Fwd: [ARN-state] more on myth of Texas education reform

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Begin forwarded message:

  From: "Monty Neill" <monty@fairtest.org>

  Date: Mon Jun 2, 2008 2:07:23 PM US/Pacific

  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-state] more on myth of Texas education reform

  Reply-To: ARN-state@yahoogroups.com

  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  most of those 'withdrawn' (up to 40% of a cohort) never were labeled as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

  342 Broadway

  Cambridge, MA 02139

  617-864-4810 x 101;  fax 617-497-2224

  monty@fairtest.org

  http://www.fairtest.org

  Donate: https://secure.entango.com/servlet/donate/MnrXjT8MQqk

  __._,_.___
  Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional

  Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)

  Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully
  Featured

  Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

  __,_._,___

Vote in the National Cheney Impeachment Poll

http://www.usalone.com/blogvoices.php?Cheney%20Impeachment%3F

Add this text to your own email and blog signatures!