Archives for category: Standardized Testing
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Are Our Students the Dumbest in the World?

By dianeravitch
March 12, 2016 //
19

Last week, NPR had a story about how “dumb” our students are, compared to those in other countries. The story title said that our high school graduates are on par with high school dropouts elsewhere on international tests.

 

For myself, I always wonder how critics can say in one breath that we live in the greatest nation in the world, and in the next breath say that we have the worst schools and dumbest students in the world. This bizarre logic then leads to the rephormer claim that we must cut the budget for public schools and push for the transfer of funds to religious schools (not known for teaching STEM simubjects) or to brand-new charters run by corporations or amateurs. You might think that only a knucklehead could believe in such truly foolish ideas but our major foundations–Gates, Walton, Broad, Arnold, Helmsley, and others–relentlessly push this line of baloney.

 

One reader referred to the story and blamed “bad” teachers. Another reader who is both teacher and parent, responded here:

 

 

“Let me give you a different perspective, assuming you are willing to listen.
“All schools are not “failing.” I worked years in industry (high tech) and can assure you, on a aggregate level, America’s graduates far exceed the capability of most other countries. I can’t count the number of H1bs I hired that, while good employees, lacked the adaptability and critical thinking required to solve problems. In those countries that ARE on par with us, they support their schools, respect and value teachers, and believe in both a strong college OR vocational pathway. Are some schools “failing”? Sure, but the reasons rarely have to do with teacher competence.
“Now I teach math. So you are free to blame us evil math teachers for your child’s struggle. I’ve heard it all before. Here’s the reality. I teach students who are “high risk” in math. Often, I battle a accumulation of years of external issues – poverty, health problems, learning challenges, disinterested parents, violence, drugs, mental health – the list goes on. I have never abandoned a student, but many parents have. Politicians blame teachers, but then cut social programs, employment opportunities, and health programs. Business complains, but then wiggles out of financially supporting schools, ships good jobs overseas, and pushes job training onto schools. Keep in mind, too, that k-12 works to retain and teach ALL students. Post secondary operates by screening out and eliminating students. Very different missions.
“The students do lack various math skills. I see seniors unable to add fractions trying to solve trig problems. One common thread in math illiteracy is these students are reluctant learners and avoid math. Math is not sesame street. It takes careful study and practice. I can make it “entertaining” and I’ll try my best with a 150+ student roster to “differentiate” and individually reach out to each student, but America does not want great teachers, only inexpensive ones.

 

 

“I am also a parent of a struggling student. Unlike you, I took responsibility from kindergarten for his learning. I followed his progress and alphabet soup of diagnoses. I didn’t just sit back and blame teachers, I actively worked with teachers. I learned about new subjects to help him through school. I reached out and showed interest. I even lost a job focusing on my kids’ well being. Were all teachers perfect? No, they are human. But I made it work. My kid is going to college. He still struggles, but the journey doesn’t end with some kids when they become adults. Think before unfairly indicting a profession.

Categories Corporate Reform, Education Industry, Education Reform, International, Standardized Testing, Students

Opt Out Truck Coming To A Neighborhood Near You

By dianeravitch
March 12, 2016 //
11

This roving opt-out billboard can be seen driving around New York.  If you see it, give a honk of support. The truck and billboard are sponsored by New York State Allies for Public Education, a coalition of 50 parent and educator groups. NYSAPE led the historic opt out movement last spring, which persuaded the families of some 220,000 or more students to opt out of the state tests. State officials were stunned. Governor Cuomo created a task force to help him get out of the mess, which caused his poll numbers to plummet. The state Board of Regents split over the issues of high-stakes testing, and the chancellor of the Regents announced her resignation. A supporter of the parents who opted out is likely to be chosen as the new chancellor in a few days.

 

Parents will opt out again in 2016 because despite the stunned reaction of public officials, very little has changed. The testing goes on. The absence of useful information continues. The tests are still too long. And NYSAPE’s truck is rolling again.

Categories Education Reform, New York, Opt Out, Parent Groups, Standardized Testing

Merryl Tisch: I Did It for the Kids

By dianeravitch
March 11, 2016 //
64

Merryl Tisch is stepping down as Chancellor of the New York Board of Regents, ending a 20-year tenure on the board. The New York Times interviewed her about her time in office.

 

Tisch led the state’s effort to win Race to the Top funding. The state received $700 million, promising to increase charters, adopt the Common Core, create a longitudinal database for students, and evaluate teachers by test scores.

 

She promoted high-stakes testing, test-based teacher evaluation, charter schools, and everything expected by Race to the Top. And she didn’t just comply, she truly believes that testing, Common Core, and accountability will increase equity and reduce achievement gaps. She did it for the kids.

 

“She tried to do too much, too fast.

 
“That is Merryl H. Tisch’s appraisal of her tenure as chancellor of the Board of Regents, the top education post in New York State, as she prepares to step down at the end of the month.

 
“Her critics say the same thing.

 
“A champion of the Common Core learning standards, Dr. Tisch, 60, pushed for the creation of new, harder tests based on those standards and for teacher evaluations tied to students’ performance on the exams.

 

“That set off a backlash in which a fifth of the eligible students sat out the state’s third- through eighth-grade reading and math tests last spring. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, once her ally on using test scores in teacher evaluations, did an about-face….

 

““If anything, I fault myself for being ambitious for every child,” she said.”

 

 

Categories Charter Schools, Common Core, Education Reform, New York, Race to the Top, Standardized Testing, Teacher Evaluations

Rick Hess: New Teacher Evaluation Systems Have Made Little Difference

By dianeravitch
March 10, 2016 //
26

Rick Hess writes about a new study of teacher evaluation systems in 19 states by Matthew Kraft and Allison Gilmour. It shows that the new systems have made little difference. Instead of 99% of trachers rated effective, 97% are rated effective.

 

This was Arne Duncan’s Big Idea. It was an essential element of Race to the Top. The assumption behind it was that if kids got low test scores, their teachers must be ineffective.

 

It failed, despite the hundreds of millions–perhaps billions– devoted to creating these new systems to grade teachers. Think of how that money might have been used to help children and schools directly!

 

Hess writes:

 

“Emboldened by a remarkable confidence in noble intentions and technocratic expertise, advocates have tended to act as if these policies would be self-fulfilling. They can protest this characterization all they want, but one reason we’ve heard so much about pre-K in the past few years is that, as far as many reformers were concerned, the big and interesting fights on teacher evaluation had already been won. They had moved on.

 

“There’s a telling irony here. Back in the 1990s, there was a sense that reforms failed when advocates got bogged down in efforts to change “professional practice” while ignoring the role of policy. Reformers learned the lesson, but they may have learned it too well. While past reformers tried to change educational culture without changing policy, today’s frequently seem intent on changing policy without changing culture. The resulting policies are overmatched by the incentives embedded in professional and political culture, and the fact that most school leaders and district officials are neither inclined nor equipped to translate these policy dictates into practice.

 

“And it’s not like policymakers have helped with any of this by reducing the paper burden associated with harsh evaluations or giving principals tools for dealing with now-embittered teachers. If anything, these evaluation systems have ramped up the paperwork and procedural burdens on school leaders—ultimately encouraging them to go through the motions and undercut the whole point of these systems.”

 

 

 

 

Categories Duncan, Arne, Race to the Top, Standardized Testing, Teacher Evaluations, VAM (value-added modeling)

Why the Historic New York Opt Out Will Continue

By dianeravitch
March 10, 2016 //
24

Jessica McNair, a board member of New York State Allies for Public Education–a coalition of fifty parent and educator groups–explained why the opt out movement will not back down this spring. In 2015, about 20% of all eligible students refused the state Common Core tests. That was about 240,000 students. That shook up the state leadership, who have been busily devising ways to appear to placate the angry parents of New York.

 

Bottom line: Despite promises and threats, nothing has changed for the children. “Shortening” the tests translates into dropping one question. Making the tests untimed for students with disabilities mean these children will be tested even longer than before.

 

Testing will continue to be the central driving force in the schools.

 

Opt out will not disappear. It will become the norm, if NYSAPE is successful.

Categories Common Core, Education Reform, New York, Opt Out, Parent Groups, Standardized Testing

Tech Entrepreneurs Gather in Austin

By dianeravitch
March 9, 2016 //
2

Caitlin Emma reports in Politico from the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, where thousands of ed tech entrepreneurs meet and greet:

 

 

DISPATCH FROM SXSWedu: Thousands of students have indicated that they’re interested in getting credit since Arizona State University and edX announced [http://politico.pro/1UbIAgi ] a partnership last year to make freshman year available to students entirely online, allowing students to complete the courses and then decide later whether they want to pay for academic credit. edX CEO Anant Agarwal told our own Caitlin Emma at SXSWedu in Austin that while just 323 learners were actually eligible for credit in the Global Freshman Academy’s first year, he expects that to grow. Having online courses deliver real credit has rocketed edX into an era of “MOOCS 2.0,” he said. Thinking ahead, Agarwal said he’s also focused on a recent announcement [http://bit.ly/1U28unX ] to pilot “MicroMaster’s,” which will allow learners to take a semester of courses online and then spend a single semester on campus. The pilot now offers only the courses in “supply chain management,” but Agarwal said he hopes to expand it to dozens of subject areas in the coming years.

 

 

ARIZONA’S APPETITE FOR A MENU OF TESTS: There’s a good chance that Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey will sign a bill that would make the state the first in the nation to offer schools a menu of assessment options. The legislation doesn’t let parents opt children out of tests, but would comes as the opt-out movement warns of another strong showing this spring. The state board would have to approve alternative tests. State lawmakers envision a scenario where schools use the ACT instead of the state standardized test, for example. The Obama administration has supported some states that wanted to move from the state test to the ACT or SAT in high school for accountability. And the Every Student Succeeds Act provides states with the flexibility to pursue this option. But federal officials might take issue with individual schools using different tests for accountability because it could become difficult to measure student learning across the state and hold all schools accountable to a similar standard. More in The Republic: http://bit.ly/1UcaNng.

 

 

As I have said many times on this blog, standardized tests should never be used as a graduation requirement or for accountability. An accountability test should be akin to a test for a driver’s license, not norm-referenced. This is called a criterion-referenced test. Everyone who is able to meet the agreed-upon requirements should be able to do so. A norm-referenced test guarantees that a certain proportion must fail.

Categories Education Reform, Standardized Testing, Technology

Here Comes “Personalized Learning”

By dianeravitch
March 8, 2016 //
39

As we have seen again and again, in the rhetoric  of the Gates Foundation, Mark Zuckerberg, and assorted tech entrepreneurs, “personalized learning” means learning on a machine. In typical corporate reform talk, where up means down and reform means destruction, personalized means impersonalized.

 

And here it comes, as described by Politico Education:

 

“DISPATCH FROM SXSWedu: “Who here has ever complained about No Child Left Behind?” iNACOL President and CEO Susan Patrick asked a room full of people during a panel discussion at SXSWedu in Austin. The vast majority of hands shot up, our own Caitlin Emma reports. “The future is now,” she said. The Every Student Succeeds Act represents an “incredible opportunity,” Lillian Pace of KnowledgeWorks said: States couldn’t fully implement personalized learning systems under No Child Left Behind, but now there’s an opportunity to do something different. That’s particularly true when it comes to testing, she said. And there’s been a lot of discussion at SXSWedu about what New Hampshire is already doing with its Performance Assessment for Competency Education pilot. It took a while to get federal officials on board, New Hampshire Deputy Education Commissioner Paul Leather said. Leather said he first pitched former Education Secretary Arne Duncan on the idea just six months into the Obama administration. But Duncan told Leather to come back when the idea was more fully formed. So Leather did and blew Duncan away with his presentation: New Hampshire’s assessment pilot received federal approval last year.

 

“- Leather said his state has been working on competency education for about two decades. “It’s not a Johnny come lately” idea for the state and it shouldn’t be one for other states, he said. Seven states will have the opportunity to pilot [http://politico.pro/1QCPQAx ] innovative assessment systems under ESSA. But New Hampshire is a pioneer and for most states that are considering applying for the pilot, it’s their only frame of reference for an innovative assessment system, Pace said. States considering these systems should think carefully about what works best for them, Leather said – because what works for New Hampshire won’t necessarily work everywhere.”

Categories Education Reform, Online Learning, Standardized Testing, Technology

Meet David Coleman: Master of the SAT and Architect of Common Core

By dianeravitch
March 8, 2016 //
31

Here is David Coleman, the arbiter of what America’s children should know and be able to do.

 

This is quite a lofty perch. First, he oversees the writing of what are supposed to be national standards.

 

Now, he is in charge of testing whether students are qualified to enter college.

 

What an amazing career trajectory for a guy who never taught and whose primary experience was with McKinsey and later with his own testing business, which he sold to McGraw-Hill for $14 million.

 

 

Categories Coleman, David, Common Core, Education Reform, Higher Education, Standardized Testing

Mom in New Mexico: Are My Boys Failures?

By dianeravitch
March 8, 2016 //
31

A mom in New Mexico doesn’t understand why the schools in her state treat her twin sons as failures and refuse to acknowledge their strengths. Is there room in our schools for children who are gifted with their hands and highly skilled at fixing things but not so good at taking standardized tests?

 

She writes:

 

I recently retired (forced out, actually) after 30 years in education. I still have three kids in school; one thankfully will graduate this year. She has no desire to go to a traditional college, although extremely capable. She fears it will be too much like high school..She has plans to go to a cosmetology school.

 

But it’s my twin 14 year old boys I’ve always worried about. Every year on every standardized test they are on the “cusp.” Not proficient, but just barely. Now as they get older and more aware it frustrates them. They are all boy, can operate every power tool in the house, build elaborate shelves, swings, chairs, and recently have convinced their dad to let them “work on” his 1977 pickup that’s been sitting idle for 20 + years.

 

They are avid hunters, can build a campfire if needed, fix most broken items in the house, and willingly take electronics apart to figure out how they work.

 

They are in no AP classes because they cannot make the grade. They are in lower level classes with most teachers who have the attitude that they won’t learn much (which they really haven’t because of the teachers attitudes toward them.) They can’t join the robotics team because it’s for Gifted only.

 

They are super bright, capable, hands-on kind of boys. One has decided that mechanic or welding school is in his future. He has no confidence that he could even make it to college, The other still has aspirations of going to college, but that too is being squelched with his poor performance on PARCC (which, btw, scores were just released to parents –it’s February!)

 

I am saddened that my own kids have been robbed of developing at their own pace. I too was a late bloomer. My high school teachers never thought I could make it through college. I have an Ed.S. In educational leadership.

 

How does a parent turn this around?? My husband and I have saved all our lives so we could help our kids through college, but guess what, our educational system, has destroyed that dream.

 

Thanks, Superintendent Hanna Skandera and Governor Susana Martinez.

Categories Education Reform, New Mexico, Standardized Testing

Teacher: Why I Hate Pearson

By dianeravitch
March 6, 2016 //
291

The following comment was posted by a frustrated teacher in Florida, who has had to take a Pearson exam again and again. In the past, 86% of applicants passed the exam on the first try, she writes. After Pearson revised the exam in 2014, only 24% passed on the first attempt.

 

 

 

 

“Hello, Diane:

 

 

“I came across your blog after making a search using the following words: Why can’t I pass the Florida Educational Leadership Exam 3.0 (FELE 3.0)? I read one entry in your blog that made me realize I may not alone, and inspired me to share my own experience dealing with Pearson. I thank you deeply for your blog and the opportunity to share. I have been trying to find an answer to my question for exactly 12 months. I took the FELE 3.0 four times since last year and have not been able to pass one of its four sections. I am retaking it again this coming week. The exam used to be three subtests, but Pearson or the state split the last subtest into two parts, which are deemed today the most difficult by Florida university professors. I was able to pass that subtest and the second subtest the first time around. My battle a year later is still trying to pass the first subtest of this state exam.

 

 

“I have been a teacher in Florida for 13 years. I am certified in two areas. I wanted to pursue my master’s degree for several years and finally was able to do so in the summer of 2013 by enrolling into a two year educational leadership program at a local state university. Throughout my two years of study, every single one of my professors found me to be a very intelligent candidate. They shared their observations about my research abilities and commitment and constantly told me I was a great student. I aced every single one of my courses with 100%, except for one where my final passing grade was a 96%. For two years, I thought I was doing great, until I sat to take the mandatory and upgraded Florida Educational Leadership Examination 3.0. The university will not grant me my diploma until I pass that exam.

 

 

“The new exam has been around since January 2014. They call it the FELE 3.0 to differentiate it from the previous FELEs. I found out that about 86% of candidates who sat for the older FELEs used to pass the exam the first time. Now, only 24% of candidates taking the new FELE 3.0 passed the first time in 2015!! Yes, Pearson and the State of Florida made the test more rigorous, but give me a break; only 24% are passing this exam the first time?! The rest of us keep taking subtests of the exam several times, with some of us missing the 200 mark within 10 points or much less. In my case, I have failed it by 3 points twice! Several of my classmates from a year ago are still struggling with passing some subtests of the test as well. In the meantime, Pearson is laughing its way to the bank.

 

 

“The infuriating thing about my experience is that:

 

 

“1. Every time I sit for the subtest, I have to pay Pearson the entire exam fee of $225, as if I’m taking the entire 7-hour exam all over again. I am only taking a two-hour subtest. They lower the fee for the third subtest because it is the one most candidates are not passing, but those of us having to retest on other sections have to pay the full fee.

 

 

“2. I have to remain enrolled at the university and paying tuition until I pass the exam (no one can give me a straight answer to the question: Is this a state or university policy? They keep giving me the run around.) In the meantime, I owe Sally Mae $70,000 so far for a master’s degree I have not yet finished because I fail the state exam by a few points. Yes, $70K. No kidding.

 

 

“3. I have to wait a minimum of 3 weeks to find out how I did in the test, which increases the amount of wait time (and keeps me longer in limbo).

 

 

“4. Pearson charges you $75 if you want to know what questions you missed, but don’t offer any guidance as to how to prepare better to pass the next time. On top of that, you have to wait longer, 31 days, to sit for the exam after doing this. (They really milk it.)

 

 

“5. I have had to find my own resources to study from (basically national research and studies I find on the web) since the exam is so new and nothing like the older one. Most of the FELE resources I’ve had access to, including one seminar I had to pay on my own, are outdated).

 

 

“6. When I contacted the state twice to find out where I can study from (because my university had no clue), they gave me a list of reference books. I bought every single one of them, spending a lot of money on books that have vast information. I don’t know what to pinpoint and what is it I am still missing that is making me fail by 3 points! My professors are at a loss too. I found out the second time when calling the state that my calls are re-routed to Pearson, who refused to tell me who they were. I only know it was Pearson because of the area code of the number, which is in Andover, Massachusetts.

 

 

“Most people know that, because of all the major changes the Common Core State Standards brought to education, everything else has changed, including how schools are expected to be managed. Now, administrators are called to be instructional leaders rather than the building managers they once were. This is fine with me; I agree with all of that. I agree that rigor needs to be increased in most classrooms and that students must be challenged. I welcome school reform, but not at the expense of companies getting richer from those who cannot afford to continue taking exams and taking loans until they pass a state requirement that doesn’t really measure the real-time success of an aspiring administrator. I am not OK with an organization such as Pearson getting rich from unsuspecting graduate candidates.

 

 

“I am getting ready to take the exam again for the fifth time this coming week. Will I pass it? Will I not? If the exam is rigged to the point that African Americans and Hispanics cannot pass it, then I am royally screwed. I am Latina and black. Here I am, with my career in limbo because I cannot pass a Pearson exam by three miserable points. I really want to know what the hell is going on. I would like to see more people with my experience come forward and speak out. Something needs to be done about this.”

 

 

Categories Accountability, Pearson, Standardized Testing, Teachers
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »