Legislators in Tennessee are rightfully upset by the failure of online testing and have said that the results of the tests won’t be used against any student, teacher, or school. Democrats, in the minority, called for the resignation of Candace McQueen, the state commissioner of education, who doggedly defends online testing.
“The Tennessee General Assembly struck a deal Thursday that will ensure this year’s TNReady test won’t be held against students, teachers and public school districts.
“The measure agreed upon by both chambers says test results this school year will count only if it benefits students, educators and districts. Districts can’t base employment or compensation decisions based on the data, the legislation says.
“It came about after an extraordinary 11th-hour deal by the House to address ongoing test issues that continued sporadically on Thursday across the state.
“All across the state we have heard from superintendents, testing coordinators about some issues logging in, recording the tests as the kids took them, sometimes not being able to log in,” said House Republican Caucus Chair Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville.
“I think what happened was the House felt like we needed to do something to protect teachers and our students and our institutions from further erosion of the trust as it relates to these tests. I think what you saw today is an effort to do that.”
”Trust” in online testing? That’s a reach.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“further erosion of the trust as it relates to these tests”
That’s the issue for the testing companies, right? That’s what they should be worried about.
Maybe they should have put less effort into policing the teachers administering the tests and more effort into making sure their product performs as advertised.
“The 74
Family’s tale of 2 schools — one a failing district school, one a charter — shows the perils and promise of public education in New Mexico.”
I read The 74 because it’s the mouthpiece of ed reform. The editors don’t seem to realize how ridiculously skewed it is, or maybe they do and they’re just happily earning their pay.
Every single ed reform comparison runs like this. It is ALWAYS “failing district school versus miracle charter”
The same is true at the US Department of Education. DeVos has a whole litany of stories- EVERY story involves a student “trapped” in the public schools she disfavors who “escapes” to a wonderful charter or private school.
It’s propaganda. It’s ok in the privately funded ed reform world- at least the public isn’t paying for it- but it is outrageous we’re paying federal employees to promote it.
It’s capture, the US Department of Education is indistinguishable from the ed reform lobby. They’re no more an honest broker of information than Campbell Brown or the Walton orgs. Often they are LITERALLY the same people. They move seamlessly between the two groups.
“It’s propaganda.”
I’d call it bullshit, but that’s just me!
State after state has encountered these difficulties. Testing companies clearly don’t have the competence that would be needed to run things smoothly. And, as many have noted, standardized tests are NOT the best way to determine success in college or in life. Plus tests grab attention and resources from schools that could be better spent on other things.
“And, as many have noted, standardized tests are NOT the best way to determine success in college or in life.”
Not only “NOT the best way” but a total bogus, completely invalid way!
Why we continue such idiotic, inane, insane and invalid educational malpractice such are standards and testing is beyond my ken.
Overall, though good post. Glad to see ya back commenting, Joe! Hope all is well with you and yours.
Thx and back at you, Duane. Why do you think so much is put into these invalid approaches? Do you think the fact that many (but NOT all) college/universities rely on standardized testing to help guide admissions helps justify the enormous amounts spent? Why do you (and others) think so much is spent on this?
No, Joe, I don’t think it has to do with the university level decisions.
For me, it’s partly a false ideology that one can “measure” anything in the teaching and learning process and the other is “there’s gold in them thar standardized testing hills.”
Those both drive each other, and I’m not sure as to the exact influence of each on each other but my guess would be that the money has a greater influence than the ideology. Wasn’t it Upton Sinclair who said ‘It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.’
FAIRTEST keeps a list of colleges and universities that no longer require admissions tests. There are more than 1,000. Even David Coleman of the College Board admitted that high school grades are a better predictor of college success than the SAT (or ACT).
Thx Diane. I’ve worked with FairTest on this and other issues. Unfortunately many state universities still use ACT or SAT as one way to screen students who apply for admissions. Admission staff I’ve interviewed say this is necessary for them because so many students apply. So they’ve found the statewide tests to be useful.
Some acknowledge that grades are in many cases a better predictor of success at their university. However, they also assert that an “A” or “B” in one high school is not equivalent to an “A” or “B” in another high school.
I’m not defending these universities. But having helped establish a number of innovative public schools, and working in a couple, this is the response I and a number of other k-12 educators received.
The late Ted Sizer did great work on getting a number of mostly private colleges to say they would look at other measures from the Coalition of Essential Schools. But he agreed the large state universities were still, mostly a challenge.
This is typical at the US Department of Education. They present themselves as honest brokers of information for public schools and who do they promote as the authority on what schools should buy?
“At the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, we envision a world where everyone has equitable opportunities to learn, earn, and contribute. In order to help educators get our students there, we must help provide models and tools that enable transformative learning and teaching. However, it’s complicated.”
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Which is promoting ed tech. It’s a closed circle. A team. The ed reform lobbyists provide the content and the federal agency promotes that content to public schools.
This isn’t science. It’s advertising. Federally-funded advertising, to boot.
If you’re a public school buyer of ed tech FIND a reliable source of information, but don’t look to the feds. They’re captured. Better yet, buy NOTHING unless you have some independent analysis that is credible. Do not let the sales team of ed reform push you into a purchase.
Better yet, stick with the public schools and work to improve them by investing in them. They are the most efficient and equitable chance for most students. Parents should insist that their public schools stay off the cyber bandwagon. The research on cyber instruction shows it is not another “magic bullet.” If you want your children to take endless bubble tests and have your student’s privacy invaded, then tech is an option. If you want your child to think, read and write, send your child to an authentic public school.
“. . . have said that the results of the tests won’t be used against any student, teacher, or school. . . ”
If the legislators understood all the inherent onto-epistemological errors and falsehoods and psychometric fudgings that plague the standards and testing regime they would want/demand that the malpractices cease immediately, repeal any state law mandating it and quit funding those malpractices.
I won’t hold my breath on them understanding.
Glad to hear you are not holding your breath on that one. The last leader to admit that a system was basing its policy on bad ideas was Gorbachev. He sort of lost his job.
In fact, an admission that scores and grades are intellectually bankrupt would cause so much consternation within society that the segments of society used to dependence on numbers would rise up to deman quantification by any means. To some, assigning numbers arbitrarily and then averaging them equates to fairness. Witness the judging of Olympic events, with the attempts to describe the beauty of an athletic move with numbers. Ridiculous.
What we could replace all this with is a willingness to accept differences of professional opinion. I might decide that a kid is a good student. A Collegue might disagree. No number is going to solve the impasse. We need to all talk and agree to get along.
My question is this: WHY keep doing the testing if it’s not going to count? The tests are appallingly awful anyway (and invalid), but to keep slogging through testing for no reason is even worse.
If I may slightly correct your last thought, Diane.
“Trust” in STANDARDIZED testing? That’s a reach.”
So the Legislators won’t hold things that were completely out of the control of students and teachers against them?
Wow, the deformers are making progress.
Next thing you know they will be saying that teachers and students are not responsible for poverty.
It’s all about the $$$$.
Oh, & making other people’s children into know-nothing, non-questioning puppets of the plutocracy.
In fact, according to a memo mailed to us today by our superintendent, the bill passed by the legislature did not protect teachers, and the bogus test scores will once again be an ingredient in the vile stew that is our evaluation. The legislature may have thought they were passing a bill that helped shield teachers, but it apparently does not.
Not that I care. Evaluations have never impressed me, and I do not intend to begin that process now. What worries me is the degree to which the conservative forces will use the “data” to show general incompetence, and therefore justify their opposition to everything educational.
How crazy is this, seriously: TVAAS is still used despite the failed TNReady. http://tnedreport.com/2018/04/not-so-harmless/
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What section 5 says is that the LEAs will not base decisions about compesensation or employment on numbers generated by the tests this year. Given that tenure is a decision concerning employment, and that tenure is related to test scores by law, it seems to me that anyone not getting tenure would have basis for a law suit under this revision. But I am not a lawyer.
Hmm interesting
I’m bothered by the statement “won’t be held against them”. This implies that, had the online testing not had technical difficulties and worked as intended, the results of the TNReady test would indeed have been “held against them”. Reveals the true intent behind high stakes testing…
All Chiefs for Change Corporate Education reform (Jeb Bush/Lamar Alexander) ALEC legislation & Policy passed by a Supermajority Republican Legislature & it’s not working .
If we go back to the ESSA hearing. All 3 State Education Commissioners who presented are all members of Chiefs for Change. TN, NM, & Louisiana. This article ties it all
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/chiefs-for-change-education-advocacy-group-is-headed-for-more-change/2015/03/10/2e98a510-c73f-11e4-a199-6cb5e63819d2_story.html
Chiefs For Change has a Policy paper on their website about TN. Appears that Kevin Huffman is still involved. https://www.help.senate.gov/chair/newsroom/press/tennessee-education-commissioner-mcqueen-to-testify-to-congress-tomorrow-about-states-new-education-plan-under-new-law-that-alexander-sponsored
Thanks for the links bmost1!
“Testing, testing, 123…is this thing on??”
“TNReady” ain’t ready
And likely never will be
TNReady’s spaghetti
Spaghetti for all to see
Good news, but it seems, TVAAS (aka Tennesse’s VAM) will be still used “somehow”:
Commissioner McQueen said yesterday that the data from these tests will be used to generate a TVAAS score and it will count for 20% of a teacher’s evaluation.
It seems some enlightened sould IN TN finally are calling for a stop to the whole statewide standardized testing (TNReady).
http://tnedreport.com/2018/04/not-so-harmless/