Archives for category: Testing
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Palm Beach County Goes Test-Berserk, Planning 400 New Tests

By dianeravitch
September 17, 2014 //
8

The testing madness in Florida has finally gone over the edge into full-blown lunacy. End-of-course exams will be given to every student in every grade and in every subject, including kindergartens.

“The new end-of-course tests are needed to meet the demands of Florida’s controversial 2011 teacher merit pay law, which requires student test data to be used in public school teachers’ evaluations.

“The abundance of new tests – about 400 must be introduced in the Palm Beach County school district – has rankled many educators and parents.

“It appears the primary purpose is more about teacher evaluation than what’s in the best interest of students,” Superintendent Wayne Gent said.

“Rita Solnet, of Boca Raton, who founded Parents Across America Florida, said it’s “absurd and heartbreaking” that testing is being expanded to kindergartners who “are babies still, just learning how to maneuver in the world.”

“Administrators say they plan to make the new tests age-appropriate. But elementary students could end up taking multiple tests, such as ones for reading, math, music, art and physical education….

“Under state law, school districts are supposed to administer these tests this year. Palm Beach County school officials say only 41 of the more than 400 required are currently in development. They include elementary arts and physical education, middle and high school foreign languages and social studies.”

The merit-pay law was the first legislation signed by Governor Rick Scott.

Categories Florida, Testing

Amy Prime Moore: Is There Evidence that Too Much Testing Hurts Children?

By dianeravitch
September 16, 2014 //
15

Amy Prime Moore taught second grade in Iowa. Now she teaches fifth grade. She believes too much testing hurts her students. Then a friend asked, How do you know? And she wrote this article for the Des Moines Register.

She writes:

“But then I began to get resentful of the idea that I should even need to offer this proof. Why should I have to do this? Why is it that we can’t take the word of our educators as expert? Why can’t we listen to parents who advocate for their children? Since when do we allow our federal government to dictate what should be local district decisions? We know that the policymakers have their own children in private schools that would never dream of using the harsh testing policies that they force on the children of the public schools.

“Imagine a teacher standing in front of her room full of students shouting at them. “You are stupid! You’re too slow! I don’t care if you haven’t learned this yet, you should just KNOW it by now! I don’t even care what you’re interested in learning. You’ll learn what I say you will learn! Why can’t you figure it out? All of the other kids in your grade are figuring it out! You’ll never be ready for college. You’ll never even move on to the next grade! Who cares if you told me the right answer when you didn’t get to it the way I wanted you to? I don’t care if you’re tired, just sit still and be quiet! I don’t care if you won’t need to know this later in life, just do it! The questions aren’t confusing, you are just dumb! You’re letting your whole school down! No one will help you here so just do it yourself! You are a failure!”

“Would we ask for proof that those emotionally abusive comments would be harmful to a child? It’s doubtful we would, and, hopefully, that teacher would be out of a job. But if we could hear inside the heads of our children, those are exactly the damaging words that those tests are whispering to them every time they are forced to take one.

“So the proof is in the tears of frustration falling from the eyes of kids with heads down on desks. The proof is in the Facebook posts from parents saying that their children hate school when it’s a testing day. The proof is with the kids who ask to get up and go to the restroom just to get away from the relentless questions for even a minute. The proof is with the students who no longer think creatively but simply look for the one “right” answer. The proof is in the need for local and national organizations that support parents who want to find a way to get their children out of assessments.”

She asked her friend: where is the evidence that all this testing doesn’t harm children? She’s waiting.

Categories Childhood, Testing

Breaking News: Florida Suspends Online Standardized Tests for K-2, Temporarily

By dianeravitch
September 15, 2014 //
10

Bedeviled by technical glitches and the growing parent revolution against high-stakes testing, the Florida Department of Education announced it would suspend certain standardized tests for grades K-2, at least for this year.

 

The announcement came after school systems, including Miami-Dade, ran into technical troubles administering the Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading to students in kindergarten through second grade.

 

This is only a temporary victory, and it is probably meant to quell parent anger as the state is in the midst of a hotly contested race for governor. Please note in the linked story that the refusal of a kindergarten teacher to administer the FAIR test to her students, announced in a widely publicized public statement, may have influenced the state’s decision to roll back the testing this year. Resistance to unjust mandates matters.

 

But it shows which way the winds are blowing, and how the pushback against testing is felt even in Florida, which has never met a test it was unwilling to administer to children of any age.

 

Any setback for standardized testing is test-crazy Florida is cause for celebration.

 

Miami-Dade schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho pointed out that Florida school districts are under pressure to develop scores of new assessments, some of which will be tied teacher pay.

The state, he said, was only “scratching the surface of a much bigger issue.”

Colleen Wood, founder of the public education advocacy group 50th No More, said she and other parents would continue to make noise.

“It’s a good day when the Department of Education recognizes that any test is not working correctly,” Wood said. “But they would be mistaken to think stopping FAIR is going to quiet the discontent of parents across the state.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/09/15/4350595/state-suspends-some-standardized.html#storylink=cpy

 

 

Categories Childhood, Florida, Testing

Paul Karrer: Who Will Stop the Mandates and the Madness?

By dianeravitch
September 13, 2014 //
14

Paul Karrer, who teaches in Castroville, California, writes a scorching review of what is laughingly called “reform.”

He begins:

“Arne Duncan and his patron President Barack Obama have gotten themselves in a bit of an educational bind. Big news came out of the White House on Aug. 21 but a lot of America missed it. It seems a collision course of: 1. sunsetting of the year 2014 and the imbecilic impossible fatwa of No Child Left Behind (the obscenity of schools held accountable for testing without a morsel of input for poverty); and 2. a large push by teacher unions to dethrone he of the basketball — Sir Arne Duncan.”

So Duncan made his statement about testing “sucking the oxygen” out of teaching, a typical Duncanism in which he denounces the policies he promote and still enforces.

Says Karrer of Duncan’s fancy step:

“Is it a complete flip flop? No, it is a little greasy middle-of-the-road weaseling meant to gain favor from Obama’s once-upon-a-time education supporters and to patch the rebellious hemorrhaging of his pet bamboozle Race To The Top and its ugly stepsister Common Core. Ever since Obama initiated his slash and burn policy regarding public education with pro-privatization, the green light to pro-charter corporations, his relationship with publishing-testing companies, and his knee in the groin and knife in the backs of teachers with rigorous evaluations based on kids’ test scores, he’s been trusted about as much as a pedophile at a playground by those who once-upon-a-halo included him in their sacred prayers.”

Karrer says time is running out for the Age of Test and Punish. More and more people are speaking up and the public is catching on to the failure of test, test, test. The momentum is growing. Time is running out.

Categories Duncan, Arne, Federal Waiver, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Poverty, Teacher Evaluations, Testing

FairTest: Anti-Testing Movement Building

By dianeravitch
September 12, 2014 //
3

Here is the weekly update on the testing front. With so much popular sentiment opposing the testing mania, it is only a matter of time until some rising politicians figure out that this is a movement in search of leadership in the political arena:

 

The school year is barely underway, but testing resistance and reform actions are already escalating across the nation. In an attempt to slow the momentum and maintain the test-and-punish status quo, state and federal politicians continue to push back deadlines for implementing new exams and suspend punitive consequences. But parents, educators, students, community leaders and local officials will not relent until there is genuine assessment reform, ending standardized exam misuse and overuse.

 

If you have not done so already, be sure to read FairTest’s new report “Testing Reform Victories: The First Wave.” It is linked in the first story

 

Assessment Reform Movement Grows and Wins Successes Nationally
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/09/08/anti-testing-movement-growing-finding-success-around-country/

 

There’s Something Happening Here
http://takingnote.learningmatters.tv/?p=7172

 

Connecticut Suspends School Rating System
http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Connecticut-school-ranking-system-on-temporary-5732271.php?

 

Connecticut Governor, Seeking Reelection, Proposed Slight Reduction in Testing Time
http://wnpr.org/post/should-connecticut-students-spend-less-time-taking-tests

Florida County Rescinds “Opt Out” Vote But Moves Forward Against Test Misuse and Overuse
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/26424882/lee-countys-opt-out-vote-rescinded-3-2#.VAYx6RYXNrs

 

Lee County Schools Crammed With Exams — Tests Administered on Every Day of the Academic Year
http://www.news-press.com/story/news/education/2014/09/07/opt-fallout-lee-schools-crammed-exams/15218495/

 

Testing Revolt Brews in Florida as Miami Superintendent Calls for “Pause” in School Accountability Testing
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/09/06/testing-revolt-brews-in-florida-as-miami-schools-chief-urges-delay-in-new-exams/

 

Kindergarten Testing in Florida: More Politically-Driven Madness
http://tbo.com/list/news-opinion-commentary/kathleen-oropeza-more-testing-madness-in-florida-schools-20140831/

 

Georgia Suspends Test-Based Grades For At Least One Year
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/104154/

 

Georgia’s System to Grade Teachers is Paralyzing
http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2014-09-05/state-system-grade-teachers-paralyzing-lanoue-says

 

New Tests Leave Indiana Teachers Scrambling
http://www.jconline.com/story/news/education/2014/09/02/new-standards-send-teachers-scrambling/14988497/

 

Group Tackles Indiana Education Issues
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140906/LOCAL/309069957/1002/LOCAL

 

Excessive Testing Hurts Iowa Students
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/abetteriowa/2014/09/05/excessive-testing-hurts-iowa-children/15124973/

 

“Less Testing, More Learning” Campaign Launched in Massachusetts
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Less-Testing-More-Learning-MA/815433301809064

 

Which Tests Should Minnesota Cut Back

Student tests: Should Minnesota drop some (and if so, which?) — or maybe use two in tandem?

 

New Hampshire District Tries to Opt Out of New Test
http://nhpr.org/post/state-manchester-smarter-balanced-test-not-optional

 

New Jersey Teachers Union Call to Scale Back Testing
http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/09/a_union_call_to_scale_back_school_testing_guest_opinion.html

 

Validity of New Mexico Teacher Evaluation System is Challenged
http://krwg.org/post/validity-teacher-evaluation-system-questioned

 

New York School Supers Blast State’s Test-Based Teacher Grades
http://www.theislandnow.com/great_neck/school-supers-blast-state-s-teacher-grades/article_6029dde4-3444-11e4-bb0c-001a4bcf887a.html

 

Ohio Teacher: I Can No Longer Throw My Students to the Testing Wolves
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/09/05/teacher-no-longer-can-i-throw-my-students-to-the-testing-wolves/

 

Oklahoma Standardized Exams Have Failed the Test of Time
http://hennesseyclipper.com/standardized-testing-has-failed-the-test-p7535-91.htm

 

Oklahoma City Schools Chief Wants Third Grade Promotion Test Law Repealed
http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/OKC-schools-head-says-repeal-3rd-grade-reading-law-5738229.php

 

Pennsylvania Principals Question Role of Test Scores in Evaluation Process
http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourallekiskivalley/yourallekiskivalleymore/6688313-74/evaluation-test-principals#ixzz3CNwRZvXT

 

Rhode Island Begins Review of Student Over-Testing
http://www.providencejournal.com/news/education/20140902-gist-and-educators-look-into-the-issue-of-over-testing-students.ece

 

Exit Exam No Longer a Hurdle to Getting a South Carolina High School Diploma
http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=1092507#.VAj6qBYXNrs

 

University of Texas Professor Debunks Standardized Testing
http://www.texasobserver.org/walter-stroup-standardized-testing-pearson/

 

Texas Mimics New York in Pushing Back Test Consequences
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/state_edwatch/2014/09/texas_mimics_ny_state_in_pushing.html

 

Utah Schools Prepare for “Failing” Grades From New Tests
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865610338/Are-you-ready-for-your-childs-school-to-get-a-failing-grade.html

 

Back to School Advice: Opt Out of High-Stakes Exams
http://www.livingindialogue.com/back-school-advice-opt-high-stakes-standardized-testing/

 

Education is Not a Business
http://www.yourwestvalley.com/opinion/article_80f595a0-3457-11e4-b1af-001a4bcf887a.html

 

(Mis)Using Tests for the Wrong Purposes
http://pdk.sagepub.com/content/96/1/46.full

 

Holding Kids Back Does Not Help Them Academically
http://theconversation.com/keeping-children-back-a-year-doesnt-help-them-read-better-30584

 

Dickens and Standardized Testing
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-breslin/dickens-and-standardized-testing_b_5760932.html

 

States That Lose NLCB Waivers Are Boon for Test Coaching Companies
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/marketplacek12/2014/08/waiver_setbacks_spell_more_business_potential_for_tutoring_companies.html

 

 

Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director
FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing
office- (239) 395-6773 fax- (239) 395-6779
mobile- (239) 696-0468
web- http://www.fairtest.org

Categories Testing

Good News! A Big Win Against Testing Frenzy in Pittsburgh!

By dianeravitch
September 11, 2014 //
12

The school board in Pittsburgh voted this week to reduce testing in K-5 by 50%. This is a huge win for children.

What this means is an additional 33 hours for learning, for recess, for all manner of things other than standardized testing.

Jessie Ramey, who blogs as Yinzercation, said:

“We scored a big victory in Pittsburgh last night! The school district and school board agreed to substantially reduce testing for students in grades K-5. The biggest winners are children in grades 3-5, where testing will be cut from 85.5 periods a year to 41.5 periods. At 45 minutes per period, that is 1,980 minutes of instructional time – or 33 hours of real learning time – that our children just got back in their lives.

“Thirty-three hours! And that’s just in test-taking. When tests are eliminated, students also gain back time that had been dedicated to test-prep, so there is a multiplier effect here, too.”

Categories Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Testing

Florida Kindergarten Teacher: I Will Not Give the Test

By dianeravitch
September 10, 2014 //
32

Opt Out Orlando posted the following letter by Susan Bowles, a kindergarten teacher. For her courage and dedication to her students, Susan Bowles joins the honor roll.

Her husband wrote this introduction:

“I tried to share this post by my wife, Susan, last night. I just found out her privacy settings don’t let others see it. I am very proud of her stance and completely support her, even if it means she loses her job. That would mean someone whose passion has always been about teaching little kids would be out of the profession. She began teaching in 1977.”

Susan Bowles wrote:

Dear Facebook Friends,

I have just sent emails to my principal and CRT, the superintendent, my colleagues at school, the school board members, ACEA (local teachers’ union) and the Gainesville Sun. I have a letter ready to go to the parents of the children in my class, pending principal approval which is standard protocol.

WHY I AM REFUSING TO GIVE THE FAIR TEST TO MY KINDERGARTNERS!

We have given the FAIR assessment in the past but this year it was revamped. It does provide useful information, but nothing significantly superior to what a typical Kindergarten teacher would observe in her students. This year, it is more time consuming and more difficult. Kindergartners are required to take it on the computer using a mouse. FYI: Kindergartners aren’t born with mouse skills. Many of them are proficient on tablets or smartphones, but the mouse can be tricky. (While testing a child last week, she double-clicked which skipped a screen. This child double-clicked three times and triple clicked once. There is no way to go back. There is no way for the school administrator to go back and make a correction.) While we were told it takes about 35 minutes to administer, we are finding that in actuality, it is taking between 35-60 minutes per child.

This assessment is given one-on-one. It is recommended that both teacher and child wear headphones during this test. Someone has forgotten there are other five year olds in our care. There is no provision from the state for money for additional staff to help with the other children in the classroom while this testing is going on. A certified teacher has to give the test. If you estimate that it takes approximately 45 minutes per child to give this test and we have 18 students, the time it takes to give this test is 13 ½ instructional hours. If you look at the schedule, a rough estimate would be that it requires about one full week of instructional time to test all of the children.

Our Kindergarten teachers have been brainstorming ways to test and still instruct. The best option we have come up with is for teachers to pair up, with one teacher instructing two classes while the other teacher tests one-on-one. So now we are looking at approximately TWO WEEKS of true INSTRUCTIONAL TIME LOST. We will not be putting them in front of a movie or having extended playtime, but the reality is that with 35 students, instruction is not the same. FAIR TESTING IS DONE THREE TIMES A YEAR!

I KNOW I MAY BE IN BREACH OF MY CONTRACT BY NOT ADMINISTERING THIS TEST. I CANNOT IN GOOD CONSCIENCE SUBMIT TO ADMINISTERING THIS TEST THREE TIMES A YEAR, LOSING SIX WEEKS OF INSTRUCTION. THERE IS A GOOD POSSIBILITY I WILL BE FIRED.

I am heartsick over the possibility of losing my job. I love my job. There is nothing I would rather do than teach. I have cried and cried over this, but in the end, it’s not about me. I feel God wants me to stand up for what is best for children. So, come what may, this is my stance. I WILL NOT ADMINISTER THE FAIR TEST TO MY STUDENTS.

If you are wondering what you can do, first and foremost, pray that the testing situation for children in Florida will change. Secondly, if you are a teacher or administrator, tell your story. This is not an education problem. This is a state government problem.

Whom should you contact? Governor Scott sits at the top in the chain of command. I say, voice your concerns to him. He actually might listen since he’s up for reelection. Just Read Florida is the group that masterminded the new version of FAIR. Let them know what you think about it. This issue isn’t about one teacher. This is a springboard for educators and parents to tell their stories. Please, let your voice be heard.

Thanks to Becky Jones Young, my childhood friend and fellow lifelong teacher, for taking a stand of her own in Ohio. She was an amazing middle school English teacher, who quit teaching (her love, joy and passion) because she could no longer participate in cheating children out of fun, creativity and enriching learning – in the name of education.

Susan Bowles
Kindergarten Teacher
Lawton Chiles Elementary School
Gainesville, Florida

Categories Childhood, Pre-K, K, Florida, Honor Roll, Resistance, Teachers, Testing

And Now a Word from “Sad Teacher”

By dianeravitch
September 9, 2014 //
60

A reader with the name “Sad Teacher” wrote the following comment:

“My problem is that I cannot follow the Marzano rubric and continue to get excellent test scores. I’ve been told for many years what to teach, but now we are being ordered how to teach it. It is almost against the law now for a teacher to go to the dry erase board and explain the strategies to solve a proportion. That is called direct instruction, and it is a bad word in my district, thanks to the Marzano model of the teacher evaluation system.

“I was actually told by my evaluator that I needed to teach the highest kids in my classroom how to properly solve a proportion – and then they would teach the rest of the class in small groups, of course. It is my job to just walk around the classroom and look up at the ceiling (facilitate their learning they call it) and, of course, TEST LIKE CRAZY! I can’t teach this way! It has all gotten so ridiculous that I can’t stand the stress anymore. I love my students dearly, but all they have is a kind teacher with dark circles under her eyes with a sad smile on her face looking at the calendar on her desk to see the next assessment deadline. They deserve so much more.”

Categories Teachers and Teaching, Testing

What Is the Real Cost of Federally-funded Common Core Tests?

By dianeravitch
September 9, 2014 //
13

This report from the Pew Charitable Trusts says that many states are reconsidering the costs of Common Core testing, and a small number have withdrawn from participation in the two federally-funded tests, PARCC or Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.

“But as controversy over the Common Core has challenged some states’ commitment to the standards, a number of states have decided to withdraw from PARCC or Smarter Balanced or to use alternative tests, raising questions about the cost of the tests and the long-term viability of the multistate testing groups, which received $360 million in federal grants to develop the tests. The federal grants will end this fall, and it is unclear whether the testing groups will continue past that point.

“What gets tested is what gets taught,” said Joan Herman, co-director emeritus of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing at UCLA. “To the extent that the assessments well represent the spirit and meaning of the standards, the spirit and meaning of the standards will get taught. Where the assessments fall short, curriculum, instruction and teaching will likely fall short as well.”

Federal law prohibits any officer or agency of the federal government from attempting to influence or control curriculum or instruction in the nation’s public schools. It is axiomatic that “what gets tested is what gets taught,” so it is surprising that the U.S. Department of Education funded these two testing consortia; private foundations should have done it.

In the article, several “experts” are quoted about the minimal costs of switching to the new tests, but at least one of them points out that the low-ball estimates rarely include the costs of new technology and additional bandwidth.

At a time when many states are cutting education budgets and increasing class sizes, some states will find it challenging to increase their spending on assessment.

Unmentioned in the article is the issue of computer-scored testing. Students in theory will answer questions by explaining why they answered as they did. Computers will evaluate their “deeper thinking” as well as their essays. Les Perelman of MIT has demonstrated that robo-graders are unable to tell the difference between sense and nonsense so long as the sentences are structurally sound. Yet millions of students will be judged by computers that are unable to discern irony, wit, creativity, humor, or even fact.

Whose idea was it to put all testing online? Dumb idea. In my view, which doesn’t count as much as Arne Duncan’s or Bill Gates’, most tests should be written by teachers (they know what they taught) and graded by teachers (so they can discover immediately what students learned and did not learn).

Categories Common Core, Testing

Dawn Neely-Randall: Silent No More

By dianeravitch
September 9, 2014 //
7

Dawn Neely-Randall is a teacher in Ohio. She is in her 25th year in the classroom. For a long while, she watched in silence as the testing mania absorbed more and more instructional time. And then she decided she had to speak out. She had to defend her students. She had to defend her professional ethics. She could not remain silent. And speak she did. Here is an article that she wrote that appeared on Valerie Strauss’s blog.

If every state had 1,000 teachers as brave, bold, and outspoken as Dawn Neely-Randall, we could stop the insanity that is destroying children’s lives and debasing education. For her courage in speaking out, for her refusal to remain docile and silent, I add Dawn Neely-Randall to the honor roll.

Here are a few choice excerpts from her impassioned article.

“Last spring, you wouldn’t find the fifth-graders in my Language Arts class reading as many rich, engaging pieces of literature as they had in the past or huddled over the same number of authentic projects as before. Why? Because I had to stop teaching to give them a Common Core Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) online sample test that would prepare them for the upcoming PARCC pilot pre-test which would then prepare them for the PARCC pilot post test – all while taking the official Ohio Achievement Tests. This amounted to three tests, each 2 ½ hours, in a single week, the scores of which would determine the academic track students would be placed on in middle school the following year.”

“In addition to all of that, I had to stop their test prep lessons (also a load of fun) to take each class three floors down to our computer lab so they could take the Standardized Testing and Reporting (“STAR”) tests so graphs and charts could be made of their Student Growth Percentile (SGP) which would then provide quantitative evidence to suggest how these 10-year-olds would do on the “real” tests and also surmise the teacher’s (my) affect on their learning.

“Tests, tests, and more freakin’ tests.

“And this is how I truly feel in my teacher’s heart: the state is destroying the cherished seven hours I have been given to teach my students reading and writing each week, and these children will never be able to get those foundational moments back. Add to that the hours of testing they have already endured in years past, as well as all the hours of testing they still have facing them in the years to come. I consider this an unconscionable a theft of precious childhood time……”

“And most disconcerting of all, in my entire 24-year career, not one graded standardized test has EVER been returned to the students, their parents, or to me, the teacher. Also, for the past three years here in Ohio, released test questions have no longer been posted online. In addition, teachers have had to sign a “gag order” before administering tests putting their careers on the line ensuring they will not divulge any content or questions they might happen to oversee as they walk around monitoring the test.”

Categories Honor Roll, Ohio, Students, Teachers and Teaching, Testing
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