This was my effort to educate the public about the fiasco created by the Common Core testing in New York.
The ending may surprise you. Or may not.
Archives for category: Testing
The New York Times editorial board, which has uncritically endorsed every bad piece of legislation or policy that is based on high-stakes testing, warmly endorses the absurd results of the Common Core tests in New York. It echoes Secretary Duncan in asserting that the tests prove how terrible US public education is.
The Times displays its ignorance of the scoring rubric, in which Commissioner John King decided to align New York’s test scores with those of NAEP.
Any student who is not proficient has failed, according to the inexperienced Mr. King.
King seems not to know that the NAEP definition of proficiency does not demonstrate grade level performance, but a very high level of achievement representing superior performance. In everyday terms, proficient on NAEP is a solid A.
But in John King’s world, anyone who is not proficient has failed.
If New York continues to use this definition of proficiency, in which anything less than an A is failure, the majority of New York students will be failures forever.
This is a recipe for killing public education and destroying children’s lives and crushing teacher morale.
Are you listening, editorial writers at the Times?
Katie Zahedi is principal of Linden Avenue Middle School in Red Hook, New York, which is located in upstate Dutchess County. She is active in the association of New York Principals who bravely oppose the State Education Department’s educator evaluation plan based mostly on test scores. Zahedi has been a principal and assistant principal at her school for twelve years. The views she expresses here are solely her own and not those of the district or her school. Suffice it to say that she is a woman of unusual integrity and courage, who is determined to speak truth to power. She wrote this piece for the blog in response to the release of the Common Core test results in New York, in which scores collapsed across the state.
Katie Zahedi writes:
Days before the release of embargoed New York Common Core test scores, laced within comments/double talk about “higher standards”, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined Commissioner John King in assuring New Yorkers that lower scores on the Math and English Assessments were expected. The NYSED claims to have formulas to account for all sorts of nuanced variables so maybe they will produce one for the testing fiasco called the Bunkum Conversion Table!
What the public may not understand in the midst of today’s controversy is that when a test yields 80% (of a particular cohort) of students passing over a 5 year span, and scores suddenly drop to below a 35% passing rate, that the problem is probably unrelated to student performance. In fact, the last two years of tests produced by the NYSED have been rife with mistakes, missing tables needed for computation, and confusing and misleading questions.
The failure rates on the NYSED site are dissimilar to reported numbers in the 8/6/13 New York Times, leaving principals unsure how the data is being or will be manipulated for public reporting. What is immediately clear is that the NYSED is out on a limb with its political machinations of student test data.
Historically, up to 15% of my students have been scheduled for Academic Intervention Services (AIS) for remedial help. Now, thanks to “higher standards”, those students’ needs are obfuscated by the new facts that nearly 70% of my students have been identified (by a state test) to be in need of remedial math.
I shouldn’t complain since I serve as principal of a high performing middle school. Last year our 8th graders (the same cohort described above) won the New York State Math League Award for 1st place in Dutchess, Ulster, Orange, Putnam and Rockland Counties, which is the reason that up to 70% of my students will require special pull-out classes designed to work on “their weaknesses”. After all, that is much better than many New York schools having 80-90 % failure rates.
Sitting around a table with my fellow administrators, our astonishment was somehow normalized in the run-off of a year saturated in convoluted, nonsensical, time-consuming and expensive directives from the NYSED. After disbelieving stares, I said “people, we have a responsibility to directly address the individuals responsible for this fiasco”. Educators are a hearty bunch so after a brief pause we got back to work on compliance.
While not representing the views of my school district, I submit that we ought to take a look at the core problem. We have a duty to speak truth to power (and his best friend: money) and hold the NYSED “accountable” for the failures that they are producing. The NYSED is need of internal reform. Straight up, my school is not in need of full scale revision and neither are most schools in New York. All schools should run in a constant state of improvement led by experienced principals and struggling schools need investment, support and a team relationship with a partner school that is successful.
Mistakes like the fiasco of the NY State Assessments are to be expected when individuals who are scarcely qualified to apply for an assistant principal role in a district like mine are appointed to lead the state and federal education departments! Unsurprisingly, much time and public money will be wasted by well-meaning people who are appointed to important posts based on political association and/or possession of inordinate amounts of money.
The NYSED is a stately and dignified building that is waiting for benevolent and wise leadership. Doing his best, John King is working hard, holed away with privately hired “fellows” who are young, overpaid and fabulously confident considering their profound lack of experience in teaching and school administration. Regardless of the plausibly good intentions of NYSED leadership, it is objectionable for New York State to allow the normal process of schools to be interrupted and for principals and teachers to be distracted from their important work with students to try out the half-baked ideas of politically appointed newbies. Whether on the state or federal levels, the appointment of individuals with insufficient experience in public education, should be discontinued.
If the name of the game is accountability for higher standards, let’s require that all appointees to state and federal leadership roles possess the education and experience required to serve with wisdom and dignity.
Despite the fact that the new Common Core tests showed that only 26 percent of students in New York City “passed” the new state tests in reading, and only 30 percent in math, Mayor Bloomberg hailed the sharp decline in test scores as “very good news.”
The scores were especially grim for black and Hispanic students, as well as students with disabilities. The achievement gaps on the tests were very large.
“In math, 15 percent of black students and 19 percent of Hispanic students passed the exam, compared with 50 percent of white students and 61 percent of Asian students.
Students with disadvantages struggled as well. On the English exam, 3 percent of nonnative speakers were deemed proficient, and 6 percent of students with disabilities passed.”
Despite the drop in scores, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg appeared on Wednesday at a news conference just as he had in years when results were rosier. He rejected criticisms of the tests, calling the results “very good news” and chiding the news media for focusing on the decline. He said black and Hispanic students, who make up two-thirds of the student population, had made progress that was not reflected in the scores.”
The mayor saw the upside of the scores. The lower the scores, and the higher the bar, he reasoned, the harder students would work to improve their test scores in the future:
“We have to make sure that we give our kids constantly the opportunity to move towards the major leagues,” Mr. Bloomberg said.
The scores are out for New York, and they are devastating.
The story in the New York Times reports:
Across the city, 26 percent of students in third through eighth grade passed the state exams in English, and 30 percent passed in math, according to the New York State Education Department.
The exams were some of the first in the nation to be aligned with a more rigorous set of standards known as Common Core, which emphasize deep analysis and creative problem-solving.
City and state officials spent months trying to steel the public for the grim figures, saying that a decline in scores was inevitable and that it would take several years before students performed at high levels. Under the old exams last year, the city fared better: 47 percent of students passed in English, and 60 percent passed in math.
Statewide, 31 percent of students passed the exams in reading and math. Last year, 55 percent passed in reading, and 65 percent in math.
Some educators were taken aback by the steep decline and said they worried the figures would rattle the confidence of students and teachers.
When you read these figures, please bear in mind that the State Education Department determined what the passing score would be.
This was a judgment call, a political calculation.
Arne Duncan defended the collapse of test scores as a good thing, Now we are telling the truth about the failure of public education, he says.
The kids didn’t fail.
The State Education Department failed.
The New York State Board of Regents failed.
They are in charge of education in New York.
They decide on curriculum, instruction, standards, teacher qualifications, and allocation of resources.
They have failed, not the students.
They should be held accountable.
Paul Horton teaches history at the University of Chicago Lab School, where President Obama, Rahm Emanuel, and Arne Duncan sent (or in the case of the mayor, send) their children. He is a passionate defender of common sense in education and an articulate critic of the current corporate reform movement. As a historian, he understands the nation’s historic commitment to support public education. He also understands that the Obama administration has abandoned any recognition of the historic principle of federalism that limits the U.S. Department of Education’s ability to direct or control curriculum and instruction. This letter was addressed to State Senator Kwame Raoul in Chicago.
State Senator Kwame Raoul
Suite 4000 Chicago, Illinois; 60654
August 6,2013
Dear Senator Raoul,
We know from every measure that the Wilmette-Winnetka, Niles, Hinsdale, and Naperville schools are excellent. They are the highest achieving public schools in the state of Illinois. Their average SAT and ACT scores and the percentage of students enrolled in AP classes, not to mention exemplary performance on AP tests, makes these districts respected by competitive colleges all over the country. Indeed, there is a national competition for graduates of these districts. Why do we need another measure that we cannot afford? Why are we going to pay Pearson Education millions of dollars for products that will force many exemplary schools to lower their standards?
You will see what a massive fraud the Common Core Curriculum is when these schools are forced to lower their standards to teach Common Core and then their achievement will be denigrated by invalid measures designed to make all public schools look bad. When the New York public schools were required to take Pearson Education developed tests this spring, dozens of exemplary schools and districts that have similar profiles to the Illinois public schools mentioned above, received substantially lowered school ratings. The same thing happened in Kentucky last year: scores went down in the best schools, and scores reflected preexisting conditions in underserved schools and communities.
Shame on the public officials of this country for turning their backs on the Northwest Ordinance, a document that precedes the Constitution in American history and law! The Ordinance made an historic commitment to public education. Federal and state governments have turned their backs on public schools because of their dependence on Wall Street funding for political campaigns. How can we allow this to happen?
If Bill Daley is the Democratic nominee for governor and he plans to support the current state school board, I will vote for the Republican candidate if the nominee will do something about Superintendent Koch, Common Core, and the PARCC assessments. Superintendent Koch received paid trips from Pearson Education and the state then hired Pearson to develop its Common Core standardized tests.
I am a life long Democrat whose family has proud connections to the Civil Rights movement in the South. This administration and its operatives like Mayor Emanuel, have all but abandoned the country’s historic commitment to public education. When will an element within the Democratic party of Illinois stand up for common sense in Education?
Senator Raoul, you have stood very bravely in defense of teacher pensions. Can you stand up for the teachers and parents of Illinois, and buck Mayor Emanuel, Secretary Duncan, and the Democrats for Education Reform who seem more interested in attracting Wall Street money to Democratic campaigns in exchange for support of school privatization? Alderman Burns (the President’s local political protégé) will not do so for obvious reasons. I hope that you will consider a run against the plutocrats who currently control the Democratic Party in Illinois. The citizens of Woodlawn where I live are sickened by what is happening to their neighborhood schools. An insurgent candidate for governor could gain the support of disaffected Democrats of many stripes.
All the best,
Paul Horton
History teacher
In this article, Joel Klein acknowledges that scores across New York state, obviously including New York City, will be devastatingly low.
He was in charge of the New York City public schools from 2002, when he was selected by Mayor Bloomberg, until January 2011, when he was succeeded by the ill-fated publisher Cathie Black.
During his tenure, Klein boasted every year of “historic gains.”
The mayor was twice re-elected because of those alleged “historic gains.”
Klein traveled to Australia and persuaded the Minister of Education Julia Gillard that there was a New York City miracle, and she fell for it. Now Australia is copying the New York City model of test, test, test, test.
Now, Klein tells us that the students for whom he was responsible didn’t learn much at all, and that the new test scores will show just how terribly they are doing.
Australians might well ask if they can abandon the Klein plan now that its failure is evident even to Klein.
Having failed to improve achievement in New York City over his long tenure in office, he has found the answer that eluded him: the Common Core standards.
This is the miracle cure we have all been waiting for.
Is there any evidence that the Common Core standards will improve test scores?
No, the evidence is that they cause test scores to plummet, as they did in Kentucky–by 30 points–and as they have in New York.
Will they lead to higher achievement in the future? No one knows.
New York City’s chief academic officer–a testing zealot–here announces that scores will plummet on the new Common Core tests administered last spring for the first time. They will plummet because the state decided to align its standards to NAEP, which are far more demanding than those of any state.
Over the years, many researchers have maintained that the NAEP achievement levels are “fundamentally flawed” and “unreasonably high.” If you google the terms NAEP and “fundamentally flawed,” you will find many articles criticizing the NAEP benchmarks. Here is a good summary.
What you need to know about NAEP achievement levels is that they are not benchmarked to international standards. They are based on the judgment calls of panels made up of people from different walks of life who decide what students in fourth grade and eighth grade should know and be able to do. It is called “the modified Angoff method” and is very controversial among scholars and psychometricians.
Setting the bar so high is one thing when assessing samples at a state and national level, but quite another when it becomes the basis for judging individual students. It is scientism run amok. It is unethical. It sets the bar where only 30-35% can clear it. Why would we do this to the nation’s children?
Nonetheless, these “unreasonably high” standards are now the guidelines for judging the students of Néw York.
Consequently, teachers and parents can expect to be stunned when the scores are released.
The good news is that teachers and schools will not be punished this year. The punishments start next year.
Here is the letter that went to all public schools with grades 3-8 in Néw York City:
From: Suransky Shael
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2013 1:54 PM
Subject: 2013 State Common Core Test Results
Dear Colleagues,
I’m writing to let you know that your school’s performance data on the 2013 State Common Core tests is now available for you to view. It is important to note that this data is embargoed by the State Education Department (SED)—you are not to share this information until Wednesday, after citywide data is released and the embargo is lifted.
As you review this information and prepare to share it with your school community, please keep in mind the context in which students took these new tests.
At its heart, our ongoing transition to the Common Core standards is about equal opportunity. It is about giving all students a fair chance to develop the skills they will need to pursue higher education and a quality job and have options that will lead to successful and happy lives.
As you know best, this shift is not easy, and so we are also making sure it is not punitive. These results will not be used to evaluate teachers this year, and students and schools will not be punished. The new tests are about developing a realistic understanding of where students are on the path to college and career readiness and adjusting support to improve students’ performance. Educators across the City are investing remarkable energy in this work; from this new baseline, we expect performance to increase.
SED has said the results will be similar to the City’s scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which also measures being on track for college and career readiness—for the City, similar scores would mean proficiency rates around 25-30 percent. Scores for individual student populations could be lower. These numbers might be familiar—in addition to our NAEP scores, the City’s College Readiness Index is also in this range—but seeing these results may still be jarring at first for you, your school community, and the public.
To access your school’s embargoed results now, you may view the State’s verification reports in L2RPT. After the public release, your school’s results will also be made available through the DOE public website, ATS, ARIS, and ARIS Parent Link; see below for a general timeline of when test results are expected in each system. If you need support accessing your school’s results, contact your network data support liaison.
Data System
Expected Timeline
L2RPT
August 5
DOE public website
August 7 (school-level results only)
ATS
Mid-August, within 1 week of State release
ARIS; ARIS Parent Link
Late August, within 3 weeks of State release
Item Skills Analysis reports (available in ARIS private communities)
September
Note: reports will be available according to tested year and current year enrollment; a version based on early October enrollment will be available in October.
The coming days and weeks will be challenging as we work together to explain these results to students, teachers, families, and the public. We will be providing materials and additional information in Principals’ Weekly to make sure you understand and feel comfortable discussing these results and the work ahead. And we will reiterate, time and time again, that students will not be penalized by these new tests and that they can—with hard work and support from their teachers, principal, and family—reach this new, higher expectation.
Ultimately, no one will be pleased by a measure that is expected to show fewer than 30 percent of students are on track for success after high school. But I deeply believe that this change—and the more accurate understanding that will result—is part of a transition that will benefit thousands of students for years to come, and I thank you for your leadership in supporting your school community through this time.
Best,
Shael
To: Principals of schools with grades 3-8
Cc: All cluster leaders; all network leaders; all superintendents
A reader sees how “reforms” make public schools undesirable. Is this their purpose?
He writes:
“When you go to a kindergarten meeting (in the wealthy suburbs), and the teachers are telling all the parents, “common core this and common core that/test and test”, I can’t really blame parents for opting out of the entire public school system. That is the danger I see. The wealthier suburban parents will get fed up with all this testing crap, and just take their kids to private schools who still teach students in a more traditional way and don’t try to label their kids as failing. In this way, the common core may succeed. Let’s be honest here. If you had school age kids would you want them going to public school the way it is becoming? Part of me wants a voucher, so I can send my kids to a private school (and I am a public school teacher). I don’t want my kids taking all of these bubble tests, and I will not let my kids become teachers in this crazy country.”
For months, school officials in many states have warned parents to expect proficiency rates on Common Core-aligned tests to plummet.
They have warned that the proportion of students rated proficient was likely to drop by as much as 30%.
When this happens, it will make public education in America look just as bad as the corporate reformers have been claiming.
When New York administered the first Common Core tests last spring, a copy of one fifth grade test was leaked to a Daily News reporter. She sent it to me and I studied it and concluded that the test questions were similar in difficulty to what was typically seen on an eighth grade NAEP test. I went to the NAEP website, looked at the released items and questions, and ranked the fifth grade test as “difficult” for an eighth grader.
Here is a report that I just received from the testing coordinator of a high-performing school in one of the best districts in New York:
“Just to let you know that because I am my school’s test coordinator I just looked at the scores for the ELA. We are a “high achieving” school. Last year only 5 students in grades 3, 4 and 5 got a level 1. Now it is 32. Approximately 40% of our students scored levels 3 and 4 this year down from about 80% last year. What does this mean? Nothing because a test that measures skills that could not possibly be taught and is developmentally too hard is INVALID.”
So why the rush to make the tests so hard that more students will fail?
Rick Hess wrote last fall that many of the “reformers” believe that the terrible results (eagerly anticipated by them) will cause suburban parents to demand “reforms” and an escape from their neighborhood schools.
I can’t help but recall that David Coleman, the architect of the Common Core standards, was the treasurer of the board of Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst in its first year. If the Common Core tests produce a collapse of proficiency rates, then it makes Rhee and her attacks on public schools look good. Will everyone run for the exits and demand charters and vouchers?
Sick thought, but inescapable.
