Texas company to evaluate Florida schools

[Judi Lynn]

Texas company to evaluate Florida schools

By Bob Mahlburg
Tallahassee Bureau
Posted August 16 2003

TALLAHASSEE -- Undeterred by the controversy over school testing, Gov. Jeb Bush has asked a politically connected Texas company to do a computer analysis on the state's FCAT scores and suggest more changes to Florida schools.

"I love it," Bush said, when asked about the computer analysis program known as Just for the Kids. "They're a little bit different twist on our grading system, but it's very similar."

Bush met privately last week with the program's founder and head, Tom Luce, a Dallas attorney with strong Republican ties. Luce began the program when Bush's brother, George W. Bush, was governor.

Supporters say the program allows schools to be compared more fairly than with FCAT scores alone because it weighs differences such as wealth, race and language skills. For example, a low-income school with Spanish-speaking students can be compared with a school with a similar makeup to find out which does better and why. (snip/...)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-ffcat16aug16,1,2763075.story?coll=sfla-news-florida

Note: I thought the right-wing was completely opposed to racial distinctions in education evaluations. This does not compute.

[ianbruce]

1. What is Texas?... 49th or 50th in crappy school grades?

Just askin'...

[Rose Siding]

2. Endorsed by Ron Paige, Sec of Ed

Hmmm, he's the guy who ran the TX school district with an adjusted drop out rate of 55%. I'm sure he knows what he's doing. :eyes:

I'll know the other shoe has dropped if the recommendations involve contracts with Bush bro, Neil's educational software company. Sure is screwy to go to a TX company for tips on improving education- or it would be if it weren't a part of the emerging corporate fascism.

From the white paper, Texas on The Brink:

Education:
o Texas is 45th among the 50 states in high school completion rate.
o Texas is 47th among the 50 states in SAT scores.
o Texas is 30th among the 50 states in average teacher salaries.

[tweekinnow]

3. All right !!!

Corporate Fascism AND Racial Profiling all in one neat little package.And the BFEE gets a cut of the take. Just super!!!

[LWolf]

4. I am so sick of hearing what the bushco thinks about schools.

:puke:

And I'm sick of having products produced and marketed by their buddies shoved down my throat when test scores don't meet their preset to fail mark.

:puke:

Unfortunately, this isn't going to go away until actual parents, not educators, fight back. Boycotted a test lately, anyone?

[LizW]

5. Other schools systems do this

In my kids' system, they call it "disagregation" of test scores. (I'm probably not spelling that right) It's not totally a bad idea. They don't hire an outside company to do it, though. They do it in-house.

What it tells you is that, in general, kids who are learning English as a second language, and poorer kids, without extra help, do not perform as well on standardized tests. Since standardized testing has become the end-all and be-all of modern public education, it's not surprising that the next step in the assessment is to start figuring out which kids are doing well on them and which kids aren't.

The obvious danger is what is done with the information. A good school system will recognize that if so much weight is going to be put on standardized test scores, (a whole other ball of educational wax) then they must start making more resources available to underperforming kids in order to help them perform better. A bad school system will start trying to find ways to get rid of the underperforming kids, or at the very least, exclude them from the testing procedure.

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. Tracking

It's an old concept. The Republicans are just finding ways to become more efficient at it.

[DemoTex]

7. "Tom Luce, a Dallas attorney with strong Republican ties..."

Tom Luce is a Bu$h Pioneer, acording to an article in the Dallas Morning News last May. Tom Luce also ran for governor of Texas (I cannot find when), and he was, at one time, H. Ross Perot Jr's attorney.

[DemoTex]

8. More on Tom Luce ...

Now, I am very surprised the Bu$histas will even talk to Tom Luce. Guess what? Tom Luce was the Petition Chairman for Perot '92, Ross Perot's run for the presidency that temporarily spoiled the BFEE's master plan!

[jody]

9. Suggest reading the following article for related Texas education story

Note that the Paige in the article is Secretary of Education Paige who said “Every child can learn, and we mean it…excuses are not good enough; we need results.”

I guess Paige is a perfect AWOL partner since "lying, cheating, and stealing" are prerequisites for becoming an AWOL gang member. Their gang colors must be "gold and green".

"The 'Zero Dropout' Miracle: Alas! Alack! A Texas Tall Tale"

QUOTE

A miracle? "A fantasy land," said Dr. Kimball. "They want the data to look wonderful and exciting. They don't tell you how to do it; they just say, 'Do it.' " In February, with the help of Dr. Kimball, the local television station KHOU broke the news that Sharpstown High had falsified its dropout data. That led to a state audit of 16 Houston schools, which found that of 5,500 teenagers surveyed who had left school, 3,000 should have been counted as dropouts but were not. Last week, the state appointed a monitor to oversee the district's data collection and downgraded 14 audited schools to the state's lowest rating.

AND

As for those who fail to make their numbers, it is termination time, one of many innovations championed by Dr. Paige as superintendent here from 1994 to 2001. He got rid of tenure for principals and mandated that they sign one-year contracts that allowed dismissal "without cause" and without a hearing.

On the other hand, for principals who make their numbers, it is bonus time. Principals can earn a $5,000 bonus, district administrators up to $20,000. At Sharpstown High alone, Dr. Kimball said, $75,000 in bonus money was issued last year, before the fictitious numbers were exposed.

AND

Terry Abbott, a Houston district spokesman, agreed that both Dr. Paige and the current superintendent, Kaye Stripling, pressured principals to make district goals. "Secretary Paige said, and rightfully so, the public has a right to expect us to get this job done," Mr. Abbott said. The principals were not cowed, he said, declaring, "They thrive on it." Every administrator under Dr. Paige and Dr. Stripling, Mr. Abbott said, has understood "failure is not an option" and "that failure to do our jobs can mean that we could lose those jobs � and that's exactly the way it should be.

UNQUOTE

[yella_dawg]

10. I wish people would stop ragging on the Texas Schools

The education system in Texas has failed. The buildings are merely warehouses for non-adults, and this pretense that Texas has a valid educational system is a disservice to Texas children.

[truthisfreedom]

11. precious

texas examines florida. how... special.

after the blackouts i studied a map of the different grids around the country. here it is... notice anything?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

13. holy crapola they aren't part of the rest of us

they have their own grids? :wtf:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

12. oh jaysus talk about the blind leading the blind!

[myomy]

14. Sounds like another ÒBushÓ relative moving in to make a killing.

(this time $$).

[drscm]

15. I thought incest was illegal, if not immoral. eom

eom

[libtexan]

16. I am a teacher in Texas

and I sincerely believe that we are doing the best that we can (by "we" I refer to the grunts on the ground in the classrooms). I don't want to go into that now, though. Prior to getting hired as a teacher in Texas I worked for the company that produces and scores a
huge portion of this country's standardized tests. What a racket! The "Leave no child behind" legislation, which calls for testing at each grade level and for multiple chances to pass the third grade reading test, provides this company with millions of dollars more for their services from an already cash-strapped educational system. This company hires many unqualified people to do the scoring of written portions of the test. Sure, we all had to be trained and had to pass an in-house test to get hired, but the training was deeply flawed and the test so easy that just about anybody could get hired. Plus, they were given multiple chances to pass this test. I had someone on my team who just did not understand at all how to score these student essays. I tried to fire her but she pulled the race card on me and management, while protecting my butt, shrank from her in fear. No doubt that her work resulted in gravely inaccurate scores for the children. It was a huge mess, and I would bet the farm that there is a huge connect between Bush and this Texas-based assessment company. Leave no child is his gift back to them, plus it is one more way of making grade school a stressful environment which is driving anybody with sense away. 'Cept me, I guess.

[alcuno]

18. Hi libtexan! I am a teacher in Illinois.

I'm from Florida and when I was down there this summer, I was reading about Neil Bush's company developing a program to help students pass the FCAT. It would cost $50 per student. What a racket they have going on down there! I read an article that said that Jeb had over 90% of Florida schools at an "A" level. However, using NCLB criteria, 88% of the schools are failing. Why do people keep falling for this nonsense?

I was extremely disappointed that only 55% of Tampa's teachers voted for Jeb's opponent in the 2002 election. What are the other 45% thinking?

[donco6]

17. The scariest part is here:

For example, a low-income school with Spanish-speaking students can be compared with a school with a similar makeup to find out which does better ***and why.***

Those who analyze data for a living know that it's the "whys" that are problematic. There are so many of them, for one thing.

In California, for example, they had a program that rewarded some schools for making the highest gains on their state test. Inevitably, the schools that gained the highest would be schools with the lowest enrollments. Now, some might use this as proof that smaller schools are the answer. But when you look closer, you find that each year saw a different group of small schools rising to the top, while the school that did well the previous year sank. Turns out, the whole thing was a statistical anomaly. In the convergence of all children in California who took the test, there are those star-crossed schools that happen to have a good class, who happened to all take the test on a day they were feeling "up". Presto! High scores!

What I'm saying is that, the "whys" that are promulgated will be rife with philosophical underpinnings that may or may not have any basis in data analysis at all. It's a big mistake to allow an outside company in to come up with changes schools should make. This should be left up to the school district itself.

[alcuno]

19. Hey donco6, on this we agree.

Jeb's been handing out private school vouchers to some students from failing schools. Now let me think. What will that do to the overall public school test scores? Private school students aren't tested. Hmmm.

[donco6]

20. No kidding.

We're going to see the biggest brain drain ever. And that's not even mentioning the fact that private schools can turn away handicapped kids. Here in CO, their scores are thrown in with everything else.

And on TOP of all that, we have a one day count in October that determines our funding for the year. We already see with charter schools a huge influx of kids BACK into our schools just after the count date. The charter keeps the money; we get the kids back.

AAARRRGGHGHGHGHGH!!