Re: more on myth of Texas education reform

[kber@earthlink.net]

Looks interesting. I will look into. Sound lkike it supportnwork of haney. Just finished meeting w vp frpom tfa.  Will not blog it but willing to talk about with you
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-----Original Message-----
From: "Monty Neill" <monty@fairtest.org>

Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 17:07:23 
To:"arn2-strategy" <arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>,"ARN-L" <arn-l@interversity.org>,<ARN-state@yahoogroups.com>,<care@yahoogroups.com>,<ndsgroup@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [arn-l] more on myth of Texas education reform


In January, Linda McNeil and colleagues published "Avoidable losses: high stakes accountability and the dropout crisis,' (summary and link to article is at http://www.fairtest.org/texas-accountability-system-causes-avoidable-losse)

Now Linda Darling-Hammond and Julian Vasquez Heilig (a coauthor on the McNeil paper) have published "Accountablity Texas-style:The progress and learning of urban minority students in a high-stakes testing context," in the June issue Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis - which unlike the McNeil et al paper is not available free on the web. These are complementary studies. 

The study of one district documented significant increases in retention in grade 9 (grade 10 is tested, 9 is not). Up to 30% were retained; of those "only 12% ever took the TAAS, and only 8% passed it." As in the McNeil study, most of those 'withdrawn' (up to 40% of a cohort) never were labeled as dropouts. Students simply disappeared from the rolls with no attached data codes to explain why they 'left.' This study suggests that of the leavers, only 8% transfer to other schools. 

The fraudulent result was a soaring graduation rate, though the authors' analysis showed only 1/3 of a cohort actually graduated in 5 years or less. African Americans, Latinos and ELL's had the lowest completion rates. In addition to improved official graduation rates, accountability rankings also improved as youth "disappeared." The authors note that the state failed to provide adequate resources to the schools, imposed the accountability requirements, and in effect the "onus of accountability fell on [students] and their schools, instead of the state."

SAT-9 tests and it Spanish complement, Aprenda, were also administered in the disrict. Averaging scores from grades 3-10, SAT-9 scores were flat then fell, while TAAS scores rose. Far more students, especially African Americans and Latinos, were excluded from TAAS, a high stakes test, than from SAT-9, a low-stakes test. On SAT-9, the racial score gap did not close, though it did on the TAAS from 98-99 to 01-02. And those who were excluded from the EnglishTAAS had lower scores on the SAT-9. Low-scorers also tended have newer, less experienced teachers. 

This study covers years prior to NCLB,  but when the model for NCLB was in full force in Texas. The accountability system did not help low-income and minority-group children, but it helped the state pretend its policies were helpful. The mechanism was 'game-playing' by school authorities. Those actions that are harmful to students, from driving them out to reducing teaching to test prep, are not defensible. But it makes no sense to construct an accountability system that uses only test scores as the measure and allows all sorts of ways to drive students out, and then blame educators for effectively doing what the accountability system has pushed them to do - teach to the test and find ways to count only those whose scores make the school or district look good. The accountability system and the testing system on which it is based must be overhauled, at state and federal levels. 

Monty 
Monty Neill, Ed.D.
Deputy Director
FairTest
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