Status of Geography in High School Graduation Requirementsand Exit Exams GENIP Report, 2005

Geographic Education National Implementation Project (GENIP)

Prepared by Jessica K. Wdowiarz April 22, 2005

Introduction Literature Review Organization of Wdowiarz

Report Use of Report Summary of Findings Questions/Answers

Presentation

Question:

Which states require geography as part of high school graduation requirements? Is this geography part of state assessments?

Required assessments- Exit Exams

The Wdowiarz Report:

1. Updates geography in high school graduation requirements

2. Updates geography in high school assessment

3. Presents geography content in required high school exit exams

Introduction

Introduction

Sources for the Wdowiarz Report

Background

Meetings with Michael Cohen from Achieve, Inc.; Keith Gayler from the Center on Education Policy; Barbara Chow, Chris Shearer, and David Rutherford.

U.S. Department of Education Web sites

- National Center for Education Statistics State DOE Web sites State by state surveys Moore Report (2004) and Dean Report (2002)

Literature Review

American Diploma Project (ADP) Achieve, Inc.

2005. Rising to the Challenge: Are High Schools Graduates Prepared for College Work?

2004. The Expectations Gap: A 50 State Review of High School Graduation Requirements.

2004. Ready or Not: Creating a High School Diploma that Counts.

Center on Education Policy (CEP)

2002. State High School Exit Exams: A Baseline Report.

2003. State High School Exit Exams: Put to the Test.

2004. State High School Exit Exams: A Mature Reform.

Organization of Report

Written Report

Section I. Update of Geography High School Graduation Requirements

Section II. Update of Geography in High School Assessment

Section III. Geography in High School Exit Exams

Section IV. Individual State Summaries

Appendices I, II, III

Section I

Geography in High School Graduation Requirements

http://www.achieve.org/dstore.nsf/Lookup/coursetaking/$file/coursetaking.pdf

Summary of Findings

Geography in High School Graduation Requirements

Eleven states require geography courses for high school graduation (CA, D.C., KY, ME, MN, NM, RI, SD, TX, UT, VA)

28.61% (3,938,030) of U.S. high school students are required to take geography for high school graduation (calculated from NCES 2001 statistics)

KY, NM, TX, UT are the four states that have remained stable in requiring geography for high school graduation from 2002-2005. States have fluctuated from the Dean Report (2002), Moore Report (2004) , and the Wdowiarz Report (2005).

Graduation Requirements can be controlled in three ways:- State-controlled courses and credit hours (26 states and D.C.)- State-controlled credit hours, district-controlled courses (14 states)- Complete district-controlled (courses and credit hours) (10 states)

What can GENIP do?

Possible Approach:

Include geography in popular subjects largely assessed under social studies. “Piggy-back” content incorporating Geography standards.

- U.S. History would add 18 states- World History would add five states

Section II

Geography in High School Assessments

Types of AssessmentStandards-Based Tests (SBT) – Exams that measure a student’s knowledge or skills set in place to identify key areas a student should know.

End-of-Course Exams (EOC) - Exams taken after the completion of a specific course that assess content material covered from the curricula. (AK, MD, MS, MS, NY, OK, TN ,VA)

Criterion-Referenced Tests (CRT)- Tests that assess predetermined criteria for what a student should know.

Norm-Referenced Tests (NRT) – Tests that are bought from a testing company, useful for comparison of students to national average.

Minimum Competency/Basic Skills Exams (MC/BS) – Exams that measure a student’s knowledge of the ‘essentials’, or what a student should know to gain employment, function in society, or continue their education. (IA, MN, NE, NC, UT)

High School Assessment Forms, 2005

63%15%

4%

9% 9%

Standard-basedEnd of CourseCriterion Referenced TestsNorm-Referenced TestsMinimum Competency/ Basic Skills Exams

Summary of Findings (continued)

Geography in High School Assessment Twenty-three states have social studies assessments, 16 states include

geography under the social studies standards assessed. (CA, DE, GA, KS, LA, MD, MI, MS, NH, NM, NY, OH, OR, SD, TX, VA).

48.65% (6,681,243) of high school students in the U.S. can test in geography.

Virginia is the only state which offers a stand-alone geography test.

Twelve states allow district controlled assessment. (AK, CO, IA, KS, ME, MT, NE, NH, OR, PA, SD, VT)

The most common assessments are standards-based (63%). The second largest are end-of-course exams (15%), used by 7 states, five more considering.

Twenty-eight states do not assess outside of NCLB requirements of math, reading, and science.

What can GENIP do?

Possible Approach:

A prime opportunity for GENIP to promote geography is to target end-of-course exams for states or districts that offer/require geography courses in high school. They provide more opportunity to test geography standards than a combined social studies assessments.

GENIP can target states that are in the process of adopting/changing assessments and standards.

Target states that assess social studies but not geography (AL, KY, MA, NE, OK, TN)

Section III

Geography in High School Exit Exams

Geography Content in Exit Exams

Georgia High School Education Test Geography Content

13%19%

19%

15% 19%

15%

World Studies Map & Globe Skills

Civics/ Cit izenship US Hist. t ill 1865

US Hist. since 1865 Info. Processing

Louisiana GEE21 Graduation Exit Exam Geography Content

25%

20%

39%16%

Geography Civics Economics History

Mississippi Subject Area Testing Geography Content

10%

23%

39%

9% 19%

Geography CivicsInternational Relations Domestic AffairsEconomics

Texas TAKS Exit Exam

16%

24%24%

20% 16%

Geography Political InfluencesHistory Eco./ Social Infl.Social Studies Skills

In New York the Regents Exams can have various forms. Although the exam is mainly composed of history,

a third of the exam is reserved for geography.

Subject StandardsNumber of Questions

Percentage range

Geography 15-18 30-36%

U.S. and NY History 0-10 0-20%

World History 17-24 34-68%

Economics 5-24 10-48%

Civics, Citizenship, and Government 3-22 6-44%

Global History and Geography Regents Exams Specifications Grid (New York)

Geography Content in Exit Exams

Test Developers

The degree to which a contractor is involved with assessment development varies. Some states develop their own questions, frameworks, etc. Others rely entirely on the contractors. This information is provided in the state summaries.

The most mentioned contractors for high school exit exams were:

- CTB/McGraw-Hill (AL, IN, MA, NM, WA)

- American Institute for Research (CA, OH, SC), Measured Progress (NV, UT), Pierson Education Measurement (SC, TN)

Arizona, Louisiana, Minnesota, and New York develop their exit exams without a contractor.

Summary of Findings (continued)

Geography in High School Exit Exams

By 2008, 25 states will be implementing exit exams.

Eleven states require students to pass a social studies exit exam, eight of them test geography. (GA, LA, MD, MS, NM, NY, OH, TX).

30.23% (3,925,951) of all U.S. high school students are taking geography in an exit exam (calculated from NCES 2001 statistics).

Only five separate geography from other social studies strands when reported. (GA, LA, MS, NY, TX).

Georgia and New York offer the most geography in their social studies exit exams (GA- 34%; NY- 30-36%)

No state requires a stand-alone geography exit exam.

Rationale for AssessmentStates mentioned they do not to use exit exams because: District-controlled assessment State laws already in place Lack of funding Following NCLB requirements

States mentioned they do not assess social studies because: Lack of funding for new assessments Following NCLB requirements Adoption of new subjects is a slow process The state feels the current assessment is sufficient

States mentioned they do not assess geography because: The exams in use are history exams, specifically chosen as the primary social

studies assessment. (AL, MA, VA)

What can GENIP do?

Possible Approach:

States are not using exit exams or testing social studies are abstaining for viable reasons. It is not likely that their status will/can change in the near future.

May be able to separate geography in social studies tests by redesigning score reporting.

For states that do assess geography, GENIP can lobby for more geography content, or better questions.

Quality of Geography in Exit Exams?

If GENIP were to create a geography exit exam question bank, would it be beneficial to states for test development?

Of the 25 states asked, only 4 states expressed interest (LA, MS, NV, NC) in having out-of-state developed questions available. Six states mentioned that they are interested, but there are problems with adopting out-of-state developed questions, like bidding processes, item reviews, or the states simply do not have a social studies exam to use them.

15 states said they would not be interested.

What kind of questions are they asking anyway?

Sample Geography Questions

1. What Roman numeral on the map above correctly shows the location of the Great Plains?

A. IB. IIC. IIID. IV Mississippi

I

II

IV

III

http://www.punchstock.com/image/map_resources/1626556/comp/usa_conic-1319.jpg

Sample Geography Questions

2. Before the Silk Road, how did geography affect early China?

A. The mountains and deserts in western and southwestern China slowed the exchange of ideas.

B. The northwestern region provided many fertile areas suitable for farming.

C. The three major river systems provided barriers against invasion.

D. The lack of deep-water ports on the eastern coast prevented China from developing trade with other nations.

New York

E. (So Chris would pass) All of the Above

Individual State SummariesNOT IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

Categorized according to geography content in exit exams

Category I: States that do not use exit exams

Category II: States that do use exit exams, but do not assess social

studies.

Category III: States that use exit exams, assess social studies, but do

not test geography.

Category IV: States that use exit exams, assess geography, but do

not report sub-scores separate from social studies.

Category V: States that use exit exams, assess geography, and

report sub-scores separately.

Quick Overall Summary Eight states test geography in an exit exam. (GA, LA, MD, MS, NM, NY, OH,

TX). Five of them report geography scores separate (GA, LA, MS, NY, TX).

30.23% (3,925,951) of all U.S. high school students are taking geography in an exit exam.

Sixteen states include geography under the social studies standards assessed. (CA, DE, GA, KS, LA, MD, MI, MS, NH, NM, NY, OH, OR, SD, TX, VA).

48.65% (6,681,243) of high school students in the U.S. can be assessed in geography.

Eleven states require geography courses for high school graduation (CA, D.C., KY, ME, MN, NM, RI, SD, TX, UT, VA).

28.61% (3,938,030) of U.S. high school students are required to take geography for high school graduation (calculated from NCES 2001 statistics).

District control has an impact on a researcher’s ability to measure geography in education.

Implications for Future Washington, New Jersey, and Texas mentioned a reevaluation of

traditional social studies, expecting students to know less of date/place/person specifics, and more about the general concepts about the processes at work throughout history. Geography is the best subject to illustrate these processes. The great advantage of geography is versatility in the curriculum. Unfortunately, this flexibility is also geography’s downfall, as it is less likely for specific geography courses to be developed.

GENIP may consider merging geography with history; this would statistically increase the amount of geography in schools. As for increasing the quality of geography education, GENIP may consider focusing on end-of-course exams, or course-specific graduation requirements.

Questions and Answers?

http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/pdf/Ford_Classroom_NGM_Insert.pdf