The Emperor's New Style

Over the course of many decades standardized testing has taken hold in classrooms across America. Accompanying this trend have been acts of desperation in efforts to raise test scores. Tests were altered to insure success, multi-year averages were used rather than annual growth, and teachers were given scripted lessons targeted wholly to the test. With the exception of a few cases, none of these have significantly raised America’s scores. But the constant drone of closing achievement gaps has led states to take extreme measures.

A recent NPR discussion focused on Florida, which has followed Virginia’s lead in approving race-based standards. Of course that caught my attention. Who wouldn’t be alarmed by this type of blatant discriminatory plan? In an earlier interview, Patricia Wright, (http://www.npr.org/2012/11/12/163703499/firestorm-erupts-over-virginia-s-education-goals) Virginia’s superintendent of public instruction, defended this idea by explaining that all students are held to the same academic standards, but that more modest goals would be set for struggling minority students. She described how all students would benefit because interventions could be targeted to their ability level. That’s like saying we should expect obese people to lose less weight than others and remain heavier even after their diet. Here’s how the cut-scores for the new passing grades play out.

	Math: Virginia	Reading: Virginia	Math: Florida	Reading: Florida
Asian Students	82%	92%	92%	90%
White Students	68%	90%	86%	88%
Latino Students	52%	80%	80%	81%
Black Students	45%	76%	74%	74%

There is little upside to these changes. The down side is potentially damaging consequences.

·         Increased inequities in education         

·         Dissimilar learning opportunities

·         Lower expectations

·         Isolation from higher performing peers

·         Decreased knowledge and skills

·         Less readiness for college and the workplace

    

The actions by Virginia and Florida illustrate how complex the variations in achievement can be and how frantically educational leaders are trying to close them. Politicians, corporate test designers, technology developers, book publishers, and others who stand to gain from standardized testing point the finger at teachers and advise them to teach harder. Nowhere in the discussion is an acknowledgement that poverty is the great unleveler. Children who are hungry, stressed, and not ready to learn from an early age suffer the effects throughout their lifetime. It’s time for the conversation to be reframed from racial differences in performance to high expectations for all. Every student has the right to a high quality education but it is also fair to say that education alone cannot control for every socioeconomic factor. It is not as simple as acknowledging learning gaps. We also need to develop interventions to close them and implement strategies to help communities, schools, and families do this- for the future of ALL children!

Hoisting the Flag

In a recent Ed Week Commentary, James Popham, explains why he is waving the flag for formative assessment. (http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/01/09/15popham.h32.html?tkn=WYQFdJU2ShqBtjyYxQpyxQUrY2l5773zztvg&cmp=clp-edweek) I agree with his premise that Common Core State Standards provide a teachable moment for formative assessment. Formative assessment works, when done right. The Council of Chief State School Officers describe it this way: “Formative Assessment is a process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve students' achievement of intended instructional outcomes.” (Heritage 2010) Note that the Council of Chief State School Officers is one of the original designers of the Common Core. And, they are defining it as an ongoing classroom practice and process.

Popham muses over why so few teachers are well versed in formative assessment when there are sufficient studies and resources to support professional growth and practice. He makes the point that although we won’t fully know the outcome of the Common Core tests for a few more years, there is an opportunity in the present to build the formative assessment skills that will support their implementation. If schools and teachers will be required to report student growth, formative assessment is a feasible starting point.

 

Three cheers for James Popham.