It's Hard to Hit a Moving Target
I don't often get frustrated. Colleagues tell me I am usually a calm person. Parents in my school report to me they appreciate my "can do" spirit. I've been told I am normally a "glass half-full" optimist.
Yet, now I am angry.
I am angry at what I consider to be the state's plan to erode the trust between schools and the communities we serve.
Results from our recent and new state assessment were released to the media last week, and the scores were damning. In fact, the state department of education "expected" the results to be lower than previous tests.
Results from our recent and new state assessment were released to the media last week, and the scores were damning. In fact, the state department of education "expected" the results to be lower than previous tests.
(I strongly recommend you read what our superintendent, Dr. Steve Matthews, wrote about how the Michigan Department of Education released state test scores without first giving data to schools or school districts. Please read his article here.)
What caught my attention first was that only 12% of our 4th graders in the entire state "passed" or scored proficient on the new science test. Only 12%! I quickly dug into my school's results for 4th grade science and learned that 27% of my 4th graders from last year scored proficient or higher. While I was relieved we were above the state average, I was still not comfortable with only 27% of our kids being considered proficient. Would you?
Much has been written about the role of high stakes testing in this new era of school accountability. Unfortunately, there seems to be an impression that a test can measure all that a student, a teacher, or a school does. Even worse, our society seems to hang onto only small sound bites about poor school performance. (i.e. Only 12% of 4th graders passed the new science test.) These dominant narratives are do not tell the complete story, but they directly impact how our state legislators perceive schools. This, in turn, leads to more and more accountability mandates that make the educators I help lead feel like unprofessional failures.
As Dr. Matthews eloquently argues, student performance is measured by much more than any one test. Our schools are rich learning environments where I regularly see teachers implement researched-based strategies and students take risks to stretch and ensure learning. And yet, our students and teachers are made to look like failures because only 27% of our students were considered proficient on a state test.
Our state's inability to create and administer a state-wide assessment that provides useful and timely results for our schools to get better has led to my district creating what our Office of Academics calls our "robust internal accountability system." I am grateful for this because we should use assessments to get better. We should use assessments to help measure our performance. Part of our internal assessment process is to use a private test from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). For over a decade we've administered computer adaptive tests from NWEA. Each test takes about 45 minutes to administer, but we collect nationally normed results from the NWEA tests almost instantly. The results are used to help set goals with students or to identify specific strengths or weaknesses. We then share these results to set school-wide goals and to communicate with our parents.
After learning about the 27% science proficiency rate from our students on the Michigan test, I reviewed results from the same students on the NWEA science test. 90% of those students were proficient on the NWEA test. 90%! It's hard to hit a moving target if the data we collect is at polar opposites from each other.
As the principal of a recently named National Blue Ribbon School with remarkable students, staff, and parents, I'm exhausted by my own state's inability to support student growth and achievement without making the educators in our state...the educators in my district and my school...look like failures.
Much has been written about the role of high stakes testing in this new era of school accountability. Unfortunately, there seems to be an impression that a test can measure all that a student, a teacher, or a school does. Even worse, our society seems to hang onto only small sound bites about poor school performance. (i.e. Only 12% of 4th graders passed the new science test.) These dominant narratives are do not tell the complete story, but they directly impact how our state legislators perceive schools. This, in turn, leads to more and more accountability mandates that make the educators I help lead feel like unprofessional failures.
As Dr. Matthews eloquently argues, student performance is measured by much more than any one test. Our schools are rich learning environments where I regularly see teachers implement researched-based strategies and students take risks to stretch and ensure learning. And yet, our students and teachers are made to look like failures because only 27% of our students were considered proficient on a state test.
Our state's inability to create and administer a state-wide assessment that provides useful and timely results for our schools to get better has led to my district creating what our Office of Academics calls our "robust internal accountability system." I am grateful for this because we should use assessments to get better. We should use assessments to help measure our performance. Part of our internal assessment process is to use a private test from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). For over a decade we've administered computer adaptive tests from NWEA. Each test takes about 45 minutes to administer, but we collect nationally normed results from the NWEA tests almost instantly. The results are used to help set goals with students or to identify specific strengths or weaknesses. We then share these results to set school-wide goals and to communicate with our parents.
After learning about the 27% science proficiency rate from our students on the Michigan test, I reviewed results from the same students on the NWEA science test. 90% of those students were proficient on the NWEA test. 90%! It's hard to hit a moving target if the data we collect is at polar opposites from each other.
As the principal of a recently named National Blue Ribbon School with remarkable students, staff, and parents, I'm exhausted by my own state's inability to support student growth and achievement without making the educators in our state...the educators in my district and my school...look like failures.
posted by Unknown @ November 04, 2015
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