Sunday, February 8, 2009
Formal Assessment
Discuss your thoughts regarding what you have read about formal assessment. Do you agree or disagree with any of the issues that were raised? Why or why not? How does what you have read here compare to what was read in President Bush's education proposal--Leave No Child Behind? Has Louisiana made progress towards a new and improved accountability system?
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High stakes testing has affected what is going on in the classroom. There is both good use and misuse of high stakes test. The good is that it allows students from all over a state to be compared to determine if they are prepared for college. It is bad because a student's success should not be based on a single exam to determine if they should graduate or not.
Now just because a school has higher test schools does not necessarily correlate to better teaching occurring in the classroom. Some schools could be teaching to the test which does not mean much teaching is occurring other than how to pass a high stakes exam.
I think that NCLB is good in theory. However, if there is not enough funding provided to the schools to implement the exams then how can you ask schools to meet certain expectations. There needs to be some support from the government before all these demands are placed on the schools without financial backing.
I think that LA is starting to head in the right direction. I have only lived here 2 1/2 years but from my limited experience they are trying. The revised comprehensive curriculum is a good start. Teachers now need professional development training in how to implement it into the classroom.
Okay, I think I have rambled long enough.
I agree with the theory behind No Child Left Behind and high stakes testing. I agree that students should be assessed to see their current performance level. I also agree that teachers should be held accountable for the information that they are to teach. For too many years, I've had students who were not ready to move on in the fourth grade because they had not mastered third-grade information. The theory behind NCLB is that students will learn the information that is required of them at that grade level.
While I understand that students and teachers should be held to particular standards, I also believe that NCLB is not accomplishing what it was designed to accomplish. One blanket standard formal assessment will not adequately measure what each child has learned, because these formal assessments are biased. My students do not have the life experiences that many students do; therefore, they may not perform as well as other students.
Louisiana is leading the nation, I believe, in making strides for teachers to be held accountable. That being said, I believe that teachers are facing a LOT of stress right now.
I wish I knew the solution!
While No Child Left Behind was formed by Bush's administration with good intentions, it has not been as successful as had been expected, if you can consider it successful at all.
Even schools and districts in Louisiana and nation-wide that are showing improvement are suspect, as administration, parents, and the media pressure educators so much so that a teacher with otherwise scrupulous integrity and morals relies on cheating to save face of her students, herself, and her school.
After finally realizing that NCLB isn't quite doing what it was set up to do, a little clarity and intelligence has been added in the way of the A-Plus program, which would allow for states to choose a more local control of their school systems rather than the big government control that the NCLB has on us now.
States would still be accountable to standards, of course, but decision-making would be left to those individuals and groups closest to the student.
High stakes testing is certainly representative in part of the academic success of students; however, to be used as a sole measure of achievement and success is imbecilic at best.
Thought you all might find this video on the A-Plus program and its attempts to make positive reform to NCLB pretty informative and interesting:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1452232390/bctid1435496275
Just call me grumpy! lol
Bekah
Deanna, you hit the nail on the head. There are SO many variables in between August and March...home life, parental support, student motivation, attendance, classroom makeup, teacher/student life events and crises, natural disasters, bandwagon programs, I could go on forever. A score on a test given one week a year is hardly indicative of the value of the other 9 months 3 weeks.
Great point,
Bekah
Sheila, you reminded me of something when you mentioned how kids are being passed from grade to grade before they're ready.
I can't tell you HOW many times it's been SUGGESTED to me that little Johnny just needs to go on to 6th grade, and can't I just find a way? And I say...what the heck am I supposed to do, change all these zeroes in my official gradebook to 67's? Isn't that falsifying information? But the pressure to do what your supervisors "suggest" is so scary. I know I should stand up for what is right. It's a tough line to straddle.
Bekah
I think that if a test can determine if you are ready for the next grade, then why don't we do it every year instead of expecting 4th and 8th grade LEAP to catch them. By then it is too late.
Deanna, you're so right. There's so much more that impacts students than tests. Legislators must realize that school is not always about learning 2 + 2 = 4. It's also about life skills.
Good response!
Bekah, the same thing has happened to me. What do you say to the person who can make you or break you professionally? And how does it benefit a child to fail the Leap 4 times and then move on to fifth grade? It doesn't make sense to me.
Good post!
Accountability is essential. I am glad states are hightening their efforts to increase student achievement. I do not like the effects testing has had on our educational system in Louisiana. I believe the looming test is "watering-down" teaching and making teachers less effective. We all see colleagues teaching to the test. My time as a 4th grade ELA teacher gave me first hand experiences of the effects. Teachers were stressed and talked of "LEAP LEAP LEAP." They spent hours running off pages and pages of LEAP review, but students hate it and they do not learn. Anything that resembled "fun" was tossed out because the LEAP test is in "x" amount of days. Are we trying to make our students miserable?
I tried not to let the LEAP test change my style of teaching, but it has made me more aware of expectations. Once again, this is a positive aspect of the test. I believe teachers should be accountable and there should be an urgency to meet standards. Unfortunately, the current procedure needs some revamping.
I think Louisiana is trying to do what's right, but is not quite headed in a sensible direction... there's still hope. I would rather us create a pass/fail formula that takes into account standardized test scores, classroom grades, and teacher recommendations. I do not like hearing the phrase "LEAP will catch them." (pass students, regardless, because they will fail when they get to the 4th or 8th grade)
I certainly agree with my classmates that professional development is necessary to help teachers become more familiar with the curriculum.
Bekah and Shelia,
Add me to the list of teachers who have faced the decision to whether to pass a child through a grade when they were not ready.
As upper grade teachers I'm sure you've had to deal with the HUGE "holes" children have in their understanding because they were passed on and didn't get the basics. For example, Shelia, I bet many of your kids have trouble with simple math skills. When I taught 4th and 5th, many of my kids couldn't read and comprehend on a second grade level. HOW DID THEY GET TO ME LIKE THIS?
Jenny, you're exactly right. What really hacks me off is, I KNOW for a FACT what skills should be taught in the 3rd grade, because I taught the 3rd grade for several years. So when they come to me in the 4th grade and do not know their multiplication tables, for example, I get pretty upset, because that is a major 3rd grade skill. Of course, then the teachers gripe because the kids don't know their addition and subtraction facts, which are 1st and 2nd grade skills. A friend of mine believes firmly that there is no retention these days. Kids are programmed for 30-minute memories because of TV.
Deanna, I believe strongly that if we are going to pass and fail children on a single test, then we should do that in EVERY grade. Otherwise, we face the same problems that we're facing today, which is that little Johnny has reached the 4th grade on a 1st grade reading level, and he will fail the 4th grade twice and the LEAP test 4 times (after 2 stints in summer school) and we'll pass him on due to age. Wouldn't it have been better for him to fail a test in 1st grade and repeat the skills that he obviously didn't get 3 years ago???
ARG!!! This is my SOAPBOX!!!
Thoughts and reactions as to how testing is being utilized as part of No Child Left Behind
There should be some system for accountability in place; however, no single instrument should be the sole criterion with respect to whether a student is advanced to the next grade. Under NCLB Act, the federal government requires governors, superintendents and principals to demonstrate that education dollars are spent effectively to improve student achievement. This is to be done through a regime of annual testing. Teachers complain that the amount of time devoted to test preparation for test eliminates time to train students in how to approach a problem or think through an issue.
I feel that the test is not being utilized properly. There are some teachers who question how to interpret the results; therefore, more professional development is needed in this area. The test that is being used to satisfy NCLB is said to be incapable of measuring the effects of instruction on student performance. This leads to negative results because High Stakes testing can distort instruction and encourage teachers to teach to the test. Basing decisions about students, teachers or schools on a single test is inappropriate. Tests are a snapshot of an event not an array of events with multiple contexts.
MY THOUGHTS ON WHAT I READ
Tests appear to be a natural part of education. Over the years, the movement for higher standards and accountability in our schools has led to the NCLB Act. I believe that an accountability system should be in place; however I agree with a point made in the article with respect to inappropriate use of the test to make high stakes decisions. I also believe that the test fail to measure what is important.
With NCLB, schools appear to be spending more time on reading and math at the expense of other subjects not being taught. Districts are reducing time spent on other subjects to some degree. I feel the NCLB has had a tremendous impact on public education. Attention is paid to what is being taught and how it is being taught. Low performing schools are being punished and put under undue stress and the qualifications of teachers are under great scrutiny. I agree with the alternative suggestion in the article with respect to encouraging schools to become communities of learning that will support the students. I like this idea for it suggest bringing students teachers, administrators and community members together while supporting them with experience and tools that develop the individual and the organization.
Bekahloo, you are right. The pressure has put a dampness on integrity and fidelity. Teachers/ administrators will do certain things to put themselves in a "good" light.
NCLB was created to increase state accountability and, as a result, positively affect student achievement by setting statewide standards for what is taught in classrooms. These standards are measured by state-issued assessments which are expected to determine whether or not the standards are being met (and to what degree). These intentions were great.
However, what has emerged for NCLB is stressed out teachers who teach to the test hoping that amid their quest for higher scores on high stakes testing, students may actually achieve. What we have now is a game of numbers in which schools aim for Adequate Yearly Progress in order to avoid the ridicule and speculation that accompanies "low performing schools." Further, many of our better teachers with professional training seek higher performing schools when applying for a job which adds to the frustration of lower performing schools.
Personally, I feel that NCLB has good intentions, however, we still have a long way to go. Using one standardized assessment to measure a school's level of achievement all year long seems a bit hypocritical to me. All year long we encourage our teachers to individualize and differentiate instruction, but we all administer a standardized assessment to measure achievement for ALL students. I mean, really, who is left behind here?
Sheila, I agree with you about the stress teachers and administrators are faced with! Out of 74 total schools, my school district currently has 11 schools in danger of state takeover due to lack of AYP. The principal of one of those schools passed away exactly 2 weeks ago due to stress related heart complications at the age of 41. The point is, these 11 inner city schools are faced with challenges other schools are not having to deal with. (Truancy, increasing drop out rate, lack of parental involvement, violence, drugs, teen pregnancy rate increase, etc.) Yet, they are held to the same standards as schools such as mine with less than 30% low SES. How do we fix the problem of equal accountability? Is there truly equity among schools?
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