Report Cards

[LWolf]

Have any of you, (and this educator hopes that's ALL of you,) been appalled at the results of the high-stakes testing/accountability agenda on public education, delivered nationally via NCLB? Here is a parent, and a teacher, reflecting from a very personal position on what we've allowed into the cultural norm for our children. And make no mistake; we've allowed it. How many Democrats in Congress voted against it? How many can you still find who just want to "tweak," rather than abolish, high-stakes testing/accountability mandates? Are there any advocating a whole different attitude about learning, or just offering cosmetic changes on the same punitive system?

From Robin Kirkpatrick, at New Democracy:

January 31, 2005

<snip>

Report cards went home to Boston’s kindergarteners a few weeks ago. Many parents were sure to have been pleased with the results: a very official looking affirmation that their five year old was on track for meeting or exceeding somebody’s expectations. Still others were likely to have had a different reaction, for what could be more worrisome than the news that barely three years out of diapers one of the most precious people in their life had been adjudged deficient in some way?

<snip>

Hazel and Avery have been among each other’s very best friends since their baby days. They are both bright, kind, vivacious little girls. Happily, dozens of birthday parties, swimming lessons, and playdates later, we’ve also grown close to Hazel’s mom. While I should know better than to attach too much meaning to something like a report card, I’m ashamed to admit that I was so concerned that Hazel might have been awarded more 4s than our own little girl that I hoped the topic of the new assessments simply wouldn’t come up in conversations with her mother. Further, I’ll confess that the news that their report cards were pretty comparable came as an immense relief to me. The worry that their teacher might think Hazel smarter than our own daughter left me too anxious to ask Hilary about her honest opinion as to whether it is appropriate to issue report cards to five year olds in the first place. This, after years of honest conversations about every conceivable topic regarding our kids!

Did we miss the public debate as to whether giving five year olds such an assessment is sound educational policy? Is it not enough that the culture will inevitably demand that our kids measure themselves against their friends in terms of who is smarter, more athletic, more attractive? Parents have been asked for their input around at least a few other issues related to educational policy – why not this one? Who is less likely to question the value of such a policy – the proud parents of the kids that were awarded the 3s and 4s – or instead, those who’ve been informed in the most unambiguous of terms- that their kids don’t measure up? Will the worry and shame of having had your baby be described as not meeting somebody’s expectations compel you to be more involved in the life of her school – or far less so? Does the news that your child is as exceptionally bright as you’ve always known him to be persuade you that you have more in common with the parents of other kids at his school, or less? Does the distribution of the kindergarten report card make it more likely that parents engage one another in conversations about issues of common concern: class size, funding shortages, the dearth of supplies - or less?

It is tough to say whether the report card offered us much in the way of real insight into our daughter’s academic progress. It seems she has a special knack for identifying upper and lower case letters. Who knew? We’ll continue to trust Avery’s very experienced and dedicated teacher, Mrs. Hawkes, to help us support our daughter’s academic life. While we can’t say for sure that we’ve learned anything very substantial about Avery’s academic progress from her report card, it is undeniably certain that the distribution of this particular assessment has had a chilling effect for what might otherwise have been another lively conversation with a friend about the life of our kindergarteners - an effect that could not have been achieved more exquisitely had this been the point all along.

http://www.newdemocracyworld.org/Education/Report-Cards.htm

[Systematic Chaos]

1. I've heard it many times already

All they're doing here locally (Las Vegas) is drilling the kids on how to pass those tests. What little there was before to encourage critical thought is pretty much out the window.

[kcass1954]

2. Same here in Florida...

But at open house this year, my son's teacher said it right out loud, in front of God and everybody - "I'm teaching your children how to pass the FCAT."

[Stop_the_War]

3. Here in Florida passing the FCAT seems to be more important than education

[LWolf]

4. Passing the test is more important than learning.

It doesn't matter if it's the FCAT, or the CAT6, or the SAT9, or any other state's version.

This is what needs to sink in:

That these test scores don't equate to learning.

That they are not the only, or the most reliable or valid, measure of learning.

That the scores that are reported, AYPs, are not the scores on the test, but what you get when you apply a different formula to individual scores, and that both the formula and the test being scored has changed, often more than once, since the "baseline" was set.

That the legislation is not as much about test scores as it is about the "continual growth" business model, which is not sustainable in the long run without some sort of corruption. It's not the scores. It's how the scores change from year to year that "counts."

That standardized tests have a typical pattern; when the test is first introduced, either as a brand new policy or to replace a previous standardize test, the scores are low. After a couple of years, they go up. A few more years, and they've reached a plateau. This pattern was documented before all of the state level testing reforms began a decade ago, and the federal mess began 4 years ago. Here is one administrator from my state's perspective; he's talking about our state "API," rather than the federal "AYP," back in May of 2000 before GWB was first selected:

http://interversity.org/lists/ca-resisters/archives/may2000/msg00065.html

If there is still anyone out there who thinks all of the testing is about learning, it's time to wake up.

I salute this teacher for being courageous enough to tell parents the truth. I doubt that comments like that are looked on favorably by her administrators.