Re: CAHSEE/HumRRO (California) question

[Erwin Morton <erwin@morton.net>]

Hi, Mickey--

The sentence you quote is the first sentence in the "State
Board of Education Meeting Highlights" from this month:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/board/highlights/highlights0503.htm

The sentence reads, in full,

"An independent evaluation of the California High School
Exit Exam (CAHSEE) has found that the exit exam is valid
and meets all nationally recognized test standards for use
as a graduation requirement."

The web page lists and expands a bit on the five major
"General Findings" of the study.

*****************************************

All of HumRRO's reports on the CAHSEE are available
on the CDE (California Dept. of Education) web site, at:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/statetests/cahsee/eval/eval.html

I haven't read the report (yet), so I can't answer your
last question (yet).  But I might rephrase it nonetheless,
e.g., "On what basis do they assert that the exam meets
all the standards?"

In fact, I would first ask what the "nationally recognized
test standards" are.  I would also ask by whom, by what
process, and for what purpose they were developed.
I wasn't even aware that any such standards existed.

Next, I would ask what is meant by the word "valid".
A valid test of what?  Valid for what purpose?  Etc., etc.

--Erwin



PAVURSOL@aol.com wrote:

> >From an earlier thread about California:
> The study, by Human Resources Research Organization of Virginia,
> concludes that the exit exam "meets all of the test standards for use as a
> graduation requirement."
>    The researchers also praised it for having "a profound impact" on
> improving instruction and for inspiring schools to align their curriculum
> to the state's rigorous academic standards on which the test is based.
>
>     Does anyone in CA know if this report is available?  How do they know the
> exam meets all the standards?
> Mickey