak English by following along with her fifth grader. At times I even sent home a recorder. Where there is a will there is a way. A page on my web site titled “Achievement Gap” answers your objections- I have heard them before. I grew up in a rural area with a population of 78 people. As youngsters we sold seeds to purchase books for a “library” – a few shelves in the back of the four-grade-classroom of a two-room school house. I taught in the inner city- not for long but I know the problems.
Once parents/caregivers value reading/education and change their attitudes, parents can find ways of getting to the library or bringing the library to them.
I noticed in one community a church group collected books and placed them at strategic areas for children/parents to pick up and keep. Supporting education is a community affair. Can you imagine all the books that could be purchased with the money spent on high stakes testing?
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Couldn’t agree more.
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I see a whole paradigm shift and a change in children and the way they view knowledge. It’s no longer assumed that “getting” knowledge is important since it can simply be “looked up” or found on the internet. Learning is simply not valued, as an end in itself by the majority of people. Technology has made incredibly wonderful differences in our lives, but it is also slowly robbing us of our imagination and curiosity. We promote reading as if it is a “chore” instead of getting kids hooked on the pleasure of reading. The blame also lies somewhere with the kids and us, too. Technology is eroding our perseverance and desire to attend to and stick with tasks. Smart-phones, devices and the internet have made us wildly impatient and fostered multi-tasking” to the point that kids are hardly articulate and their writing skills are worse mostly because they have no desire to organize their thoughts and write them; for most kids, this is simply too much work”. Teen-agers don’t even speak to their close friends on the phone, they mostly text. SOmetimes they text when they are in the same space/room!
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There are some positives with technology. Yes they can use google and Wikipedia to find information but they need to learn how to be discriminating. They need to learn how to read between the lines, such as where the information comes from and if it is valid.
I used the example of an orange juice website as an example in my lesson. The site was sponsored by the orange growers of Florida who advocated drinking lots of OJ. Yet another website promoting good nutrition advised a diet with less than a glass of juice per day.
I also took students to websites which appeared true but were really a hoax. There is a lot of bogus information out there.
With the proper education, our future voters won’t be fooled by the dis formers who spout goobledegook which anyone with half a brain would discount as idiotic.
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Alison and Flos56, your readers with a thirst for entertainment and knowledge come from being read to from birth on.
Flos56, in regards to your earlier comment about your students’ plight of a lack of books, don’t give up so easily. There are numerous ways to put books into the hands of your students.Teachers can tap into the Teacher’s Net and ask if there are teachers out there who are willing to share their student’s stories, reports, and poems. Altruistic teachers may even runs some stories off; have their gifted artists illustrate them;
and snail mail them to you. Others may send them via the Internet for you to run off for your gifted artists to illustrate. Laminate the first and last page and sign them out as you would a library book.
Possibly you have no paper or ink to run the copies off. A little ingenuity will go a long way. When a granddaughter was in sixth grade, she and her friend decided to have a fund raiser. She contacted a hockey manager via snail mail, Internet and phone- on her own. A set of tickets to a hockey game was given to them for a fund raiser. That same granddaughter won a state writing contest. We need to
tap into students like that to write for your students.( She is a phenomenal writer; her little sister is a great poet. I told her to visit the old age home and write their stories.)
Two teacher friends wrote a grant asking for money for a project they envisioned to bring books into the homes. It was granted
and is still functioning today. Where there is a will there is a way.
The next step is to change the attitudes and values of parents/ caregivers. The first step in raising the standards of a community
is help them value education. Just as Dr. Ben Carson’s mother did- the same Dr. Ben Carson running for the president of the United States.
He “grew up miserably poor in inner-city Detroit, mocked for his stupidity and even nicknamed “Dummy” by his schoolmates. And he had a really mean mom, at least according to the neighbors.”
http://townhall.com/columnists/joyoverbeck/2015/05/08/what-ben-carsons-mom-can-teach-todays-moms-n1995852/page/full
Where there is a will there is a way – a little altruism and ingenuity go a long way.
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Mary, I love your enthusiasm. As a school librarian I did everything I could to get books in the hands of children, I also geared my lessons to develop a love of reading in my students. It still isn’t enough.
The issue is so large that there is no easy solution. I was in homes where one of the siblings was an excellent student while another was in danger of dropping out. The personal situations of families in poverty (and sometimes violence) vary so much that we can’t make blanket statements. There are successes, but too many failures (due to the rigidness our educational system imposes and its one size fits all philosophy).
Of course, we still haven’t addressed those refugees with the baggage of violence, lack of a formal education, and little knowledge of English, who are expected to be fluent enough to pass the same tests as their grade level peers.
Books and reading are important, but we need to look at the starting line and take our children from where they actually are, rectify their individual deficiencies, and then take them where they need to be to become successful, hopefully happy, US citizens. (Please note I did NOT say career or college ready)
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What a sad commentary proving that education is so underfunded that teachers much resort to this amount of time wasting, self-sacrifice and scrounging to do the best for their children.
And Ben Carson, who benefited from many, many social programs due to his race and poverty now opposes extending those same opportunities to others, just as he justifies his own research with fetal tissue while condemning others.
This level of hypocrisy is hardly a fitting exemplar for teaching children how to rise above their circumstances. Rather it shows that selling ones soul to an ideology in order to win an election is a sad, sad end to a once-honorable life in public service.
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How disappointing to hear that – another politician disappointing me. None the less he is an example how reading can change one’s life. You don’t have to be rich to become educated. Libraries designed by Janice Davis are an added incentive to want to read. Her designs spark the imagination, tickle one’s funny bone and make reading a delightful experience. An example:
http://www.janicedavisdesign.com/Childrens_Libraries/Pages/White_Plains_Childrens_Library.html
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Mary – what lucky kids
If I had the money, I’d like to tour the world from library to library, discovering the architectural wonders which contain our written heritage. This library in White Plains would be a good place to start.
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