Fwd: [ARN-state] Ohio To Study Alternative Assessments

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>
> Date: Mon Jun 16, 2008  5:05:36 PM US/Eastern
> To: ARN Main List <arn-l@interversity.org>,  ARN State  
> <ARN-state@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [ARN-state] Ohio To Study Alternative Assessments
> Reply-To: ARN-state@yahoogroups.com
>
> OHIO PUTS STANDARD EXAMS TO THE TEST
> STATE WILL STUDY ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
> Cleveland Plain-Dealer -- June 16, 2008
> by Scott Stephens
>
> Put down that No. 2 pencil and grab a paint brush. Or design a research
> project. Or go to work in a homeless shelter.
>
> A growing number of people in Ohio are asking whether one-size-fits-all
> standardized tests - the cheapest and most efficient way to meet  
> federal
> No Child Left Behind accountability requirements - are the best and
> fairest way to measure academic progress.
>
> In April, Ohio education officials secured a $1.3 million grant to
> explore alternative assessments, such as portfolios, senior projects,
> journals, small-group collaborations or teacher observation. The idea:
> Give students an assessment that requires them to accomplish complex or
> significant tasks rather than forcing them to choose from
> multiple-choice responses.
>
> And earlier this month, a statewide student group, Ohio Youth Voices,
> asked Gov. Ted Strickland to consider alternatives to the Ohio
> Graduation Test. Currently, Ohio students have to pass the five-part
> exam by the end of their senior year to get a diploma.
>
> "Schools once renowned for their unique learning programs are becoming
> nothing more than soulless factories that churn out those that can  
> excel
> at standardized tests while discarding those who can't," the leaders of
> the group, Shaw High School senior Jonathan Lykes and Federal Hocking
> High School senior Mason Pesek, wrote to the governor.
>
> "We'd really like to talk to the governor and work to come up with
> another system," Pesek said in an interview. "Essentially, the current
> system is really failing Ohio's students."
>
> Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey said the governor's office was
> reviewing the letter.
>
> "The governor is aware that concerns have been raised about the Ohio
> Graduation Test," Dailey said. "He is open to exploring other types of
> assessments to address those concerns as part of the education reform
> process."
>
> The exploration will begin in September when teams of educators from
> districts across the state will gather in Columbus and be asked to
> choose from a smorgasbord of alternative assessments and field-test  
> them
> during the coming school year. The theory: Since students learn in
> different ways, shouldn't they also be tested in different ways?
>
> "Our current tests are just one measure of learning, just like in
> medicine, a blood test is one measure," said State Superintendent Susan
> Tave Zelman.
>
> "We see this as giving kids multiple ways to demonstrate their
> competence and still have academic rigor," she added. "I think we can  
> do
> this in Ohio and lead the rest of the country."
>
> While Ohio might be positioning itself as a trend-setter in alternative
> assessments, the concept is hardly new. In the early 1990s, Vermont
> required all eighth-graders to complete a portfolio assessment in both
> English and math. Kentucky overhauled its testing program in 1998 and
> used an assessment that combined essays, multiple-choice questions and  
> a
> writing portfolio.
>
> "It was a very hot topic," said Ron Dietel, assistant director of the
> National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student
> Testing at UCLA. "There was a general concern that standardized tests
> really didn't show what students know."
>
> Cincinnati was among the most progressive districts in the country on
> alternative, or performance-based, assessment. Students demonstrated
> their grasp of history by taking on a character from the past. They
> learned about Reconstruction by reading the diaries of white teachers
> sent to the South. They wrote letters to local newspapers, or gave
> public speeches.
>
> "I've seen it as energizing rather than depressing," said veteran
> teacher Diana Porter. "It's assessment that is still standards-based,
> but students get to shape it a little, too."
>
> But alternative assessments had their problems. They could be difficult
> to score and costly to implement. Political pressure grew to find
> something more efficient, a pressure that eventually led to the
> standardized test-oriented No Child Left Behind law in 2002.
>
> With reauthorization of the federal law stalled in Congress, some see  
> an
> opportunity to incorporate alternative tests into the federal mandate.
> Rhode Island lawmakers, for instance, have integrated alternative
> assessments into their state's testing system.
>
> But Dietel warns that the easy lure of simple test scores has not
> disappeared.
>
> "I wouldn't necessarily expect states to jump back on the
> alternative-assessment bandwagon," he said. "Even though a lot of  
> states
> and a lot of schools would like to do it, a lot of people like looking
> at those regular test scores to see how their schools are doing."
>
> And when teachers and principals are judged solely by the test scores  
> of
> their students, there will be little time for portfolios and letters to
> the editor, Porter said.
>
> "It's harder now to get teachers to stick their toe in the water and
> give it a try," she said.
>
>
> http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/ 
> 121360500791080.xml&coll=2
>
>
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