AAUW Presentation

By
Bob Valiant
– September 14, 2010Posted in: Articles

Kennewick School District Citizens

A presentation to AAUW, Enterprise, Oregon September 13, 2010.

Please take a moment to answer each of the following.  Base your answer on what you believe is appropriate for your own child:

1.         The primary purpose of reading instruction is:

  • Life-long love of reading
  • To read and comprehend the written word at a increasing level of sophistication
  • Score at a high level on a standardized, multiple-choice reading achievement test

2.              The primary purpose of school mathematics instruction is:

  • Become proficient in the math necessary for everyday living and for entry-level employment
  • Understand math concepts at increasing levels of sophistication allowing students to pursue careers in math, science engineering, or technology.
  • Score high on a standardized, multiple-choice math achievement test

3.              The primary purpose of the public school is:

  • Provide each child with a healthy, safe, supported and challenging learning environment
  • Prepare each student for life, the next level of education, and/or a career
  • Score high on standardized, multiple choice achievement tests in reading, math, and writing

4.              What do you want the schools to do for your children, grandchildren, or those of your neighbors?

For many years I did education futures and visioning workshops with school communities.  When I asked question 4 at these community gatherings I don’t recall ever hearing anyone say they wanted to narrow the curriculum, lower the graduation rate, or assess students (or their teachers) primarily on the basis of standardized test scores.  Unfortunately, that is where we are, mired in a senseless set of so-called reforms that are only driving us closer and closer to the cliff.

I have been troubled by the answers to this set of questions chosen by our business and political leaders for at least 10 years, but the general population has been indoctrinated by the mantra, “Our schools are a failure.  We must increase scores on international tests to remain competitive in the global economy.”  Last year a small group of Kennewick citizens came together to discuss what was happening in our town. We considered how best to inform the public regarding the research supporting or opposing the reforms being promulgated by the school board and the government with the backing of top business officials like Bill Gates and Eli Broad.  Kennewick School District Citizens is the result.

The rest of this presentation will explore how we got here and what a small band of Kennewick citizens is trying to do about it.

How We Got Here

The following section presents information about the key decision points leading to current education policy at the national level.  Each is then followed with research findings as reported on ksdcitizens.org

A Nation at Risk-Reagan-1983

  • “The public schools are broken and the nation’s competitive economic position is compromised.”
  • “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war.”

Rothstein’s 2008 Response (See http://ksdcitizens.org/2010/05/28/172/)

  • Was based solely on declining SAT scores which we now know was the result of adding non-college bound students to the pool of test takers.
  • The economic ills of 1980 were soon reversed and despite no real change in the school programs until the late 90’s, the U.S. economy was the strongest in the world for the entire period of time, even lasting until 2007 (The last year studied).
  • A Nation at Risk ignored the responsibility of other social and economic institutions for learning.

Ravitch’s  Findings (See < http://ksdcitizens.org/2010/05/01/52/>).

  • Diane Ravitch served in the administration of the first George Bush and has, for 20 years or more, championed the No Child Left Behind Act and the gradual take over of the public schools.  As a consummate researcher, however, Ravitch has followed the implementation of these “reforms” and, voila, she found she had been wrong.  The reforms have not worked and in some cases made the situation worse.  She reports this in her book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System.

No Child Left Behind-Bush II- 2001

  • States must set standards and measurable goals
  • Requires assessments at many grade levels and that all students be proficient by 2014.
  • Claims increased accountability
  • Highly qualified teachers
  • School choice (Vouchers and charter schools)

Criticism:

My comments follow:

TESTING

Kennewick, along with most cities and towns in the country, has relied on standardized testing as a way to improve achievement for the past twenty years despite the arguments of assessment experts (they designed the tests) who said they were not appropriate for this purpose and instruction experts (they know what needs to be taught), who argued for whole child solutions.  Kennewick School District has claimed vast improvement over the time period although the results don’t show up in higher graduation rates, greater college admissions, or any other measure than the same standardized tests at some grades, but not others.  TIME FOR TESTING IS INCREDIBLE.

GAMING THE SYSTEM

States have gradually eroded the cut scores and lowered standards to increase test scores and remain “making AYP”

IMPACT ON ELECTIVES

ksdcitizens.org is committed to education of the whole child.  We believe that restricted curriculum that shortchanges the arts, music, science, history, physical education and vocational subjects is a disservice to our children and places the entire culture at risk.  Others share our views and are beginning to speak up on behalf of their children.  We think it is time for Kennewick residents to speak up as well.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – America’s increasing reliance on standardized testing as a yardstick for educational success is a flawed policy that threatens to undermine the nation’s strengths of creativity and innovation, according to a provocative new book from a Michigan State University scholar.

By grading student success on government-set standards in a limited number of subjects such as math, reading and science, Yong Zhao argues the United States is eager to “throw away” one of its global advantages – an education that respects individual talents and does not dictate what students learn or how teachers teach.

LOSS OF LOCAL CONTROL

I am a test-weary parent/community member concerned for our schools and for the future of our children.

Prior to about 2000, important school policy decisions were deferred to local school boards and professional educators and administrators trained and committed to the education of our children.  Since the recent reform initiatives our schools are being driven by standardized tests and the mandates of the federal NCLB and RttT. I want my schools back, I want our teachers empowered again, I want our children to run off to school excited about learning and return home more prepared for the world we live in. It’s not a perfect system, but I believe our children are better off in the hands of professionally trained and committed teachers, than in the clutches of profit seeking test publishers, political rhetoric, and greedy, for-profit school advocates.

RURAL SCHOOLS SUFFER

Lack of highly qualified” teachers, AYP, unfunded mandates.

RACE TO THE TOP-Obama-Current

  • Links student test scores to teacher/principal evaluation
  • Sets National Standards/Assessment
  • Expands school choice forcing more charter schools

Criticism:

My comments follow:

LINK STUDENT TEST SCORES TO TEACHER EVAUATION

Economic Policy Institute report:

If new laws or policies specifically require that teachers be fired if their students’ test scores do not rise by a certain amount, then more teachers might well be terminated than is now the case. But there is not strong evidence to indicate either that the departing teachers would actually be the weakest teachers, or that the departing teachers would be replaced by more effective ones. There is also little or no evidence for the claim that teachers will be more motivated to improve student learning if teachers are evaluated or monetarily rewarded for student test score gains.  (the ten scholars whose names are on the document are some of the most eminent in educational circles, including among their midst former Presidents of the American Educational Research Association and the National Council on Measurement in Education, two of the three professional organizations most involved with psychological measurement,)

NATIONAL STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENT

Standards advocates argue that common standards are necessary for keeping the nation competitive in a global economy. But Mathis points out that research does not support this oft-expressed rationale. No studies support a true causal relationship between national standards and economic competitiveness, and at the most superficial level we know that nations with centralized standards generally tend to perform no better (or worse) on international tests than those without. Further, research shows that national economic competitiveness is influenced far more by economic decisions than by test scores.

Mathis also raises questions about the rapid development of the common-core standards, the lack of field testing, and the overarching need for any high-stakes consequences to be “valid,” pursuant to established professional guidelines. Given these concerns, he says that the prospect of positive effects on educational quality or equality “seems improbable.”

CHARTER SCHOOLS            Stanford Study

Of the 2403 charter schools reflected on the curve, 46 percent of charter schools have math gains that are statistically indistinguishable from the  average growth among their TPS comparisons.

Charters whose math growth exceeded their TPS equivalent growth by a significant amount account for 17percent of the total.

The remaining group, 37 percent of charter schools, posted math gains that were

significantly below what their students would have seen if they enrolled in local traditional public schools instead.

What We Are Doing About It