Re: on testing

["Monty Neill" <monty@fairtest.org>]

The PA story is complicated. Pieces appear with varying degrees of accuracy 
in the state's media outlets (and since it is a complex moving target, 
accuracy when being brief is not simple).

Gov Rendell and the board of ed wanted to replace the state PSSA high school 
test with end of course tests students would have to pass to graduate, tho 
Gov would allow districts that could pay on their own to validate their own 
assessments to continue to use them (as they now can do re: PSSA). That is, 
currently students must pass PSSA or local assessments to graduate, under 
the plan most local assessments likely would have ended and new state tests 
would become stand-alone graduation hurdles.

This proposal raised a firestorm of opposition from education, civil rights, 
disability and other groups. Republicans in the legislature also opposed the 
plan on grounds of local control, and as the economy collapsed, cost. Some 
Dems also opposed the proposal. Ed, CR and other opponents built an 
alliance; FairTest has been working with them (spoke at their opening 
conference, testified several times to legislative committees).

Our alliance proposed that the state help locals improve their assessments 
where they were weak. We said it was OK to replace PSSA, but state could not 
mandate the new tests as grad requirements. If some of these new tests were 
used to replace PSSA for federal AYP and thus students mandated to take 
them, we proposed districts could not allow them to count as more than 20% 
of a course grade.

The state has moved a long way towards us, but not far enough. They agreed 
to pay half the costs of validation, which means many small or poor 
districts would not be able to afford it; and the state seems silent on real 
help to improve assessment. They insist that when the state exams are used, 
they would count 33%. Also, rather than combining a student's test score 
with the classroom data, if a student did not pass (score basic) a portion 
of the test, they would in effect get a zero for the test, meaning most 
students would then fail the course; they would have to re-take failed 
portion of the new test (Keystone) or if they do not pass after retry, 
students will have alternatives (projects of some sort). The ed dept agreed 
to actually validate the state's own tests, including predictive validity 
(e.g., does passing the test mean anything for college success).

At the moment, the main teachers union, PSEA, is neutral on the new proposal 
(given how far the state has moved and some positive components), while many 
other groups remain in opposition (due esp to the two concerns I stated 
above). FairTest is pleased the alliance (CERT) has moved the state a long 
ways, but we share the concerns over the current proposal. The legislature 
is holding more hearings on the proposals. Legislature has to fund new test 
development (they may balk at this) and could flat out block new test 
development (tho that gets complex since Rendell likely would veto such a 
block). Rendell is gone in Jan 2011 (I think). So, much remains uncertain at 
this point.

Again, the education, civil rights and disability alliance has done great 
work blocking the Governor's proposals and seeking ways to improve 
assessment quality, including local assessments. If the current Board 
proposal does go ahead, it'll be far better/less bad than their original 
plan, but still potentially dangerous to kids. But there will also be good 
chances to further improve it, especially given the strength of the 
alliance, since the proposal will take effect with the class of 2014-15.

Monty

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Victor Steinbok"

> Has anyone noticed that Pennsylvania is "relaxing" its graduation 
> "competency" testing? (The latest language says "revision" and 
> "compromise"...)
>
> http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/20090709_ap_edboardchairmanoffersplanforpagradtests.html
> ...
>
> The Keystone Exams would replace the Pennsylvania System of School 
> Assessment tests that are currently given in the 11th grade.
>
> School districts would not have to use the new exams to determine 
> graduation competency. They could substitute local tests for that purpose, 
> but only with the approval of a state panel that would comprise 
> representatives of school boards, the state Board of Education and the 
> state Department of Education.
>
> All districts would have to use the Keystones to gauge students' progress 
> toward meeting the federal proficiency milestones in math and reading, 
> said department spokesman Mike Race.
>
> ...
>
> http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/07/pa_graduation_testing_compromi.html
>
> End-of-course exams would count for a third of a student's final grade as 
> part of a compromise plan announced today on Gov. Ed Rendell's high school 
> graduation testing proposal ...
>
>    VS-)