More on ELL testing in Virginia

[Peter Farruggio <pfarr@cal.berkeley.edu>]

> From: James Crawford <jwcrawford@COMPUSERVE.COM>
>
>
> Sent to the Washington Post:
>
> The report on Virginia test results (?N.Va. 
> Schools Set Back on ?No Child? Test Goals,? 
> Metro, Aug. 25) highlighted the difficulties for 
> limited-English speakers in passing standardized 
> tests designed for fluent speakers of English. 
> As a result, school programs that have been 
> widely hailed as excellent in serving English 
> language learners ? notably, in Fairfax County ? 
> are now being branded as failures.
>
> This approach to ?accountability? is not only 
> unfair to teachers and students; it also defies logic.
>
> The Post?s story failed to clarify an important 
> point. The tests that the U.S. Department of 
> Education has mandated are neither valid nor 
> reliable for measuring the academic progress of 
> English language learners. No one disputes this 
> reality, including the test publishers 
> themselves. Nevertheless, under the No Child 
> Left Behind Act, results on such inaccurate 
> tests must be used as the primary basis for judging schools.
>
> If the goal is to hold schools accountable for 
> their quality of instruction, the 
> garbage-in-garbage-out approach is indefensible 
> on any rational basis. If, on the other hand, 
> the goal is to discredit public schools and make 
> way for privatization schemes, the strategy makes a lot of sense.
>
> James Crawford, President
> Institute for Language and Education Policy
>
> ************************************
>
> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/23/AR2007082300846.html>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/23/AR2007082300846.html
> N.Va. Schools Set Back on 'No Child' Test Goals
> Educators Blame Rule That Affects Students With Limited English
>
> By Maria Glod and Michael Alison Chandler
> Washington Post Staff Writers
> Friday, August 24, 2007; A01
>
> The Fairfax County school system for the first 
> time failed to meet academic goals under the No 
> Child Left Behind Act, largely because many 
> students with limited English skills struggled 
> on reading tests that were given in response to 
> a federal order, according to school officials and scores released yesterday.
>
> Several other well-regarded Northern Virginia 
> systems, including those in Alexandria and in 
> Loudoun, Prince William and Arlington counties, 
> also fell short of target scores on last 
> spring's Standards of Learning tests. The number 
> of Northern Virginia schools that did not make 
> the grade nearly doubled, rising from 76 in 2006 to 146 this year.
>
> Under the federal law, schools and school 
> systems must reach benchmark pass rates for 
> state reading and math scores that climb 
> steadily over time. For schools and systems that 
> fall short of adequate progress, the harshest 
> penalty is usually negative publicity. But 
> schools that receive federal aid for 
> disadvantaged students face sanctions if they 
> repeatedly miss targets, from a requirement to 
> allow student transfers to management shake-ups.
>
> Overall, test scores held steady in Northern 
> Virginia and showed gains in some areas, notably 
> middle school mathematics. But school ratings 
> dipped because the federal law requires scores 
> for all groups of students to show advances simultaneously.
>
> Local educators blamed the ratings slide on a 
> federal rule requiring students who are English 
> beginners to take reading tests similar to those 
> taken by peers who are fluent in the language. 
> Previously, those students were tested on how 
> quickly they were learning to read and speak 
> English, not on their understanding of concepts 
> such as metaphors and main ideas.
>
> School officials in Fairfax, Loudoun and 
> Arlington, all counties with increasingly 
> diverse populations, have called the requirement 
> unfair to students who haven't mastered the 
> language. Fairfax schools this year threatened 
> to defy the U.S. Education Department but backed 
> down because the county stood to lose $17 million in federal aid.
>
> "What we have been telling the nation and the 
> federal government is that children who are not 
> yet competent in English are not going to pass a 
> reading test," Fairfax County Superintendent 
> Jack D. Dale said yesterday. "It takes a few 
> years to master English, and when they know English, they pass."
>
> Fairfax school officials said the number of 
> students passing with especially high marks, a 
> category known as "pass advanced," is growing. 
> In Loudoun, English learners were the only group 
> that had a dip in pass rates this year.
>
> Dale said he hopes Congress will take Northern 
> Virginia's experience into account and come up 
> with new ways to measure school progress as 
> lawmakers debate reauthorization of the five-year-old federal law.
>
> "Since we're close to Washington, I hope we have 
> some influence," Dale said. "We're 
> representative of the rest of the nation. . . . 
> The English language learner issue for us is 
> huge, but it's also huge in a lot of other jurisdictions."
>
> Jack Jennings, president and chief executive of 
> the D.C.-based Center on Education Policy, said 
> lawmakers are struggling to find a rigorous but 
> fair way to test the more than 5 million limited-English students nationwide.
>
> Federal officials and some advocacy groups say 
> tough standards are the only way to ensure that 
> immigrant students and others with limited 
> English aren't overlooked. They say such tests 
> help schools pinpoint how programs fall short.
>
> "There are complaints from . . . people across 
> the country that their school districts feel the 
> testing is unfair," Jennings said. "At the same 
> time, the advocates say that's the only way kids 
> are going to get extra attention."
>
> The federal law calls for annual reading and 
> math tests in grades 3 through 8 and once in 
> high school, and it requires schools to show 
> steady progress in improving scores or face 
> consequences. Subgroups of students -- including 
> ethnic minorities and students with 
> disabilities, limited English skills and 
> economic disadvantages -- also must make progress each year.
>
> Schools in Virginia and nationwide aim higher 
> over time as they move toward a goal of having 
> every child proficient in reading and math by 
> 2014. This year in Virginia, 73 percent of 
> students in each school had to pass a reading 
> exam, up from 69 percent last year. The goal in 
> math increased from 67 percent to 71 percent.
>
> Under the law, schools that receive federal 
> poverty aid and fall short of testing targets 
> face sanctions that become more stringent if 
> scores don't improve. This year, there are 13 
> such schools in Northern Virginia.
>
> Catoctin Elementary in Leesburg, the first 
> Loudoun school to face sanctions, must offer 
> parents the opportunity to send children to a 
> school that fared better. The school did not 
> achieve high enough marks among Hispanic students.
>
> Arlington's Hoffman-Boston Elementary School has 
> missed targets for several years and must 
> continue offering students tutoring and the 
> choice to attend another school. If it does not 
> make adequate progress next year, it could be 
> subject to more drastic remedies, including staff changes or restructuring.
>
> In Prince William, nearly half the county's 79 
> schools didn't meet standards. Old Bridge 
> Elementary in Woodbridge fell short solely 
> because of poor reading scores among English learners.
>
> "It's a bitter pill to swallow," Old Bridge 
> Principal Anita Flemons said. "If you think I'm 
> a little upset about it, you are right." She 
> needed 54 of 78 English learners to earn a passing score, and 52 did.
>
> Falling short, even by a slim margin, has a 
> "mental impact" on the school community, Flemons 
> said. But she said she is determined to work 
> even harder with English learners to improve their literacy.
>
> "I just wish they would take into consideration 
> that the challenges are very different in 
> different schools," she said. "Many children 
> coming to us from other countries have not had 
> formal education. It's like comparing an apple 
> to a banana. But there are no allowances for that."
>
> Fairfax officials said test scores show that 
> students enrolled in the English for Speakers of 
> Other Languages program are making progress. For 
> instance, 35 percent of county fifth-graders in 
> the beginning levels of the program passed the 
> reading test; 83 percent of those who were almost finished with it passed.
>
> Arlington School Superintendent Robert G. Smith 
> noted that many of the English learners fared 
> well on math tests that use simple language.
>
> Billy K. Cannaday Jr., state superintendent of 
> public instruction, said that Virginia also is 
> working with the federal government to create a 
> new reading test for English learners but that 
> it is unlikely to be ready by the spring.
>
> "Regrettably, next year could be a similar 
> experience for some youngsters," Cannaday said.