Wow - this is ridiculous - Very profound words from my principal, Stan Trout. Please, please read and then send a message to our state superintendent, Janet Costello Barresi, and legislators that this is NOT okay for our children. I finished my textbook YESTERDAY so I can use the rest of the year to review my students for the EOI and that way my kids taking all the other EOI tests required of them do not miss new material when they are gone for testing! I have no time for the fun projects that I have loved to share with my students and that they have loved to do - the reason, too much time on testing! Please spread the word that this has to stop! Based upon figures released in the Tulsa World this morning about yesterdays testing debacle, I did some rough figuring: 11,000 The number of students in grades 6-12 who were able to successfully test yesterday 8,100 The number of students in grades 6-12 who had testing difficulties yesterday 19,100 Total number of Oklahoma students involved in online testing in yesterdays morning session. Now, assume yesterday was a typical day in the spring testing window: x2 (2 testing sessions per day) 38,200 Number of students participating in online testing on a typical day x15 (15 days in the spring testing session) 573,000 Number of student online testing sessions, grades 6-12 in Oklahoma during the spring testing window x3 (3 hours per testing session) 1,719,000 Number of student-hours (lost instructional hours) devoted to online testing this spring. To be fair, we must adjust this number by a typical class size. So, lets say: /22 Average class size estimate 78,136 Number of hours of classroom instruction lost, grades 6-12, in the State of Oklahoma during the spring testing window (estimated). Note: this estimate does not account for lost instructional hours in grades 3-5. Yes, the total failure of the states testing vendor (CTB/McGraw Hill) is an inexcusable debacle. Yes, Janet Baressi chose this testing vendor, defended them after last years meltdown, and reassured us that it would not, could not happen again. And yes, she should be held accountable by voters for this inexcusable failure of leadership. But I fear that the professional and public outrage at the inadequacy of the online testing system is disguising much larger, more serious issues. What are we doing? Why are we spending valuable taxpayer dollars and even more valuable student and teacher time on a testing system of, at best, dubious value? Do we have any evidence that the so-called accountability movement is improving the quality of instruction or educational outcomes for Oklahoma students? Were the 7 End-of-Instruction (EOI) examinations ever intended to serve as a measure of overall school quality (A-F) or teacher-effectiveness, or as a standard for high school graduation (ACE)? I am afraid that the answer to all of the above questions is that the current system of assessment is the result of bad educational policy piled on top of bad educational policy extrapolated to its most absurd extreme. No Child Left Behind, ACE, RSA, TLE, etcetera were all well-intentioned but each has implications for the day-to-day operation of schools and (most importantly) the lives of students that were never intended or foreseen by the legislators who enacted them. The above rough estimate of the cost of the testing movement in instructional hours for Oklahoma secondary students is but one illustration of many that could be easily made to drive the point home. Our students are suffering from decades of bad educational policy. When will we take a fresh look at these policies for our students sake? Borrowed from Stan Trout - CPHS Principal
Posted on: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 14:07:45 +0000