Fwd: [ARN-state] Time Magazine Profile of Nebraska Assessment Model

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Sorry this is old; just getting to it.
Susan

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>
> Date: Wed May 30, 2007  7:13:42 PM US/Pacific
> To: ARN Main List <arn-l@interversity.org>,  ARN State 
> <ARN-state@yahoogroups.com>, arn2-strategy 
> <arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [ARN-state] Time Magazine Profile of Nebraska Assessment Model
> Reply-To: ARN-state@yahoogroups.com
>
> HOW NEBRASKA LEAVES NO CHILD BEHIND
> Time.com -- May 30, 2007
> by Sonja Steptoe
>
> Most state education officials grumble that the pressure-packed annual
> tests and rigid adequate yearly progress (AYP) targets engendered by 
> the
> federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law are flawed means of measuring
> student proficiency, raising academic standards, holding schools
> accountable and fostering learning. But since the penalty for defying
> the law is loss of federal funds, most treat NCLB's prescriptives like
> bitter medicine they can't afford to spit out. All, that is, except the
> iconoclasts who run the public schools in Nebraska.
>
> Eschewing the Washington-created remedy, they have developed a homemade
> model called the School-based Teacher-led Assessment Reporting System
> (STARS) that has yielded impressive results, been praised by education
> scholars and attracted interest from Edward Kennedy, NCLB's Senate
> custodian. "We just told the Department of Education that if they were
> really trying to [serve] all kids and close the proficiency gap that
> high-stakes testing isn't the way to do it," says Doug Christensen,
> state commissioner of education. "We told them we would show them that
> we had a better way."
>
> Under Nebraska's model, the state sets curriculum standards, but gives
> teachers free reign on instruction and lets local school districts
> design their own tests to measure how well students are meeting the
> grade-level norms. And unlike the vast majority of states, which rely
> solely on multiple choice exams to measure student achievement and
> determine yearly progress, Nebraska's students also write essays as 
> part
> of a unique statewide writing exam. Districts can also include student
> oral presentations, demonstrations and projects in their battery of
> assessments. Christensen says the writing requirement gives state
> officials confidence that the multiple choice test scores are a true
> reflection of actual learning. Since the system was installed eight
> years ago, he says, the statewide writing scores on average have lined
> up "almost perfectly" with results on both math and reading proficiency
> tests. "Ours is a bottom-up model," Christensen says. "It begins in the
> classroom with instruction that's aligned to our standards and extends
> to assessments developed locally that are tied to how well students
> apply concepts and problem solve, rather than simply memorize facts and
> figures and dates that they can't remember 10 minutes later."
>
> Overall last year, just over 87% of all elementary students met federal
> accountability goals in reading, tying Nebraska with Mississippi for 
> the
> best scores in the country in that subject area. In math, more than 87%
> of Nebraska primary schoolkids reached their federal goals. Only the
> subgroup of special education students narrowly missed the targets in
> reading and math. Among middle schoolers, almost 87% passed in reading
> and nearly 85% did in math. Special education students and English
> language learners were the only subgroups in those grades scoring below
> the federal bar.
>
> For Nebraska officials, high doses of local input and low regard for
> memorization skills are points of distinction, and pride. And the
> consistently high scores their students receive reassure them that —
> despite results on national reading assessments of fourth graders in
> 2005 that were more than 50 points lower than state-test-score levels,
> for instance — they are indeed proficient in reading, math and writing.
>
> Adding to their confidence is the fact that the bosses in Lincoln
> exercise quality control over the testing protocols. Each year the 
> state
> hires a panel of out-of-state experts to grade each district's
> assessment plan to insure that it matches the state curriculum
> standards, reliably measures proficiency and meets other technical
> criteria. Additionally, teams of in-state teachers and principals
> interview district officials as part of a peer review of their
> test-making methods. "What we've got that no one else has is a cadre of
> teachers in the state who are as assessment literate as any educators 
> on
> the face of the earth," Christensen says. "They know how to teach to an
> outcome, to measure the outcome with high technical quality, and they
> know how to use that information to improve instruction."
>
> The Nebraska model has been praised by the National Council of
> Measurement in Education, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing
> and education testing researchers at Duquesne University. Sen. Edward
> Kennedy met with state officials earlier this month as part of the
> Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee's deliberations
> on revisions to NCLB and was impressed by the results they've achieved,
> his staff says. And now that the state has added on-site peer reviews 
> to
> the annual evaluation process, Christensen says the ultimate deciders 
> at
> the federal Department of Education have assured him that STARS passes
> NCLB muster. "Nebraska is a place where the concepts of family and
> community still work," Christensen says. "Our public schools are
> embedded in those communities and those families. So why wouldn't we
> first trust those folks? We believe you create the capacity at the 
> local
> level to do the right thing in the first place, and then you don't need
> the state or federal government looking over your shoulder."
>
> http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1626423,00.html
>
>
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