Archive for the ‘Testing’ Category

The state Department of Education released its list of Alert Schools today.

The new DOE accountability designations — priority schools, focus schools and reward schools — replace the “needs improvement” label in No Child Left Behind that educators deemed unclear and unhelpful. These three designations target  “Title I” schools that have a high percentage of low-income students. DOE also designated a fourth category, “alert schools,” so the state can focus on struggling schools that do not necessarily have a high percentage of low-income students.

DOE defines Alert Schools are those that need to raise student achievement on statewide assessments in the areas of graduation rate for high schools and subgroup performance and subject performance for elementary and middle schools. Alert Schools can be Title I Schools or Non-Title I Schools.

The criteria used to identify Alert Schools are:

(1) Graduation Alert Schools: High Schools whose subgroup …

Continue reading State DOE releases list of Alert Schools today »

A New Jersey parent complained about a question on a state exam that asked third-graders to write about a secret and why it was hard to keep. His complaints have led the state to re-evaluate the use of the question.

This is the second news story in recent weeks about the integrity of a test question on a standardized exam. A few weeks ago, there was an outcry about a question on an 8th New York reading exam that asked about race between a hare and a talking pineapple. I read the passage and the questions and have to admit they were strange.

In this new case, parent Richard Goldberg objected when his twin 9-year-old sons told him that the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge asked them to write about a personal secret.

Is this a legitimate complaint? The point of the question was clearly to prod kids to write, not pry into family secrets.

According to the AJC:

“All of the sudden, you have in a sense Big Brother checking out the secrets of families,” he said.

Goldberg …

Continue reading Is asking about secrets a good way to prod kids to write? »

NAEP — known as the Nation’s Report Card – released its 2011 science assessment for grade 8 this morning. I had a preview of the scores yesterday in a conference call. In January and March, 122,000 8th graders from all 50 states and Washington, DC, took the science NAEP.

(The administration of this test has been changed to align with the TIMSS, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, to facilitate international comparisons.)

On a sale of 0 to 300, the average 2011 scale was 152. In 2009, the average was 150. The students were tested in the areas of physical, earth/space and life sciences. The average score for students in Georgia in 2011 (151) was higher than their average score in 2009 (147).

NAEP has three levels, basic, proficient or advanced. (The cuts score for basic was 141, for proficient 170 and for advanced 215.)

Only 2 percent of 8th graders scored at the advanced level and seven out of 10 tested below proficient, adding to the chronic concern that …

Continue reading NAEP science: Scores rise across country and in Georgia. But few kids are at top level. »

NBC brought its “Education Nation” project to Atlanta today with a two-hour town hall meeting with teachers at the Georgia Aquarium.

The web-streamed event revisited the usual education topics, teacher effectiveness, career and college readiness, the global workplace, charter schools and the role of technology.

While each of the four panels had a theme, panelists often strayed, so the discussions traveled far and wide. The teachers on the panel and those in the audience were articulate and committed; they certainly put forth Georgia’s best face in education. Many were National Board Certified teachers or county Teachers of the Year.

One of the panelists was a Georgia Teacher of the Year, Jadun McCarthy, a Bibb County high school teacher. (I have quoted the outspoken and eloquent Mr. McCarthy frequently on the blog in the past; he was more constrained under this format than when simply loosed at a microphone.)

McCarthy credited Georgia with applying for and winning a waiver …

Continue reading NBC’s Education Nation: In Atlanta today with teacher town hall »

Last week, a UGA professor sent me this essay from the “Teaching Georgia Writing Collective.”

She defined the group as “a group of educators, parents, and concerned citizens who engage in public writing and public teaching about education in Georgia. Some goals of the collective include: 1) empowering educators to reclaim their workplace and professionalism, 2) empowering families to stand up for their children and shape the institutions their children attend each day, 3) empowering children and youth to have control over their education, and 4) enhancing the education of all Georgians. The numbers are growing, representing at least six counties.”

In its current form, the group has a strong Clarke County presence as this essay indicates, but I thought the sentiment expressed could be appreciated by a wider Georgia audience. So, here is the collective’s first effort for the blog:

The end of the CRCT marks the time of the school year that teachers look forward to most. …

Continue reading Testing frenzy: Giving struggling students blitz rather than bliss in last weeks of school »

Here is a guest column by Jonathan R. Herman, director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Religious Studies at Georgia State University.

By Jonathan R. Herman

The astonishing reach of the CRCT cheating scandal may be opening lots of eyes, but many of us in the academia have already been noticing a fundamental, and unhealthy, change in how many people understand the purpose of education and what is meant by “learning.”

A case in point. Last semester, I taught a seminar on the infamous Scopes “monkey trial,” which addressed the question of whether public school curricula should follow the consensus of the community or the expertise of instructors. I asked my students to think about who should determine what is taught in the classroom and how exactly that determination should be made.

As the conversation developed, one young woman seemed especially impatient, punctuating her irregular eye-rolls with exasperated sighs. “Why don’t teachers just teach what …

Continue reading “Why don’t teachers just teach what is going to be on the test?” »

The AJC has published the second installment in its major series on test score disparities nationwide. Today’s stories look at the improbable score patterns in some of the nation’s most highly decorated schools, National Blue Ribbon Schools.

AJC reporters included a winning school that even merited a visit from Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Highland Elementary in Maryland.

“This school, just four or five years ago, wasn’t a Blue Ribbon school,” Duncan said that morning in September 2009, according to video of thew award event. “It had the same type of children, same type of families, same type of community — but dramatically different results.” Now, he said, “this school has more students at the advanced level than any other school like it in the state. It’s absolutely remarkable.”

And remarkably unlikely, according to the AJC analysis. It is essential to verify the achievement at these heralded school as they are held up as role models.

According to …

Continue reading AJC cheating series: National Blue Ribbon Schools that may be red-faced at these revelations »

Former APS school chief Beverly Hall remains in Atlanta. (AJC Photo)

The Sunday AJC has an update today on the status of former APS superintendent Beverly Hall.

While APS is moving ahead in its efforts to dismiss educators accused of cheating, there are no charges pending against Hall and the Fulton DA will only say that his probe is ongoing.

Although the state’s own investigation into CRCT cheating in Atlanta concluded that Hall “knew or should have known about cheating,” Hall denies any role. She says that while she expected educators to raise student achievement, she never pressured them to cheat or sanctioned cheating.

The decision to bring charges will likely hinge on the resolution of this issue: Whether Hall created a success-at-any-cost culture that led to widespread cheating or whether she actively condoned cheating by ignoring glaring disparities in performance and by shrugging off whistle-blower reports of test tampering.

According to the AJC:

The former …

Continue reading Former APS chief Beverly Hall. Still in Atlanta but keeping a low profile »

I have been getting a lot of notes lately from teachers in APS about assorted concerns.

Here are two such notes, one about some teachers having to reapply for their jobs and the other about the CRCT scheduling this year. I contacted APS and have included the official response to why some teachers must reapply.

Here is the first teacher note:

Teachers at some APS schools were told today that they have to reapply for their jobs. They have to attend a job fair this Saturday, resubmit applications and resumes and respond to a writing prompt. Only teachers from schools that are being closed or from schools that are are being reclassified as primary or secondary have to do this. Grove Park and Woodson are included in this restructuring.

Teachers at these schools already face daunting challenges. They are the professionals who work with the neediest children. Please investigate why only teachers from schools affected by restructuring have to go through this ordeal. Also, …

Continue reading APS news: Some teachers told they must reapply for their jobs. And does the CRCT scheduling make sense for kids? »

The release of teacher ratings in New York has led to discussion in the legislature there to limit general public access to the information while still allowing parents to see how their child’s teacher performed.

The debate in New York ought to closely watched here in Georgia where teaching ratings are just around the corner as part of the state’s Race to the Top reforms.

It is still unclear whether those ratings will be released in Georgia. Education policy leaders involved in Race to the Top have said in the past that they will not seek publication of teacher ratings, but the Legislature or governor may disagree.

According to The New York Times: (This is only an excerpt. Try to read full piece.)

With the Legislature preparing to go into session next week, the question of how much privacy teachers are granted could soon be resolved. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said Monday that he believed in preserving the public access guaranteed by current law. The city released its …

Continue reading New York lawmakers may reconsider public’s right to see how teachers are rated »