High Stakes Testing

Every year, millions of students just like this one take high-‐stakes, standardized tests just like the one he’s taking here.


The poten=al rewards for success have spawned another baAery of tests to prepare for the high stakes assessments…

This boy will take over 120 mandated standardized tests before he graduates. While the stakes of these tests are high, their value is very low. and, in some cases, another layer of tes=ng to prepare students for the tests that prepare them for the tests that most maAer.

What follows is a look at how a culture of tes=ng is threatening our educa=on system and stealing value from teachers, students, and taxpayers.

Fortunately, there may be something we can do about it... Hanging in the balance are billions of dollars in school funding, teacher bonuses and job security, and the decision on whether this student passes to the next grade.





Fortunately, there may be something we can do about it... The poten=al rewards for success have spawned another baAery of tests to prepare for the high stakes assessments…






This boy will take over 120 mandated standardized tests before he graduates. While the stakes of these tests are high, their value is very low. This boy will take over 120 mandated standardized tests before he graduates.



This boy will take over 120 mandated standardized tests before he graduates. While the stakes of these tests are high, their value is very low.









Fortunately, there may be something we can do about it...

PASSING O N T H E

TEST HOW HIGH-STAKES TESTING THREATENS AMERICAN EDUCATION A N D W H A T W E C A N D O A B O U T I T

BY: K. RHODIE EDWARDS

WHAT ARE STANDARDIZED

TESTS?

HISTORY OF TESTING •  Originated in China

•  Popularized in U.S. •  1900s: IQ Test •  1910s: Military

Officer Candidacy •  1940s: ETS and

college admission

SOURCE: TIME.COM

USEFULNESS OF TESTING •  More efficient than

individually graded tests.

•  High-‐volume (high-‐N) tests allows for comparison between students.

•  Reliable scale allows for absolute score insights.

An individual student in this class can easily be ranked against other students in the class or other classes who took the same exam.

High-‐quality assessments generate rich data and can provide valuable informa9on about student progress to teachers and parents, support accountability, promote high expecta=ons, and encourage equity for students of color and low-‐income students.

Center for American Progress:

WHY DO WE TEST?

WHY DO WE TEST?

•  Required by No Child Left Behind

•  Managed by states

•  High-Stakes = big payoff

FEDERALLY MANDATED

DISTRICT MANDATED

GRANT REQUIRED

•  Used mostly as a practice or check-in for federally mandated tests.

•  Funds tied to completion of tests.

•  Helps with broad adoption of policies and practices.

WHY DO WE TEST?

•  Required by No Child Left Behind.

•  Managed by states.

•  High-Stakes

FEDERALLY MANDATED

DISTRICT MANDATED

GRANT REQUIRED




WHY DO WE TEST?

•  Required by No Child Left Behind.

•  Managed by states.

•  High-Stakes

FEDERALLY MANDATED

DISTRICT MANDATED

GRANT REQUIRED




USING STANDARDIZED

TESTS

USES FOR TESTS Each test below is mandated by some districts for one or more grades

PRE-TESTS FOR COLLEGE

ENTRANCE TESTS

COLLEGE PREP EXAMS

COMMON-CORE-ALIGNED

ASSESSMENTS

COLLEGE ENTRANCE TESTS

STATEWIDE DIAGNOSTIC EXAMS

DISTRICT BENCHMARKING

EXAMS

KINDERGARTEN READINESS TESTS

HIGH SCHOOL EXIT EXAMS

GIFTED & TALENTED

ASSESSMENT

SOURCE: CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS

TIME SPENT TESTING •  2% on tes=ng

•  18% on “Test Prep”

•  10% of addi=onal =me is spent by teachers on test-‐related ac=vi=es.

School Time Devoted to Tes9ng

SOURCES: COUNCIL OF GREAT CITY SCHOOLS, UFTA





SOURCES: COUNCIL OF GREAT CITY SCHOOLS, UFTA








School Time Devoted to Tes9ng Test-‐Focused School Days

65 Days

Involve

Tes9ng

Ac9vi9es

DIRECT COSTS OF TESTING •  $400 -‐ $1100 per student per year.

SOURCE: CARNEGIE FOUNDATION

•  Test licensing @ $250 •  Prep materials @ $550 •  Class Time Lost @ $300

INDIRECT COSTS OF TESTING TEACHER ATTRITION

•  45% of teachers considered quieng due to tes=ng.

•  Per-‐teacher recruitment and induc=on costs of $4 K -‐ $ 18K.

•  Annual NYC cost: $115 M

SOURCE: NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

MISUSING STANDARDIZED

TESTS T H E 3 0 0 P O U N D G O R I L L A I N T H E C L A S S R O O M : T E S T S D O N ’ T T E S T W H A T W E E X P E C T T H E M T O .

GOALS OF EDUCATION NOT TESTED

SURVEY OF THE US PUBLIC: PRESUMED GOALS OF EDUCATION

•  Prepare children for ci9zenship

•  Cul=vate a skilled workforce

•  Teach cultural literacy

•  Foster cri9cal thinking skills

•  Develop individuals to compete in a global economy

SOURCE: CARNEGIE FOUNDATION

DESIRABLE SKILL SETS NOT TESTED

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16%

Analy=cal Skills MS PowerPoint

Organiza=onal Skills Works Independently

Self-‐Star=ng Problem Solving Detail Oriented

MS Office Communica=ons Skills

Percent Indica,ng Demand for Each Skill

SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL DATA CORPORATION

Employers To IDC: Math (Analytics) Is The Only Mission-Critical Skill Set Tested In Schools.

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

All Students Gr 3-‐5

All Students Gr 4

Hispanics Gr 3-‐5

Hispanics Gr 4

Variance Accounted for Year-‐to-‐Year

TESTS ARE NOT ACCURATE SMALL DATA SETS MEAN HIGH VARIANCE

This is known as an ‘N’ problem.

We are only that math scores for 4th grade Hispanic students can be accurately compared to the same group last year.

11% certain

SOURCE: BROOKINGS INSTITUTION

CLICK FOR MORE INFO

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1


All Students Gr 4

Hispanics Gr 3-‐5

Hispanics Gr 4

Variance Accounted for Year-‐to-‐Year

THE ‘N’ PROBLEM Let’s say one student doubles her score from one year to the next whi le the scores of her peers stay the same. This change wi l l have a bigger effect on the average score of three students than i t wi l l on the average score of 100. I f we use these averages to infer the scores of every student in the grade, the larger sample s ize wi l l be far more accurate. This is why, when we dri l l down into smal ler subgroups of students, or look only at one year of test results we see more var iance.

NEXT

THE ‘N’ PROBLEM

SOURCE: BROOKINGS INSTITUTION

So even i f the average for each groups tests scores is the same 200 points , what we might expect them to score the next t ime around var ies great ly between groups. The average for a l l students wi l l be between 146 & 254 i f we include only the 4t h grade tests , but the average for Hispanics may be as low as 22 or as high as 378. The more tests in the data set , the more accurate the score.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400


All Students Gr 4

Hispanics Gr 3-‐5

Hispanics Gr 4

183

227

146

254 304

96

378

22

TESTS ARE NOT ACCURATE WALTER STROUP UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

72% of a test’s score measures students’ ability to take tests (constancy).

TESTS ARE NOT ACCURATE PEARSON’S RESONSE AS TEXAS TESTING PROVIDER

Actually, Stroup’s research shows that only 50.4% of results due to ‘constancy.’

SOURCE: PEARSON.COM

Marjorie Scardino. Pearson CEO 1997 - 2013

S o … i t ’ s m o r e l i k e a 2 0 0 p o u n d o r a n g u t a n

WHAT CAN WE

DO?

ALTERNATIVES TO TESTING

•  Alleviates the ‘N’ problem

•  Exacerbates other test-related problems.

TEST MORE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION

FOLLOW FINLAND

STEALTH ASSESSMENT

•  Focus on teacher quality

•  High standards, big investment

•  Results take decades

•  Assessment embedded in everyday tasks & games.

•  Continuously measures skills, attitudes, abilities.



•  Exacerbates other test-related problems.


FOLLOW FINLAND

STEALTH ASSESSMENT








•  Too many tests to prepare for.


FOLLOW FINLAND

STEALTH ASSESSMENT






STEALTH ASSESSMENT IN ACTION TEACH TO ONE b y N ew C l a s s r o oms

•  Every student has a laptop

•  Every exercise is a stealthy assessment

•  Data generates targeted lessons, leveled groups and pairs for next steps.

•  $100 per student per year (math only) CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO LEARN MORE.

WHY STEALTH ASSESSMENT? TEACH TO ONE RESULTS

During its second year, the neediest Teach to One students improved 81% more than the national norm.

0.75

1

1.25

1.5

1.75

2

Low Achieving (n=2,029)

Average Achieving (n=1,381)

High Achieving (n=707)

Ra9o of Teach to One Student Math Gains to Na9onal Norms

Results are statistically significant to alpha = .001 for low and average achieving students.

STEALTH ASSESSMENT IN ACTION NEWTON’S PLAYGROUND

•  Florida State University laboratory project

•  TEACHES: physics

•  ASSESSES: persistence, perfec=onism, organiza=on,

carefulness, physics CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO LEARN MORE.

Stealth assessments generate rich data and can provide valuable informa9on about student progress to teachers and parents, support accountability, promote high expecta=ons, and encourage equity for students of color and low-‐income students.

WHY STEALTH ASSESSMENT?

Which of Employers’ Most Requested Skillsets are Tested via Teach to One and Newton’s Playground?

WHY STEALTH ASSESSMENT?

It also empowers teachers to address student needs, adds =me back into the school day, and assesses our progress in

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16%

Analy=cal Skills MS PowerPoint

Organiza=onal Skills Works Independently

Self-‐Star=ng Problem Solving Detail Oriented

MS Office Communica=ons Skills

advancing popular and economic goals of educa=on.

WHAT STANDS IN

OUR WAY?

STUDENT DATA PRIVACY S E C U R I N G S T U D E N T D A T A F R E E S U S T O M O V E F O R W A R D

•  Large-‐scale reforms stall when talks of student data privacy arise.

•  Developers/corpora=ons need access to data for tools to be effec=ve.

•  Parents are concerned about breach of sensi=ve student data.

•  Schools are ill-‐equipped to manage data security. Source: Microsor.com

CURRENT LEGISLATION STUDENT DIGITAL PRIVACY AND PARENTAL RIGHTS ACT •  Introduced to the House March 2015

•  Cri=cized for being “toothless” because:

•  Allows for loopholes

•  Makes schools responsible for protec=on without considering feasibility of new requirements Speaker John A. Boehner, right, and Representa=ve Jared S. Polis (D-‐CO),

co-‐sponsor of the Student Digital Privacy and Parental Rights Act. Credit Pablo Mar,nez Monsivais/Associated Press

WHAT CAN YOU

DO?

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD EDUCATORS AND PARENTS SHOULD HAVE A VOICE IN THE BILL’S REVISIONS.

SIGN THE PETITION.

FREE STUDENTS FROM THE TEST.

THANK YOU. K . R H O D I E E D W A R D S

R H O D I E @ G M A I L . C O M

SIGN THE PETITION CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO SIGN THE PETITION

Education

High Stakes Testing