Archives for category: Testing
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End of Jeb Bush Miracle? Florida Grades Collapse

By dianeravitch
July 26, 2013 //
14

Jeb Bush has toured the country boasting of the Florida miracle. Central to the miracle is the letter grades for schools. But the state just reported that the proportion of A-rated schools fell from 48% to 29%.

Is the Jeb miracle over?

The schools didn’t suddenly get worse. The grading system is arbitrary, capricious, and meaningless.

As Fairtest points out, the state has changed the formula at least 30 times.

Here is the Fairtest view:

FairTest
National Center for Fair & Open Testing
for further information:
Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773
cell (239) 699-0468
for immediate release, Friday, July 26, 2013
FLORIDA SCHOOL GRADES ARE “WORSE THAN USELESS;”
ASSESSMENT EXPERT CALLS THEM “EXTREMELY MISLEADING,”
“PHONY LABELS FROM BY A POLITICALLY MANIPULATED BLACK BOX,”
AND “A CLASSIC CASE OF GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT”

Florida school grades released today are “worse than useless measures of educational quality,” according to a local expert on assessment. Bob Schaeffer, Pubic Education Director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest), explained, “Based largely on scores from the low quality FCAT exam, state officials change the grading formula each year to serve their political agendas.”

The result, Schaeffer said is that “Florida’s school grades are extremely misleading. Phony labels from a politically manipulated black box do nothing to improve educational quality. It’s time for Florida to end this cynical, failed experiment in bogus accountability.”

Schaeffer noted that the state admits to having made more than 30 changes to its school rating system since 2011. “This is a classic case of garbage in, garbage out. The standards for letter grades are not even consistent from one year to the next.”

Founded in 1985 by leaders of major education, civil rights and student groups, FairTest is based in Boston, Massachusetts. Schaeffer has lived in southwest Florida for 14 years while continuing to work for the organization.

Categories Bush, Jeb, Florida, Testing

Are You a Quantitative Learning Gains Facilitator?

By dianeravitch
July 25, 2013 //
5

In this post that appeared on Valerie Strauss’ “Answer Sheet” at the Washington Post, David Lee Finkle takes on what passes for education “reform” these days.

Finkle is a cartoonist and middle school teacher in Florida.

Finkle takes on the myth that American schools are failing and points out that they are far more rigorous than ever.

The federal government’s obsession with test scores is not improving education. To the contrary, it is ruining real education and demoralizing teachers.

He concludes:

“We have a choice in this country. Keep listening to the story told by the “reformers” and end up with test-score mills even worse than the ones we have now, or listen to teachers who want a public education system that isn’t an industrial factory spitting out test takers but that offers schools that are places for deep thinking, learning, creativity, play, wonder, engagement, hard work, and intense fun.”

Which will it be?

You decide.

Categories NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Race to the Top, Support for public schools, Teachers and Teaching, Testing

Gary Rubinstein: Who Supports the Status Quo?

By dianeravitch
July 24, 2013 //
8

This is one of Gary Rubinstein’s best posts, wherein he challenges the new co-leader of Teach for America to give more thought to his facile reference to “the status quo.”

The post follows some tweets between Gary and Matt Kramer. Gary explains that those who disagree with TFA are not defending the status quo.

Gary writes:

“I could easily make a list of things that I’d like to change. I could bore you for hours about how I feel the math curriculum in this country and this world has evolved into something that leaves out the thing that makes math great — beauty. I could also very easily pick places where money is wasted on consultants and bad education software, and also places where not enough money is spent to do things right. But I’m called a status quo defender, still, just because I think that certain things should not be changed and that other things should not be changed, just for the sake of changing them, but until something that won’t make things worse is devised.

“So I am opposed to school closings. I can understand the allure of school closings — lighting a fire under the butts of the staff of a school (the ‘adults’ as reformers like to call them) to get their best work out of them. But I’m opposed to them because I feel they cause more harm than good. Is that why I’m a status quo defender? Because of all the things that I think should not be changed (just as ‘reformers have a host of things that should not be changed) this controversial practice is a new change that I do not embrace?

“I am opposed to using ‘value-added’ to judge teacher quality which, in turn, will get used to decide on pay increases and firings. I’m not convinced that a computer algorithm has been devised yet that can calculate what a group of thirty students ‘should’ get with an ‘average’ teacher on a poorly made state test. I’ve seen so many examples of a teacher getting wildly different results in consecutive years and even getting wildly different results in the same year when they teach two different grade levels to have any confidence in this golden calf of school reform.”

And he adds: “I don’t know of anyone in my camp who would say that we should do ‘nothing.’ And, yes, it is better to do nothing sometimes than to do something when that ‘something’ is likely to make matters worse.”

TFA, he points out, is deeply resistant to changing their own status quo.

Categories Class size, Closing schools, Teach for America TFA, Testing

Louisiana Will Test 3- and 4-Year Olds

By dianeravitch
July 24, 2013 //
46

Louisiana will begin testing large numbers of preschool children this fall to determine their academic readiness.

If they are found to be not ready, it is not clear who will be held accountable: their teachers? Their families?

“The goal, they say, is to create a grading system like the current School Performance Score reports for public elementary and secondary schools, which are ranked for student performance on standardized tests and progress made from year to year.

“But whether pre-schools will be rewarded for academic progress, or sanctioned for lack of it, like elementary and secondary schools are, remains to be seen.”

John White says that testing toddlers will promote equity.

Categories Childhood, Pre-K, K, Louisiana, Testing

Pennsylvania Releases Some Findings on Cheating

By dianeravitch
July 23, 2013 //
20

Apparently in response to Daniel Denvir’s article accusing the state of Pennsylvania of dragging its feet on an investigation of cheating on state tests, the state released some information.

Just remember whenever you hear a governor or other politician boasting about test scores that they have no idea (and neither will you) whether the gains were produced by mindless test prep (where students learn how to guess the right answer), by teaching to the test (where teachers abandon their professional ethics), or by cheating (by teachers or principals or students or superintendents or the state education department).

In a high-stakes environment, the pressure to raise scores renders them meaningless. See “Campbell’s Law.”

Categories Campbell's Law, Pennsylvania, Testing, U.S. Department of Education

Kevin Huffman and the Mind of a Reformer

By dianeravitch
July 23, 2013 //
69

Kevin Huffman, Tennessee state education commissioner, has decided that children with disabilities need to take the same standardized state tests as other children.

For many years, children with severe disabilities took an alternative test, but Huffman wants to put an end to that.

He says it is time to stop lying to these children.

“For years, the state has been hiding children with disabilities by giving them them the alternative test instead of the TCAP, Huffman said.

“They didn’t perform well on their first TCAP test, but “it’s important that we’re stopping the lying,” he said.

Please, dear readers, help me understand the mind of someone who thinks he is helping children with severe disabilities by requiring them to take a standardized test that many cannot read.

Is he launching a research project?

He certainly does not display any knowledge of the reasons for IEPs, so perhaps he acts from ignorance.

He must know that many severely disabled children will fail and feel deep anguish. So is he acting maliciously? Or, knowing the distress he will cause so many severely disabled children, is it sadism?

Whatever it is, it is not equity, it is not in the best interest of these children, and it is not reform.

Why not give them the same care provided by Harpeth Hall, a private school in Nashville where one of Huffman’s daughters is a student? Harpeth Hall does not give standardized tests. If Huffman is right, the school is hiding something and “lying” to their students by not testing them.

Categories Special Education, Tennessee, Testing

Georgia Withdraws from PARCC Testing Consortium

By dianeravitch
July 22, 2013 //
30

The U.S. Department of Education is prohibited by law from interfering in curriculum, but Secretary Duncan was itching to get the Common Core standards adopted. First, he said that states would not be eligible for a share of $5 billion in federal stimulus funds unless they adopted common college-and-career-readiness standards. Wink, wink, almost every state agreed to adopt the Common Core.

Then the Secretary awarded $350 million to two consortia for the purpose of developing tests of the Common Core (which of course he had nothing to do with).

Last, he offered waivers from the absurd requirements of NCLB but only for states that went along with Common Core.

Not so fast: some parents are in revolt against the deluged testing, and some states don’t have the technology and can’t pay the heavy costs.

Georgia just dropped out of the PARCC consortium. Below are the stated reasons:

July 22, 2013 – State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge and Gov. Nathan Deal announced today that Georgia is withdrawing from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test development consortium.

Instead, the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) will work with educators across the state to create standardized tests aligned to Georgia’s current academic standards in mathematics and English language arts for elementary, middle and high school students. Additionally, Georgia will seek opportunities to collaborate with other states.

Creating the tests in Georgia will ensure that the state maintains control over its academic standards and student testing, whereas a common assessment would have prevented GaDOE from being able to adjust and rewrite Georgia’s standards when educators indicate revisions are needed to best serve students.

“After talking with district superintendents, administrators, teachers, parents, lawmakers and members of many communities, I believe this is the best decision for Georgia’s students,” Superintendent Barge said. “We must ensure that our assessments provide educators with critical information about student learning and contribute to the work of improving educational opportunities for every student.”

Georgia was one of 22 states to join PARCC several years ago with the aim of developing next generation student assessments in mathematics and English language arts by 2014-15.

“Assessing our students’ academic performance remains a critical need to ensure that young Georgians can compete on equal footing with their peers throughout the country,” Gov. Deal said. “Georgia can create an equally rigorous measurement without the high costs associated with this particular test. Just as we do in all other branches of state government, we can create better value for taxpayers while maintaining the same level of quality.”

Superintendent Barge was one of the state school chiefs serving on the governing board for the consortium, but he frequently voiced concerns about the cost of the PARCC assessments. The PARCC assessments in English language arts and math are estimated to cost significantly more money than Georgia currently spends on its entire testing program.

Superintendent Barge also expressed concerns over the technology requirements for PARCC’s online tests. Many Georgia school districts do not have the needed equipment or bandwidth to handle administering the PARCC assessments.

As GaDOE begins to build new assessments, please note that our Georgia assessments:
· will be aligned to the math and English language arts state standards;
· will be high-quality and rigorous;
· will be developed for students in grades 3 through 8 and high school;
· will be reviewed by Georgia teachers;
· will require less time to administer than the PARCC assessments;
· will be offered in both computer- and paper-based formats; and
· will include a variety of item types, such as performance-based and multiple-choice items.

“We are grateful to Georgia educators who have worked hard to help develop our standards and assessments,” Superintendent Barge said. “We look forward to continuing to work with them to develop a new assessment system for our state.”

——————————————–
Matt Cardoza
Director of Communications
Georgia Department of Education
2062 Twin Towers East
205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE
Atlanta, GA 30334
(404) 651-7358
mcardoza@doe.k12.ga.us
http://www.gadoe.org
Follow us on Twitter: @gadoenews and @drjohnbarge
Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gadoe

“Making Education Work for All Georgians”

Categories Common Core, Georgia, Testing

OECD Wants to Measure And Grade Universities

By dianeravitch
July 22, 2013 //
24

The OECD is so pleased with the “success” of international testing for K-12 that it wants to bring the same testing to higher education. Then, presumably, it would be possible to compare higher education across nations and see who is best, who ranks lowest, and get everyone to compete on the terms that OECD chooses.

This is nothing less than a bold power grab by OECD, which arrogates to itself the authority to determine the rules of the game, the shape of the playing field, and the definition of winners and losers. If nothing else, it reminds us how nonsensical it is to compare institutions that differ in many ways within the same city, the same state, and of course, the nation.

What happens if OECD determines that higher education is better in nation A than nations B, C, D, etc.? Should everyone move to nation A?

If this idea proceeds, we can be sure that universities will start teaching to the OECD tests. OECD will become the arbiter of the question, “what knowledge is of most worth?”

We can safely predict, as I did in a speech to the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities last year that the NCLB framework will ensnare higher education and restrict imagination and creativity. Who will measure the value of courses in art history, Ancient Greek, anthropology, diplomatic history or other studies that have enormous cultural rewards, but limited economic promise? How do we measure the economic value of independent, well-informed thought?

For a good critique of the testing obsession, read Pasi Sahlberg’s “Finnish Lessons” and Yong Zhao’s “World Class Learners.”

OECD’s ambition to measure the world exemplifies what Sahlberg calls the Global Educational Reform Movement, or GERM.

Many years ago, I interviewed an MIT professor who was widely renowned as a physicist but also for his interest in K-12 issues. He said to me, “Let me write a nation’s tests and I care not who writes its songs or poetry.” Think about it. The power to judge a nation by whether it passes tests of your design is the power to control.

Categories Global Education Reform Movement (GERM), Higher Education, International, Testing

Weston: Why Grading Schools Is a Fraud

By dianeravitch
July 20, 2013 //
31

Michael Weston, a teacher in Hillsborough County, Florida, explains here why giving letter grades to schools is a phony and a fraud that does nothing to improve education. It may be former Governor Jeb Bush’s proudest accomplishment and the linchpin of the “Florida miracle,” but it is still utterly worthless.

Weston, who is running for school board (and who was recently fired for being outspoken) writes:

“School grading does not improve schools. More important; school grading does not improve students. School grading does not promote “accountability.” What is accountability anyway? It is pressure. It is punishment. It is retribution. Taking a pound of flesh from Sligh Middle School will not improve the learning experience of its student body. School grading is an expensive, degrading, discriminatory practice that does not advance the cause of education. Our students, schools, and teachers have become footballs in a game of political righteousness.

“Students fail. This is the elephant in the room and it is not going away. We need to attack the root causes. We must change the conversation, no matter how uncomfortable it might be.”

Categories Accountability, Education Industry, Florida, Testing

Joshua Starr Searches for Néw Measures

By dianeravitch
July 20, 2013 //
21

Superintendent Joshua Starr in Montgomery County, Maryland, is searching for ways to measure students other than test scores. The district has commissioned Gallup to develop measures of social and emotional factors.

Sounds good but why not do what Sidwell Friends, Exeter, Andover, Lakeside Academy, and schools in Finland do: Trust professional judgment.

HuffPost reporter Joy Resmovits tweeted this:

“@Joy_Resmovits: Reformy source: “that sound you’re hearing is Joel Klein & @michellerhee’s heads exploding”/ Schools measuring ‘hope’ http://t.co/UMGoUMD71O”

Justin Hamilton, who used to be Duncan’s press secretary, responded in a tweet:

@justinhamilton: @Joy_Resmovits FACT CHECK: Joel Klein is 100% in favor of hope

Hamilton now works for Joel Klein.

Klein works for Rupert Murdoch.

Categories Administrators, superintendents, Education Industry, Klein, Joel, Testing
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