One question... for those that have special education IEP students that don't qualify for the special assessment... wouldn't the obvious solution be for their parents to opt them out? Why wouldn't they just do this?
Keep in mind my son is 3 almost 4 and developmentally delayed. He is years away from this so things might change both with the test and with him, but here is my take. For me, there is more than one scenario.
1. If things remain the same and the scores are still tied to school grades and hugely tied to teacher evaluations....I would have to do more research to see what impact opting out would have on his teacher's evaluation. If it harms their evaluation less to opt him out then I would do so.
2. If the tests are used strictly to measure progress and more feedback is given, rather than just a straight numerical 1-5 score, then I would have him take it. I would not stress about it at home and in fact I don't think I would even want him to see his results.
When are these results from? Just posting a chart presents nothing.
As for special needs students, imagine the swelling number of students "needing" assistance so that numbers aren't poorly impacted. There are districts that cheat, sorry, simple fact of reality. Our California district didn't test students with IEPs, just another way of skewing results.
Unfortunately, this is probably true. While I think the theory that schools should be able to decide is correct when tests are tied to things like evaluations, pay and school performance grades it does open the window to cheating. Look at what happened in Georgia a few years ago.
So??? Do you just want to give everyone a trophy for showing up? Not everyone can or will be an A student. Life just doesn't work that way and it's never worked that way. They aren't geared against anyone. If you dumb down the tests, the lower end students will still be lower end students.
You're right, not everyone is going to be an A student. My issue with this whole testing debacle is those in power, the politicians who put these policies in place, is that they want 100% proficiency for all kids at the same time. That will never happen. It just won't. My son is almost 4 and delayed. He won't meet the 4 year old milestones at 4. Below is the milestones copied from the CDC. Let's pretend they are "standards" for 4 year olds. Here is how my son would rate:
Social and Emotional
- Enjoys doing new things..... YES
- Plays “Mom” and “Dad” ......NO
- Is more and more creative with make-believe play..... YES
- Would rather play with other children than by himself..... YES
- Cooperates with other children..... YES
- Often can’t tell what’s real and what’s make-believe...... NO
- Talks about what she likes and what she is interested in.....YES
Language/Communication
- Knows some basic rules of grammar, such as correctly using “he” and “she”.....NO
- Sings a song or says a poem from memory such as the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or the “Wheels on the Bus”......NO
- Tells stories.....NO
- Can say first and last name.....NO
Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving)
- Names some colors and some numbers.....NO
- Understands the idea of counting.....YES
- Starts to understand time.....NO
- Remembers parts of a story......YES
- Understands the idea of “same” and “different”......NO
- Draws a person with 2 to 4 body parts.....NO
- Uses scissors......NO
- Starts to copy some capital letters.....NO
- Plays board or card games....NO
- Tells you what he thinks is going to happen next in a book.....NO
Movement/Physical Development
- Hops and stands on one foot up to 2 seconds......YES
- Catches a bounced ball most of the time......NO
- Pours, cuts with supervision, and mashes own food......NO
Looking at the above listing he would only score proficient in the social/emotional category. That doesn't mean his teachers aren't doing their job. It doesn't mean he won't get there. He has in fact made HUGE progress, but he won't be proficient when he is supposed to be.
Like I have said before I am not opposed to giving students assessments that are valid and reliable and that provide feedback, more so than a 1-5 score. But I do think it is foolish to think we can get to a place where all students are proficient at the same time. I don't think this is a problem with the test itself, but unfortunately it is what people in power are using to judge teachers and schools without taking into account that students differ so the tests themselves are getting a bad name.
