The Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath (non-educator) revealed that more than 100,000 students were affected by computer glitches on state tests.
“More than 100,000 Texas students were affected by computer glitches on standardized tests this year, tens of thousands more than previously estimated, Education Commissioner Mike Morath told the State Board of Education during a briefing on Wednesday morning.
“In May, Morath threw out 71,000 students’ results for the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness and fined Educational Testing Service, the New Jersey company that administered and graded the test, $100,000 for the computer glitches. Morath also has waived promotion requirements tied to STAAR scores for fifth and eighth graders affected by the glitches.
“At the Wednesday meeting, Morath said 41,702 students were affected by slow connectivity during testing in April, while another 58,743 experienced slowdowns or had trouble logging into computerized tests in May. The total of 100,445 affected students marks a roughly 30,000-student increase from Morath’s previous estimate of the number who encountered computer problems.”
Morath has taken no action to investigate studies that show the tests are invalid.
Coincidentally, in the school in Springfield, Massachusetts in which I serve, we are staging “MCAS Infrastructure Day.” What is this, you ask? Why, we are using our student’s time to test whether Pearson’s tests will work in this school. Another way of putting this is that we have, today, sacrificed instructional time to see whether this school has sufficient bandwidth to administer these tests on laptop computers rather than on paper versions.
The taxpayers of Springfield are paying for Pearson to test its technology in this building. As one of them, and as an educator, I find this simply outrageous.
It took them over 200 years, but the British have finally prevailed.
Pearson Boardroom Banter”
We beat them with a test!
With not a bullet fired!
Completed is the quest
That King George once desired
“The British are Coming”
The British are Coming
They’re PARCCing in schools
The Pearsons are drumming
We’re acting like fools
We beat them in battle
But now we surrender
They treat us like cattle
As corporate provender
Wow! How do you do it, SomeDAM? That is a perfect poem.
Thanks, but it’s actually very easy when you think like the greatest poet the world has ever seen. I refer to Dr. Seuss, of course.
My claim to fame, SDP. I once sat next to Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisl) at a dinner party hosted by his publisher. I wish I could remember anything he said. I can’t. But it was a long time ago.
Ah! Dr. Seuss was a native of this city, and there is a Dr. Seuss museum here.
Dr Seuss is my favorite poet (in case you can’t tell), with Robert Frost coming in a distant second.
NICELY understood.
Why, we are using our student’s time to test whether Pearson’s tests will work in this school. ”
Because it would cost Pearson to test their own systems, so they prefer to use unpaid 2nd graders and teachers the public is paying.
What’s important here is Pearson. The kids and teachers are an afterthought, at best. Just think of yourself as a “Pearson volunteer”
So agree, Chiara. In ILL-Annoy, even though it was decided that the CCRAP would NOT be administered this year, ISBE was threatened by Pear$on (whatever that means), & teachers across the state are being forced to give a hacked-up version (NOT called the CCRAP, but a skunk by any other name still stinks); the teachers don’t even know
this test, & (perhaps this is, actually, a positive) have NOT been giving any test prep, as they were not supposed to have been giving the test this year.
But–It’s ALL about the kid$!
“Another way of putting this is that we have, today, sacrificed instructional time…” I am reminded that once NCLB and following gov’t test/reform policies so ENDLESSLY entered our low-income schools, the curriculum I had been able to cover in one semester or year slowly dropped by a fourth, then by a third and finally to about half. It was a repeated shock to be suddenly forced to understand that yet another instructional day — here, there, at any time — was suddenly going to be gone .
“41,702 students were affected by slow connectivity during testing in April”
Presumably, this refers to the brain activity of those in charge of the testing, right?
That sounds accurate, SomeDam….
Diane, no article from you today on the college admissions scandal????
I expected that to be today’s headline (if not yesterday’s).
Not much meat to the reporting yet, just fuel for us all to rant against the rich and powerful. I am willing to wait for further commentary rather than just an opportunity to express outrage.
From our more detailed local coverage:
https://abc7news.com/list-bay-area-people-charged-in-alleged-college-admissions-scam/5186505/
To be blunt, it’s virtually all rich white people. I bet $$$$ that the Asian-American community is going ballistic in private right now, especially in light of their lawsuit against Harvard. Wish I could read the local Chinese language newspapers…
Oh, who cares, Diane? It’s just public school students and teachers. Their time and effort has zero value.
The kids are just used to input data. It has nothing to do with them. You can insist they spend tens of hours on any old crap that one or another contractor throws together. The minute those test scores are reported no one follows up and offers any kind of practical help or support anyway.
From Inside Higher Ed
“Fresh evidence has arrived that college admissions is far from a meritocracy”
Oh, my. What a complete surprise.
What disturbs a lot of people in Texas is that the governor is impatient and wants to make the tests higher stakes to enable tossing more districts into takeover mode. Districts also threaten students with retention if they decide to opt out of testing. Making these cyber tests so consequential when the computer networks are unable to handle the load or district technology is not up to the challenge is absurdly unfair to all. The state leaders are looking for any and every way to scoop up lots of public money and transfer it into private hands.
Pearson sucks. ONLINE SUCKS.
It’s all so sick, retired teacher, and you are so right.
The tests are also unreliable and invalid.