Stop using state and national assessments as a way to judge if teachers are doing their jobs. Here is a letter I just sent to the Free Press. I don't know if they will print it or not because it is fairly long so I am posting it here. Those who want real education reform need to stop putting all the apples in the testing basket, and they need to stop throwing data around to prove their point. Data needs to be analyzed. When newspaper writers and politicians just throw the numbers around it is misleading, and it becomes a tool of propaganda.
WHERE TO BEGIN?
Let's start with the editorial in Monday's paper, "New metrics reveal schools' real woes." "When the state Board of Education lowered the cut scores..." I am not sure the board ever lowered the cut scores, but yes, according to an esteemed colleague of mine, the scores were set low at the start with idea of raising them little by little. That was never done so now the scores have been raised dramatically. Then there is this statement; "More than three-quarters of the state's students did adequate work on the MEAP, but only 30% did so on the NAEP." I am assuming this is based on the data of 4th and/or 8th graders since both the MEAP and the NAEP are given at those grade levels, (the results of the 12th grade NAEP scores were not listed on the NAEP website, and the last results I found were from the 2009 assessment year.) First it must be pointed out that all 4th and 8th graders take the MEAP, but only a sampling of these students take the NAEP. Secondly, the 30% makes it sound like Michigan students tested far below the national average which isn't so. For 4th graders the scores in mathematics were just slightly lower, in reading they were practically even as they were in science, and only slightly below in writing. 8th grade scores were again, just slightly lower in mathematics, even in reading, slightly higher in science and just slightly below in writing. If another "sampling" of students were chosen the scores would have been different, perhaps far better. I find it interesting that on Jan 25th of this year, Lori Higgings, a Free Press education writer, had an article titled "Michigan students outpace U.S. national average on the NAEP exam!" Which way does the wind blow? The editorial goes on to say that "reraising" (again the scores have been dramatically increased, but I am not sure they have been "reraised), the cut scores will more closely reflect the standards that children are meeting in other states." Which states? I found many states where the scores on the NAEP were much lower than the national average. I believe the demographics of the states have much to do with the results. Then there is this; "Michigan's slide backward in educational achievement has been going on for a decade or more, and has touched a lot of different areas that now need attention." This statement is just another slap to Michigan educators, it has no backbone or data given to support it! On the positive side, the lack of funding for education in Michigan is mentioned as one of the areas that need attention. The writer of the editorial says that Michigan has antiquated tenure laws which give school districts too little leverage to get rid of underperforming instructors, and union leaders who have been slow to embrace performance-based metrics. I do not think any "good" teacher wants "bad" teachers to continue in the profession, however, you can not judge a "good" teacher based on the scores students get on state or national assessments because those scores reflect only how well the student tested that day, and not the knowledge the student has gained and can apply to real life and work situations. Do these tests have a place? Yes, but using just a number to decide if a school is succeeding in its job to educate its students is not it.
Rosemary
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