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Item(s) found: 360
Lawmakers Seek to Loosen No Child Rules
Date CapturedWednesday August 29 2007, 10:51 AM
AP Nancy Zuckerman reports, "The proposal being circulated would allow states to measure how well students first learning English are doing at acquiring language skills instead of judging them on standard reading tests. The substitute test would only be allowed, however, for two years after the law is enacted. During that time, states would be expected to develop alternative tests for limited-English speakers - such as tests using simplified English."
CITY'S SAT SCORES SINK
Date CapturedWednesday August 29 2007, 6:38 AM
NY Post reports, "In a year that saw more students and more minorities than ever taking the most popular college-entrance exam, education leaders pointed to the upswing in participants as both a positive trend and also a contributing factor to the overall decline."
STANDARDS AID CUNY STUDENTS
Date CapturedMonday August 20 2007, 7:15 AM
NY Post op-ed contributor Alfred Posamentier, dean of the School of Education at City College-CUNY opines, "To allow students to enter a course without proper preparation is to do them a major disservice, setting them up for failure. It's best avoided with a proper admission requirement. An increase in standards at CUNY blocks no one from a college education, since anyone with a high-school diploma can qualify for admission. Those who cannot meet the new mathematics standards can simply enroll at one of CUNY's community colleges, where they can prepare to meet the standards."
Reform No Child Left Behind
Date CapturedSunday August 19 2007, 2:48 PM
Buffalo News op-ed contributor Murray B. Light, former editor of The Buffalo News opines, "One aspect of Miller’s proposed changes that most certainly will be opposed by the education unions would in effect be merit pay, something all these unions have vigorously fought, much to my surprise and displeasure. I favor merit pay for worthy teachers and have never understood the union opposition. Aware of the union stance, Miller does not allude to merit pay as such, instead saying that he would propose pay for performance, paying more to teachers based on how much their students improve and if their students were on a path that could lead to proficiency within a few years. Again, that makes eminent good sense. But it is unlikely to gain favor and be included in a renewal measure."
Survey finds some mid-Hudson school subjects left behind
Date CapturedTuesday August 14 2007, 7:47 AM
Times Herald-Record reports, "State and federal test requirements are forcing mid-Hudson schools to spend more time on math and English. The price is less time for everything else — from social studies and physical education to art and music, according to some educators. 'What gets tested gets taught,' said Jack Jennings, president and CEO of the Center on Education Policy, an education think tank that recently released a nationwide study on the issue."
New test rules fail CUNY's mission
Date CapturedSunday August 12 2007, 7:50 AM
NY Daily News op-ed contributor William Crain, professor of psychology at The City College, CUNY opines, "CUNY should totally revamp its admissions policy. It should give test scores only the weight they merit, and should use them as part of a holistic assessment that includes students' high school grades, talents and motivation. And it should look for ways to give more students a chance to enter the college of their choice. For generations, CUNY shone as a beacon of democratic opportunity. It can do so again."
A Letter from Selected Civil Rights Groups on Multiple Measures
Date CapturedThursday August 09 2007, 11:26 AM
EXCERPT: To counter the narrowing of the curriculum and exclusion of important subjects that has been extensively documented as a consequence of NCLB, the new law should also allow states to include other subjects, using multiple forms of assessment, in an index of school indicators. To ensure strong attention is given to reading and math, these subjects can be weighted more heavily. Graduation rates and grade promotion rates should be given substantial weight in any accountability system. Other relevant indicators of school progress, such as attendance and college admission rates, could be included.
'No Child' Needs to Expand Beyond Tests, Chair Says
Date CapturedTuesday July 31 2007, 9:19 AM
Washington Post reports, "Teacher unions, a powerful force in Democratic politics, strongly support the use of so-called multiple measures, but they are expected to oppose another Miller proposal: paying teachers based in part on how their students perform."
KLEIN SETS A RECORD
Date CapturedTuesday July 31 2007, 8:35 AM
NY Post opines, "Klein, with Bloomberg's strong backing: * Undertook to break up decades of bureaucratic infrastructure - sundering longstanding political alliances and an gering union leaders by the score. * Eliminated the corrupt community school boards, imposed a tougher new curriculum, demanded and got stricter performance standards - and put an effective end to social promotion. * Raised basic standards and expectations at the earliest grade levels and installed no-nonsense discipline to remove violent troublemakers from classrooms. * Encouraged the development of charter schools as an innovative way to challenge the long-accepted notions of education that clearly have not been working. * Demanded the same accountability and responsibility from teachers - and principals - as he has set for himself."
Fix NCLB
Date CapturedSunday July 29 2007, 9:03 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "Six years later, as the law comes up for reauthorization by Congress, frustration with its provisions are widespread as evidenced by the essays on today's Speaking Out page. But scrapping the law, which seeks to meet its outlined goal by 2014, isn't the solution. Rather, it needs to be fixed. In a number of places."
Regents exam: American history for dummies
Date CapturedWednesday July 18 2007, 8:29 AM
NY Daily News guest contributor Marc Epstein opines, "Before we allow Bloomberg and Richard Mills, the state's commissioner of education, to pop the champagne corks over improved test results and higher standards, let's examine the content of the product. Politicians and the public are forever demanding truth in packaging when it comes to food and other consumer products; why should they be deceived about the content of their children's educations?"
Regents exam: American history for dummies
Date CapturedWednesday July 18 2007, 8:29 AM
NY Daily News guest contributor Marc Epstein opines, "Before Mayor Bloomberg starts shelling out money to high school juniors for passing their New York State Regents exams, he would do well to bring as much scrutiny to the content of these tests as he does to the quantity of trans fats in restaurant food."
College Board Tries to Police Use of ‘Advanced Placement’ Label
Date CapturedWednesday July 18 2007, 8:21 AM
NY Times Tamar Lewin reports, "Developed 50 years ago for gifted students in elite high schools, the Advanced Placement program now exists in almost two-thirds of American high schools. In May, about 1.5 million students took 2.5 million Advanced Placement exams, hoping to earn college credit and impress college admissions offices, which often give applicants extra points on the transcript. But with so many more APs — real and fake — admissions officers have difficulty assessing them, especially since admission decisions are made before the May exams."
RACE-BIAS FLAP IN ELITE-HS TEST PREP
Date CapturedMonday July 16 2007, 6:23 AM
NY Post reports, "A free course offered by the city Department of Education to train students to ace admissions tests at elite public high schools like Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech has been quietly enforcing separate standards for blacks and Latinos compared with whites and Asians for the past decade, The Post has learned. Asian and white students had to be 'free-or reduced-lunch eligible' to qualify, according to department guidelines - meaning a white or Asian student from a family of four with an annual income above $37,000 was too rich for the program. Black and Latino students had no such family-income requirements."
Schools Move Toward Following Students’ Yearly Progress on Tests
Date CapturedFriday July 06 2007, 10:02 AM
NY Times reports, "Concerned that the traditional way amounted to an apples-to-oranges comparison, schools in more than two dozen states have turned to growth models. Now a movement is mounting to amend the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which is up for reauthorization this year, to allow such alternative assessments of student progress. Many urban educators contend that growth models are a fairer measure because they recognize that poor and minority students often start out behind, and thus have more to learn to reach state standards. At the same time, many school officials in affluent suburbs favor growth models because they evaluate students at all levels rather than focusing on lifting those at the bottom, thereby helping to justify instruction costs to parents and school boards at a time of shrinking budgets"
It's the students who were cheated
Date CapturedSunday June 24 2007, 12:56 PM
Newsday opines, "Don't buy into the argument that the Uniondale scandal is a side-effect of ratcheting up the pressure on school districts to perform better and better on 'high stakes' testing. There's legitimate debate on that issue in the state and around the country, but it's not relevant here. And don't buy into the notion that the investigators were picking on a minority district struggling to improve. No, the issue here is cheating, nothing more and nothing less. And not cheating by students with answers scribbled on their wrists, but by one or more adults responsible for the district's performance."
Cameras May Watch You Take Tests Online
Date CapturedTuesday June 19 2007, 4:13 PM
AP reports, "New technology will place cameras inside students' homes to ensure that those taking exams online don't cheat."
Students must unplug during Regents, or face losing their scores
Date CapturedTuesday June 19 2007, 8:48 AM
Times Herald-Record reports, "On orders of the state Education Department, the students are banned from using any "electronic device" during the all-important exams, including bathroom breaks. The ban covers cell phones, MP3 players, pagers, CD players, video devices — and all associated headphones, headsets, microphones and earplugs. 'If your cell phone rings, you may not answer it. If your pager beeps or vibrates, you may not look at it. You must turn these and other such devices OFF right now,' says the statement students hear before exams. Failure to comply vaporizes their score on the test. Students have to pass a battery of the exams to get their high school diplomas, so there is plenty of pressure to cheat."
Test fraud lands Uniondale schools on probation
Date CapturedFriday June 15 2007, 7:26 PM
Newsday John Hildebrand reports, "In what appears to be the worst case of test fraud in recent state history, the State Education Department has invalidated all test results in the Uniondale district for last year's math assessments in grades three to eight, together with all math Regents exams at the district's high school. All eight of the district's schools have been placed on academic probation as a result of the state's findings, and could see their state scholastic ratings slip next year if test scores don't improve. However, none of the 5,100 Uniondale students who took those tests have been implicated in the case, and no individual exam scores will be affected."
Good News on Math
Date CapturedFriday June 15 2007, 9:54 AM
NY Times opines, "The new scores won’t be considered fully legitimate until New York’s students are judged on the federally backed National Assessment of Educational Progress. That’s the country’s most rigorous exam and the yardstick for measuring state standards and tests. Even so, all signs suggest that the city and state are on the right track."
Valley Central hopes to do the No Child Left Behind act one, or two, better
Date CapturedFriday June 15 2007, 7:38 AM
Times Herald-Record reports, "Every member of the Accountability Task Force has equal leverage. 'We have some teachers (on the task force) who are among the greatest thinkers in the district,' said Hooley, 'and they're not afraid to disagree with me.' When the plan is finished, by the start of the next school year, Valley Central will have an in-house system for measuring expectations and achievement in every department."
Opposing view: We're attacking the issues
Date CapturedThursday June 14 2007, 10:24 AM
USA Today op- ed contributor Hank M. Bounds, Mississippi's education superintendent opines, "In Mississippi, we know real improvement takes more than changing the standard on a test. Clearly, expectations and standards matter, but school leaders must focus on more than just standards. That is why we are increasing the rigor of the curriculum and assessments, increasing the quantity and quality of teachers and administrators, creating a culture that values education, and redesigning education for the 21st century workforce. We have built the most comprehensive plan in the country to attack all of these issues. Overcoming the poverty that has historically kept Mississippi near or at the bottom will not be easy, but it must be done. It is the right thing to do for our children."
This Is a Test. Results May Vary.
Date CapturedWednesday June 13 2007, 10:25 AM
NY Times reports, "Mr. Tobias [directs the Center for Research on Teaching and Learning at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education} said officials generally did not analyze high scores as aggressively as falling ones, and his remark betrays a weary understanding of educational politics. 'Why would you take away your own good story?' he said."
It all adds up to success
Date CapturedWednesday June 13 2007, 10:15 AM
NY Daily News opines, "Next year, Bloomberg and Klein are giving teachers the ability to closely track how well students are learning, so those who lag can get immediate special attention. And the mayor and chancellor are giving parents report cards that will grade how individual schools are working. The trends are moving in the right direction after years of stagnation, and the innate abilities of thousands of kids are finally being unlocked."
STATEWIDE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IMPROVES ACROSS GRADES 3-8 ON 2007 MATH TESTS
Date CapturedWednesday June 13 2007, 7:58 AM
NY SED press release: Achievement in grade 3-8 math has improved overall this year, according to State test results announced today by Regents Chancellor Robert M. Bennett and State Education Commissioner Richard Mills. The improvement is notable in middle school, from grades 5-8. This year, 73 percent of students across grades 3-8 achieved the math standards, compared to 66 percent last year. Fewer students also are showing serious academic problems in all grades. The achievement gap narrowed. Across grades 3-8, the number of black students achieving the standards increased from 46 percent last year to 55 percent this year. The number of Hispanic students achieving the standards increased from 52 percent last year to 61 percent this year. White students increased from 76 to 82 percent. Results for students with disabilities also improved overall.
New York City math scores climb
Date CapturedTuesday June 12 2007, 7:46 AM
NY Daily News Erin Einhorn reports, "Fourth-graders did better than last year, but their 74.1% passing rate was less than their peers in 2005, when 77.4% passed. This year's eighth-graders had the highest passing rate since 1999 with 45.7% passing, compared with the previous high of 42.4% in 2004. In 1999, 2000 and 2001, less than 23% of eighth-graders passed. Sol Stern, a frequent Bloomberg critic and a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said the scores 'are better than being flat,' but grumbled: 'If that's all you can produce with 15 extra school days [the sum of 37-1/2 minutes over a year], 4 billion extra dollars, thousands of extra teachers and a greater emphasis on test preparation, I don't think it's spectacular. It's not worth the Nobel Prize.'"
States get creative in minimizing law's impact
Date CapturedMonday June 11 2007, 7:33 AM
Star-Gazette reports, "One way states can postpone committing to the goals of No Child Left Behind is to make their standardized tests easy enough for most students to pass. But there are other options as well:"
STATE VS. NAEP COMPARISONS RELEASED TODAY
Date CapturedFriday June 08 2007, 10:24 AM
The comparison shows that New York ranks as follows: * 9th among 32 states in grade 4 reading (The state test in grade 4 and 8 is actually a test of reading and writing.) * 3rd among 34 states in grade 8 reading * 29th among 33 states in grade 4 math * 13th among 36 states in grade 8 math.
Tests criticized as inconsistent
Date CapturedFriday June 08 2007, 8:22 AM
Poughkeepsie Journal reports, "The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires all public schools to improve their scores in state tests by a set percentage each year. What it doesn't determine is the content of those tests. Local critics say this is unfair because standards are literally 'all over the map.'"
It's a cash course
Date CapturedFriday June 08 2007, 8:12 AM
NY Daily News Juan Gonzalez writes, "Under the unusual program, pupils in as many as 400 autonomous public schools that are part of Chancellor Joel Klein's Empowerment Schools program will be rewarded with money for results. Fourthgraders would get $25 and seventh-graders would get $50 for nailing a perfect score on a new battery of assessment tests from CTB/McGraw-Hill. The new assessments, announced by the Department of Education last week, will be administered a whopping five times a year to all city students from the third to the eighth grades. This will be in addition to the existing high-stakes New York state English language and math tests, though the McGraw-Hill tests are not meant to determine student placement, officials say. Under the cash incentive plan, all participating students will receive smaller amounts of money just to take the McGraw-Hill tests, according to internal Department of Education memos obtained by the Daily News."
Mapping 2005 State Proficiency Standards Onto the NAEP Scales
Date CapturedThursday June 07 2007, 11:04 AM
This report presents the results of applying a methodology for mapping state proficiency standards in reading and mathematics onto the appropriate NAEP scale, employing data from the 2004–05 academic year. The mapping exercise was carried out for both grades 4 and 8. For each of the four subject and grade combinations, the NAEP score equivalents to the states’ proficiency standards vary widely, spanning a range of 60 to 80 NAEP score points. Although there is an essential ambiguity in any attempt to place state standards on a common scale, the ranking of the NAEP score equivalents to the states’ proficiency standards offers an indicator of the relative stringency of those standards. There is a strong negative correlation between the proportions of students meeting the states’ proficiency standards and the NAEP score equivalents to those standards, suggesting that the observed heterogeneity in states’ reported percents proficient can be largely attributed to differences in the stringency of their standards. There is, at best, a weak relationship between the NAEP score equivalents for the state proficiency standard and the states’ average scores on NAEP. Finally, most of the NAEP score equivalents fall below the cut-point corresponding to the NAEP Proficient standard, and many fall below the cut-point corresponding to the NAEP Basic standard. This report presents the results of applying a methodology for mapping state proficiency standards in reading and mathematics onto the appropriate NAEP scale, employing data from the 2004–05 academic year. The mapping exercise was carried out for both grades 4 and 8. For each of the four subject and grade combinations, the NAEP score equivalents to the states’ proficiency standards vary widely, spanning a range of 60 to 80 NAEP score points. Although there is an essential ambiguity in any attempt to place state standards on a common scale, the ranking of the NAEP score equivalents to the states’ proficiency standards offers an indicator of the relative stringency of those standards. There is a strong negative correlation between the proportions of students meeting the states’ proficiency standards and the NAEP score equivalents to those standards, suggesting that the observed heterogeneity in states’ reported percents proficient can be largely attributed to differences in the stringency of their standards. There is, at best, a weak relationship between the NAEP score equivalents for the state proficiency standard and the states’ average scores on NAEP. Finally, most of the NAEP score equivalents fall below the cut-point corresponding to the NAEP Proficient standard, and many fall below the cut-point corresponding to the NAEP Basic standard.
Study: Big Differences in State Tests
Date CapturedThursday June 07 2007, 11:04 AM
AP Nancy Zuckerbrod reports, "The federal government's first-ever comparison of how states test for student progress in school shows big variations across the nation. For example, a reading score that rates a fourth-grader 'proficient' in Mississippi would be a failing score in Massachusetts, according to a report released Thursday by the Education Department."
New Study Finds Gains Since No Child Left Behind
Date CapturedWednesday June 06 2007, 10:27 AM
NY Times SAM DILLON reports, "In the decade before the law was passed, many states had adopted policies aimed at raising achievement, like broadening access to early childhood programs, that could also be responsible for gains. The study also acknowledged that the increases in achievement recorded by many state tests had not been matched by results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, nationwide reading and math tests administered by the federal Department of Education."
Schools failing to secure exams
Date CapturedWednesday June 06 2007, 9:01 AM
Times Union reports, "Several school districts sampled statewide failed to properly protect Regents exams before they were administered, a state comptroller's office report released Tuesday said. The state Education Department ships the Regents materials in sealed packages that are locked inside boxes, according to the report, released by Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Schools are required to inventory the packages and place them back in the boxes in a safe or vault until exam day."
State improves tracking of student performance, information
Date CapturedSunday June 03 2007, 10:18 AM
The Journal News reports, "Because every public school and charter school student has been given a unique 10-digit identification number, it is possible to track students as they move from school to school, anywhere in the state. That will help the state develop more accurate graduation and dropout rates. The system, which will be maintained by an outside contractor, also holds the promise of richer analysis of student performance. Musser said it would be possible, for example, to analyze the relationship between a pupil's performance on third-grade tests and his or her achievement in upper grades. Such research will help the state and schools develop education policy and help students who are poor performers in lower grades be able to pass high school Regents exams."
Testing students & teachers; An $80 million system to scrutinize student performance is scrutinized
Date CapturedSaturday June 02 2007, 8:54 AM
NY Daily News opines, "The critics are naysaying. Randi Weingarten, president of a teachers union whose members' strengths and weaknesses will be placed on view: 'How much teaching time is this eating up?' The head of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing: 'We've reduced schooling to preparing for bubble tests.' Kids in struggling schools and knee-jerk critics of education reform: When will they ever learn?"
Report shows schools' progress under No Child Left Behind Act
Date CapturedThursday May 31 2007, 7:55 PM
AP reports, "Almost half the eligible schools in New York received ratings of 'High Performing/Gap Closing' for the 2005-2006 school year under the No Child Left Behind Act, state education officials said Thursday. The 1,658 public schools, 14 charter schools and 288 public school districts got the designation for meeting all applicable state standards and showing adequate progress in English and math for two years. They included 1,120 elementary schools, 301 middle and 251 high schools. Another 220 public schools, six charter schools and 26 districts were designated 'Rapidly Improving' -- about 6 percent of those eligible -- because they were below state standards in at least one subject but improving. The 148 elementary, 44 middle and 34 high schools improved for three straight school years."
How Educators in Three States Are Responding to Standards-Based Accountability Under No Child Left Behind
Date CapturedThursday May 31 2007, 10:42 AM
This research brief describes work done for RAND Education documented in Standards-Based Accountability Under No Child Left Behind: Experiences of Teachers and Administrators in Three States, by Laura S. Hamilton, Brian M. Stecher, Julie A. Marsh, Jennifer Sloan McCombs, Abby Robyn, Jennifer Lin Russell, Scott Naftel, and Heather Barney, MG-589-NSF, 2007, 302 pp., ISBN: 978-0-8330-4149-4. "Key findings: Most superintendents considered three improvement strategies most important: using data for decisionmaking, aligning curriculum with state standards, and focusing on low-performing students. Teachers changed their instruction in both desirable and undesirable ways. Most educators felt challenged by insufficient alignment among state standards, curriculum, and tests. The researchers recommend improving alignment among standards, tests, and curriculum; providing educators with professional development assistance; and exploring ways to measure performance more accurately."
New Covenant's fate
Date CapturedThursday May 31 2007, 9:29 AM
Times Union opines, "Whatever meeting, or review, is planned should have been held long ago, before New Covenant officials decided to announce the school's closing. As for any new information that might be presented, it is beside the point. What matters is what has long been known about New Covenant -- some of the lowest test scores in the Capital Region and, in view of the State University of New York, which granted the charter, a chaotic environment. New Covenant has had time enough to prove itself. It hasn't."
ELIOT'S ODD ED. REFORMERS
Date CapturedThursday May 31 2007, 9:05 AM
NY Post opines, "Under Goldstein, CUNY accepts every New Yorker with a high-school diploma who wishes to attend. Not everyone starts at the senior-college level, but everyone can earn a spot - over time, with hard work. He's shown the way. Will Spitzer's panel follow? "
TESTS SYSTEM E-ASIER
Date CapturedThursday May 31 2007, 8:49 AM
NY Post reports, "In a sense, it is like the Police Department's CompStat crime analysis tool for the classroom. And the data makes it easier for administrators to keep an eye on how teachers are performing, Klein said. For instance, if a disproportionate number of students get the same question wrong, that could be an indicator that a teacher needs coaching. Students and parents will also be given special accounts to go online and access individual results. All test results - whether taken on paper or on computer - will be online within five days. The system was designed by McGraw-Hill Companies and Scantron. It will eventually be incorporated into an even larger, $80 million database being developed by IBM that tracks results on all standardized tests. Teachers can create their own periodic assessment tests but can still track them on the database. They can also choose from a menu of ready-to-go assessment tests. Previous tests were 'one size fits all,' Klein said.
With lawsuit looming, Spellings discusses No Child Left Behind
Date CapturedTuesday May 29 2007, 5:15 PM
AP reports, "U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings vigorously defended the No Child Left Behind Act Tuesday in Connecticut, which has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the education law." Additionally, "The Department of Education plans to approve growth models for up to 10 states in a pilot program, with five already approved and two others approved conditionally."
Literacy, really
Date CapturedMonday May 28 2007, 8:59 AM
The Journal News opines, "For starters, school leaders must have high expectations for all staff and students, and quickly supply academic interventions for struggling students. Mills [New York State Commissioner of education] also said that infusing literacy, the ability to read and write well, into every facet of schooling must be paramount. Written answers, say, on a chemistry test, actually have to be properly constructed with correct spelling and grammar. "Literacy,'' Mills said, "must be emphasized across all subjects.'' The other testing area that "most people predicted doom in,'' the commissioner said, was the performance this year of "English Language Learners'' who have been in the country at least a year and now are required by NCLB to take the same English tests as peers; previously students could get a waiver of three years of more. More than double the number of such students took the tests this year - 72,000-plus - yet a higher percentage met or exceeded the standard than last year, 18 percent to 16.2 percent statewide. Not great, but not doom."
Teachin' substance with style; Grand Concourse charter school tops city's 4th-grade test scores
Date CapturedSunday May 27 2007, 4:23 PM
NY Daily News Ethan Rouen reports, "The teachers often work 13-hour days, meeting with parents, grading weekly book reports and testing students every other month. Following tests, students are regrouped based on their performance. The school frowns on social promotion, refusing to graduate unprepared students based on age or parent pressure. The repetitive testing also serves as a way for Victor to grade his teachers."
Secretary Spellings Approves Additional Growth Model Pilots for 2006-2007 School Year
Date CapturedSaturday May 26 2007, 8:44 AM
The Department intends to gather data to test the idea that growth models can be fair, reliable and innovative methods to measure student improvement and to hold schools accountable for results. Growth models track individual student achievement from one year to the next, giving schools credit for student improvement over time. The pilot program enables the Department to rigorously evaluate growth models and ensure their alignment with NCLB, and to share these results with other States.
A GLIMMER OF HOPE
Date CapturedThursday May 24 2007, 7:26 AM
NY Post opines, "Previously, English as a Second Language (ESL) students didn't have to take the reading test until after their third year in a U.S. school. In New York City, this meant a sudden jump in students taking the test despite not being proficient in English - from 24,000 last year to nearly 55,000. Obviously, kids still learning the language will have trouble passing an English reading test. Factor out those students, and the city's third-grade pass rate is virtually unchanged from last year. The total results for all kids in grades 3-8 in city schools were also virtually unchanged - 50.7 percent passing last year, 50.8 percent this year. Take ESL students out of that mix, and it becomes a rise from 53.2 percent to 56 percent."
A push to raise bar for school smarts
Date CapturedSunday May 20 2007, 10:31 AM
Newsday JOHN HILDEBRAND AND MARY ELLEN PEREIRA report, "Scholastic standards set by New York and other states for their students fall far short of national standards, according to educational activists with deep pockets who are pushing for higher expectations."
Ed groups push for joint NCLB changes
Date CapturedFriday May 18 2007, 8:36 PM
Six of the nation's top education groups, including the National School Boards Association, jointly urged Congress to reauthorize NCLB to focus on five major areas of change: • A redesign of the federal accountability framework to improve public schools rather than abandon them. • Valid, reliable, unbiased assessment systems that are aligned with state standards. • Maximum flexibility for states and school districts to address the assessment and learning needs of English language learners and students with disabilities. • Helpful interventions tailored to the needs of schools and communities rather than the current system of punitive sanctions. • Determination of the qualifications of principals, teachers, and other education professionals by states and local school districts.
New York State School and District Report Cards for School Year 2005-2006
Date CapturedFriday May 18 2007, 8:45 AM
These Report Cards are produced to inform the people of New York State about the performance of public schools and districts. We hope that these reports are used in constructive conversations which lead to improved education for all children in the State. Select a county to access school and district reports:
Study Finds College-Prep Courses in High School Leave Many Students Lagging
Date CapturedWednesday May 16 2007, 7:20 AM
NY Times KAREN W. ARENSON reports, "Only a quarter of high school students who take a full set of college-preparatory courses — four years of English and three each of mathematics, science and social studies — are well prepared for college, according to a study of last year’s high school graduates released yesterday by ACT, the Iowa testing organization."
Rigor at Risk: Reaffirming Quality in the High School Curriculum
Date CapturedWednesday May 16 2007, 7:10 AM
The Rigor at Risk report suggests that some students progress toward college readiness in high school, but many lose momentum during their last two years there. There are action steps that states and schools can take to improve the rigor of high school core courses: 1. Specify the number and kinds of courses that students need to take to graduate from high school ready for college and work. 2. Align high school course outcomes with state standards that are driven by the requirements of postsecondary education and work. 3. Hire qualified teachers and provide training or professional development support to help them improve the quality of the courses they teach. 4. Expand access for all students to high-quality, vertically aligned core courses. 5. Measure results at the course level.
More schools on LI making the grade
Date CapturedSaturday May 12 2007, 9:26 AM
Newsday John Hildebrand reports, "Private analysts are skeptical. They note that the state Education Department for the first time this year has decided not to release "school report cards" until budget votes are completed. Voters need those report cards to judge schools' performance, analysts say, because the reports cover test results for a full range of subjects, not just the highlights. And some voice concern that the state would release the names of the highest-scoring schools so close to election time. "So we're having a cheerleader session before the budget vote," said B. Jason Brooks, a senior research associate at the Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability, an Albany-area think tank. 'Yet parents and residents don't have straightforward data.'"
Scarsdale schools' plan to drop AP courses sparks backlash
Date CapturedSaturday May 12 2007, 8:54 AM
The Journal News reports, "McGill [Scarsdale superintendent Michael V. McGill] said money has nothing to do with it. Rather, the school district wants to offer an education that will distinguish it from the thousands of high schools that offer AP courses. McGill explained that the board was responding to concerns about the quality of the advanced placement courses. The board authorized McGill on Monday to eliminate AP art and social studies courses in September to determine if an advanced topics plan works for those subjects. If results are positive, the district will eliminate AP courses such as English, math, science and foreign languages. McGill said that students who want to take an AP test can still do so, and the district will provide test preparation courses. About 70 percent of Scarsdale's high school students take an advanced placement class, and about half of those take more than one."
A check mark under 'tardy' for the state
Date CapturedTuesday May 08 2007, 9:35 AM
Times Union reports, "Typically, the state Education Department releases the data to the media in the form of lengthy computer files. Newspapers and other outlets then sift through the data and present it in a user-friendly form that allows for school-to-school and district-to-district comparisons. But as of Monday, the data hadn't been released to the media. Education Department officials did not say why, but did say it could be coming as soon as this week."
Government Eyes Special Ed Requirements
Date CapturedThursday May 03 2007, 10:18 PM
AP reports, "The Bush administration, following passage of a broad special education law, issued rules in October that rewrote the way schools determine if a child has a learning disability. States have largely relied on a 1970s-era method that looks for disparities between a child's IQ and achievement scores."
School board ties professional development to state standards
Date CapturedThursday May 03 2007, 8:13 AM
Kingston Freeman reports, "The goal of the plan is to boost student achievement through continued staff education. The plan passed unanimously, but there was contention at Wednesday's meeting over wording in the plan setting a goal for professional staff to implement 100 percent of state standards for education. Trustee Marc Tack argued that focusing solely on state standards ignores the district's mission, which is 'to educate, inspire, and graduate students who are excellent in scholarship and character and are empowered to reach their maximum potential as responsible and productive members of society.'"
N.C.A.A. Cracks Down on Prep Schools and Angers Some
Date CapturedTuesday May 01 2007, 8:52 AM
NY Times reports, "The N.C.A.A. quietly passed legislation last week to continue its fight against prep schools that require minimal academic study. In perhaps its most significant move to deter diploma mills, the N.C.A.A. will limit high school students to one core course that would count toward college eligibility after a student’s four-year high school graduation date. The decision will shut down a glaring N.C.A.A. loophole, one exploited by diploma mills: students avoided graduating high school to pad their grade point average in a fifth year. The N.C.A.A. also hopes the new policy will help eliminate schools that exist solely to qualify players for college scholarships."
Schools survey sez... $3.3M plan will quiz all PS teachers, students & parents for overall grade
Date CapturedTuesday May 01 2007, 7:37 AM
NY Daily News reports, "In anonymous surveys going out this week, parents will describe their perceptions of schools, while teachers will rate their principals - and reveal whether parents respond to calls home. And kids in grades six through 12 will rate the quality of their assignments and disclose whether their classmates are in gangs or use drugs."
State probes test fraud in Uniondale schools
Date CapturedSunday April 29 2007, 9:31 AM
Newsday John Hildebrand reports, "The state is investigating potentially large-scale test fraud in the Uniondale school district, including alleged tampering with Regents exams required for graduation, state and local officials said. Investigators from the state attorney general's office questioned both school administrators and teachers last week, according to Uniondale officials who expressed anguish about the situation. The district plans to send out letters Monday to parents of the district's 6,400 students, acknowledging the state probe. Findings could be announced this week. Education Department officials said if any district staffers are implicated, students' scores on past tests would not be affected -- unless students themselves also are found culpable."
Ten Accountability Lessons: What Works and What Does Not What Works and What Does Not
Date CapturedSaturday April 21 2007, 9:53 PM
Boosting Accountability in New York’s Schools How to Meet the Governor’s Historic Challenge March 8, 2007 Ten Accountability Lessons: What Works and What Does Not What Works and What Does Not Paul E. Peterson Paul E. Peterson – Harvard University Harvard University Lesson 1: Lesson 1: Overall, accountability seems to have Overall, accountability seems to have positive effects. positive effects. Effect of State Accountability Effect of State Accountability Systems on NAEP Performance Systems on NAEP Performance 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 none with report card with accountability math gains 4th to 8th grade (% of a standard deviation) Change in NAEP Test Scores Change in NAEP Test Scores (All Students, 1992/98 (All Students, 1992/98 - 2005) 2005) 18.5 2.5 10.7 -0.3 25.2 11.2 14.1 1.2 19.7 8.1 13.3 0.3 -10 0 10 20 30 4th Grade Math 4th Grade Reading 8th Grade Math 8th Grade Reading Change in Score (1992/98 to 2005) U.S. Florida New York Note: For 8th Grade Reading, comparison years are 1998 and 2005; for all others, 1992 and 2005. Stars denote changes in the state scores that were significantly higher or lower than the changes in the U.S. overall. Change in NAEP Scores Change in NAEP Scores (Black Students, 1992/98 (Black Students, 1992/98 - 2005) 2005) 27.7 7.9 18 0 35 17.8 14.8 2.4 24.6 8.3 25.2 -3.8 -10 0 10 20 30 40 4th Grade Math 4th Grade Reading 8th Grade Math 8th Grade Reading Change in Score (1992/98 to 2005) U.S. Florida New York Note: For 8th Grade Reading, comparison years are 1998 and 2005; for all others, 1992 and 2005. Stars denote changes in the state scores that were significantly higher or lower than the changes in the U.S. overall. Change in NAEP Scores Change in NAEP Scores (Hispanic Students, 1992/98 (Hispanic Students, 1992/98 - 2005) 2005) 24.2 6.9 14.1 3.5 25.6 12.1 18.4 4.5 29.2 24.2 21.4 3.9 0 10 20 30 40 4th Grade Math 4th Grade Reading 8th Grade Math 8th Grade Reading Change in Score (1992/98 to 2005) U.S. Florida New York Note: For 8th Grade Reading, comparison years are 1998 and 2005; for all others, 1992 and 2005. Lesson 2: Lesson 2: Accountability, as we know it, is not Accountability, as we know it, is not transforming schools. transforming schools. National Assessment of Educational Progress, 1971-2004 Age 17, Math 225 250 275 300 325 1971 1982 1993 2004 Scale Score White Black Hispanic National Assessment of Educational Progress, 1971-2004 Age 17, Reading 225 250 275 300 325 1971 1982 1993 2004 Scale Score White Black Hispanic Lesson 3: Lesson 3: Accountability is cost effective. Accountability is cost effective. Lesson 4: Lesson 4: NCLB NCLB’s measuring stick is flawed measuring stick is flawed – standards vary by state. standards vary by state. Variation in State Variation in State Proficiency Proficiency Standards, 2005 Standards, 2005 Lesson 5: Lesson 5: NCLB NCLB’s measuring stick conflicts measuring stick conflicts with state accountability measures. with state accountability measures. Comparison with Florida Comparison with Florida’s Measuring Stick Measuring Stick Lesson 6: Lesson 6: NCLB does a poor job of identifying NCLB does a poor job of identifying good schools. good schools. Accuracy of Measuring Stick Accuracy of Measuring Stick Lesson 7: Lesson 7: For accountability to work, states For accountability to work, states need to build a data base that can need to build a data base that can track students over time. track students over time. Lesson 8: Lesson 8: Schools respond if accountability Schools respond if accountability contains a penalty. contains a penalty. Florida Student Gains from Being Florida Student Gains from Being Threatened by the Voucher Option Threatened by the Voucher Option 10 percent of a standard deviation 10 percent of a standard deviation (about half the size of the class size reduction, (about half the size of the class size reduction, at little or no cost) at little or no cost) Lesson 9: Lesson 9: Student accountability is more Student accountability is more effective than school accountability. effective than school accountability. “The student is the crucial actor. The student is the crucial actor. Whether we adults like it or not, he or Whether we adults like it or not, he or she decides what has been purveyed. she decides what has been purveyed.” - Theodore Theodore Sizer Sizer High Stakes Testing in Chicago High Stakes Testing in Chicago Math Results Math Results High Stakes Testing in Chicago High Stakes Testing in Chicago Reading Results Reading Results Achievement Trend Achievement Trend – Chicago vs. Chicago vs. Other Large Midwestern Cities Other Large Midwestern Cities Change in Test Score Gains Change in Test Score Gains Resulting from Florida Resulting from Florida’s Retention s Retention Policy Policy – Low Performing Students Low Performing Students Change in Test Score Gains Change in Test Score Gains Resulting from Florida Resulting from Florida’s Retention s Retention Policy Policy – Retained Students Retained Students Impact of School Autonomy and Impact of School Autonomy and Central Exams on Math Test Scores Central Exams on Math Test Scores % of a standard deviation % of a standard deviation % of a standard deviation % of a standard deviation Statewide MCAS Math Results Statewide MCAS Math Results 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 '98 '99 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 Percentage at or above proficient 4th grade 8th grade 10th grade Lesson 10: Lesson 10: Principals and teachers, not schools, Principals and teachers, not schools, need to be held accountable. need to be held accountable.
Saving 'No Child Left Behind' From Itself
Date CapturedSaturday April 21 2007, 3:01 PM
Fox News reports Dan Lips, education analyst, The Heritage Foundation, "Under the new approach, states would be free to use federal education funds as they see fit, provided they maintain student testing to assess their progress and make the test results publicly available. Some NCLB supporters charge that the conservative plan would undermine accountability. Sandy Kress, a former Bush administration education adviser, protested: 'Republicans used to stand for rigor and standards, but no money for education. Now they seem to be for the money, but no standards.'”
Boosting Accountability in New York's Schools
Date CapturedFriday April 20 2007, 9:12 AM
How to Meet the Governor's Historic Challenge, Thursday, March 8, 2007. A panel of state and national education experts gathered at the state Capitol in Albany March 8 to examine and debate Gov. Spitzer's historic education reform plan, which aims to hold New York schools more accountable than ever before. This page features a link to a slide presentation by one of the featured speakers, and also includes streaming audio of the event including John C. Reid, Assistant Secretary for Education State of New York; Thomas W. Carroll, President, Foundation for Education Reform & Accountability; Paul E. Peterson Director, Program on Educational Policy and Governance Kennedy School of Government; Moderator: David F. Shaffer, President, Public Policy Institute of New York State; Panelists: Carl Hayden, Chancellor Emeritus, New York State Board of Regents; Richard C. Iannuzzi, President, New York State United Teachers; Timothy G. Kremer, Executive Director, New York State School Boards Association; Thomas L. Rogers, Executive Director, New York State Council of School Superintendents; Sol Stern, Contributing Editor, City Journal and Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Academy might relax scores to admit blacks
Date CapturedThursday April 19 2007, 9:25 AM
Times Herald-Record Greg Bruno reports, "The nation's top service academies have all reported difficulties attracting minority talent in recent years. Black candidates have been especially hard to lure. Of 1,311 freshmen who entered the military academy last year, 78 were black, or about 6 percent. Overall, 6 percent of West Point cadets are black, versus 22 percent of the active Army and 12.5 percent of the country."
‘Standards-based growth report’ may replace grades
Date CapturedMonday April 09 2007, 9:40 AM
Buffalo News reports, "Without using actual grades, it would track student progress in 54 academic categories in seven subject areas. If the new system is adopted, Buffalo will join a growing number of districts across the state that have made similar dramatic changes. Advocates say the new reports would end rampant grade inflation, eliminate wide disparities in grading from teacher to teacher and school to school and give parents a true picture of how their children are matching up to state learning standards."
Secretary Spellings Announces New Regulations to More Accurately Assess Students With Disabilities
Date CapturedThursday April 05 2007, 5:01 PM
Under the new regulations released today, states may develop modified academic achievement standards based on grade-level content, and alternate assessments based on those standards, for students with disabilities who are capable of achieving high standards but may not reach grade level in the same timeframe as their peers. States may count proficient and advanced test scores on these alternate assessments for up to 2.0 percent of all students assessed when calculating adequate yearly progress (AYP) under NCLB. These regulations build on the flexibility provided for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, which allows states to count up to 1.0 percent of proficient and advanced assessment scores based on alternate achievement standards toward AYP calculation.
Key State Education Policies on PK-12 Education: 2006
Date CapturedTuesday March 20 2007, 12:20 PM
This CCSSO report informs policymakers and educators about the current status of key education policies across the 50 states that define and shape elementary and secondary education in public schools. The report is part of a continuing biennial series by the Council’s state education indicators program. CCSSO reports 50-state information on policies regarding teacher preparation and certification, high school graduation requirements, student assessment programs, school time, and student attendance. The report also includes state-by-state information on content standards and curriculum, teacher assessment, and school leader/administrator licensure.
Preschoolers' Test May Be Suspended
Date CapturedSunday March 18 2007, 9:45 AM
Washington Post reports, "Critics question whether the test accurately measures how much a child learns and cite a 2005 report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, that raised concerns about the way the test has been implemented. This spring, the test is scheduled to be administered to 410,000 4- and 5-year-olds unless Congress moves to end it. On Wednesday, the House Education and Labor Committee voted to end the test in a vote on the reauthorization of Head Start, a preschool program started in the mid-1960s to improve the lives of at-risk children and their families. The full House is expected to vote on the measure as soon as this week."
NCES Website on State Education Reforms
Date CapturedTuesday March 13 2007, 8:09 AM
This site, which draws primarily on data collected by organizations other than NCES, compiles and disseminates data on state-level education reform efforts in four areas: Standards, Assessment, and Accountability; School Finance Reforms; Resources for Learning and State Support for School Choice Options.
Monitors will oversee state testing in Pa. schools
Date CapturedMonday March 12 2007, 6:45 AM
Philadelphia Inquirer reports, "This year, for the first time, the state Department of Education will send monitors to about 1 percent of the 3,120 schools where the tests will be given. They will determine whether schools comply with everything from test security regulations to how instructions are given and what accommodations are made for students with learning disabilities, English-language learners, and others who need special arrangements."
Expert flunks school testing
Date CapturedFriday March 09 2007, 7:03 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "[Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability president] Carroll said New York needs to: Measure students' gains over a period of time, rather than just use a 'snapshot approach' of comparing students in a single grade each year. Use letter grades or a 0-100 grading system, rather than sorting performance into four levels, so the public can better understand results. Label school performance more accurately. Currently, a school with kindergarten through grade 8 with poor performance in just one or two areas will get the same classification — in need of improvement — as a school that fails in a multitude of areas. That 'simply makes no sense and substantially undermines the overall system's credibility,' Carroll said. Remove conflicts of interest by prohibiting teachers, schools and districts from scoring their own exams. Ensure that exam results are reported sooner. The state Education Department reported results of math and English/language arts exams last fall from the previous school year. The agency has promised to release this year's scores before the school year ends. Provide financial incentives for districts that do well, in addition to having serious consequences for those that do not. The recommendations are in a report the foundation is releasing this week."
Reinterpreting the Development of Reading Skills
Date CapturedMonday March 05 2007, 3:25 PM
"Theories about reading have neglected basic differences in the developmental trajectories of skills related to reading. This essay proposes that some reading skills, such as learning the letters of the alphabet, are constrained to small sets of knowledge that are mastered in relatively brief periods of development. In contrast, other skills, such as vocabulary, are unconstrained by the knowledge to be acquired or the duration of learning. The conceptual, developmental, and methodological constraints on different reading skills are described in this essay that identifies various types of constraints on reading constructs and measures. Examples of reading research and assessment are discussed to illustrate (a) how the constraints can help to explain transitory correlational patterns among reading data, (b) how proxy effects surrounding constrained skills influence interpretations of reading development, (c) how prescriptions to teach constrained skills are causal misinterpretations of longitudinal correlations, and (d) why interventions on constrained skills usually lead only to temporary gains on skills aligned with the constrained skill." Paris, S.G. (2005, April/May/June). Reinterpreting the Development of Reading Skills. Reading Research Quarterly, 40(2), 184–202. doi: 10.1598/RRQ.40.2.3
Schools on fritz - Spitz
Date CapturedSaturday March 03 2007, 7:23 AM
NY Daily News Michael Saul reports, "The state and the city calculate the graduation rate differently. City officials said they expected the state to release statistics soon substantiating the city's progress."
New York City BOE BOTCHES REGENTS REPEAT
Date CapturedFriday March 02 2007, 8:50 AM
NY Post David Andreatta reports, "A delayed response to a Department of Education directive resulted in 45 students at Lafayette HS in Brooklyn unnecessarily taking the same Regents courses twice."
National chamber finds New York not getting money's worth on education
Date CapturedWednesday February 28 2007, 12:14 PM
The Business Review (Albany) reports, "New York state has the most rigorous standards for public education in the country, according to a new study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But New York finished in the middle of the pack in terms of overall academic achievement of its students, the chamber found. "
Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Effectiveness
Date CapturedWednesday February 28 2007, 12:09 PM
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Center for American Progress analyze education quality around the country.
A Bad Report Card
Date CapturedTuesday February 27 2007, 9:23 AM
NY Times opines, "Congress, which is preparing to reauthorize both the No Child Left Behind Act and the Higher Education Act, needs to take a hard look at these scores and move forcefully to demand far-reaching structural changes. It should start by getting the board that oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress testing to create rigorous national standards for crucial subjects. It should also require the states to raise the bar for teacher qualifications and end the odious practice of supplying the neediest students with the least qualified teachers. This process would also include requiring teachers colleges, which get federal aid, to turn out higher quality graduates and to supply many more teachers in vital areas like math and science. If there’s any doubt about why these reforms are needed, all Congress has to do is read the latest national report card."
Now's the time to test standardized tests
Date CapturedThursday February 22 2007, 7:44 AM
Christian Monitor reports, "The nation remains uneasy about this strong federal hand in local education but also worried about how undereducated workers are affecting its economic future. Whether to impose testing is no longer the issue, but rather how such tests are done, and whether these measurements are used to improve education for all children."
New policy on NCLB testing is flawed
Date CapturedSunday January 14 2007, 7:12 AM
Uticaod.com opines, "It's not wrong to expect the best of every student. But applying a blanket standard to school districts, especially those whose English-speaking and special education populations vary significantly, is like producing a universal windshield and then wondering why it doesn't fit every car."
Student portfolios seen as way of the future to educators, not standardized tests
Date CapturedWednesday January 10 2007, 6:07 AM
Journal News reports, "The biggest point of contention boils down to whether portfolios can or should be used to measure student achievement in the place of a common assessment. The question has been debated for some time, yet the intensity of the discussion has increased since the creation of the federal No Child Left Behind education law, which mandates annual mathematics and English testing in grades three through eight."
Bush, Lawmakers Meet on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Education Bill
Date CapturedTuesday January 09 2007, 6:12 AM
Washington Post reports, "The No Child Left Behind law has pushed some states to weaken their standards to avoid consequences that arise when schools miss annual targets."
U.S. Teachers Endorse National Math, Science Standard
Date CapturedSunday January 07 2007, 10:45 PM
Bloomberg.com reports, "States already can abstain from compliance with the current No Child Left Behind law if they want to forego their share of more than $20 billion in federal education aid, though in practice none have."
Study puts New Jersey education system 4th in nation
Date CapturedWednesday January 03 2007, 2:18 PM
AP reports, "While New Jersey has extremes of wealth and poverty, it has the highest median household income. And its adults, on average, are well educated. More than half the state's children have at least one parent with a college degree and three-fourths of children have at least one parent working a full-time, year-round job. Those factors all give children a better chance of succeeding in college or the work force, the study said. Also, the state did well in the assessment because it has a number of policies to line up preschool and elementary school standards and help students pursue trade industry licenses while still in high school. New Jersey ranked only 45th, though, in a measure of statewide policies dealing with academic standards, testing policies and how schools are held accountable for their performances."
A Song for Students: 'Not on the Test'
Date CapturedMonday January 01 2007, 3:25 PM
NPR presents, "For students out there who may be stressed out, here's a lullaby for our times. 'Not on the Test' was written by John Forster and Tom Chapin. It is performed by Tom Chapin."
Conservatives Call for National Education Curriculum
Date CapturedMonday January 01 2007, 3:10 PM
NPR Larry Abramson reports, "There's a long tradition of 'local control' over U.S. public schools. In the past, Republicans have fiercely resisted any kind of national curriculum. Now some of the loudest calls for national testing are coming from the right."
Yonkers school officials promise new testing safeguards
Date CapturedSaturday December 30 2006, 8:04 AM
THE JOURNAL NEWS reports, "School officials are promising new testing safeguards after determining that staff members in four elementary schools erased and fixed multiple-choice answers on last year's state English exams. A six-month district investigation looked at answer sheets from more than 4,500 students in 29 elementary schools. Last week the district concluded that cheating took place at the Cedar Place School and School 21, along with two schools initially cited by the state Education Department for suspicious 'erasures.'"
Immigrant Children Shielded From State Tests, but for Whose Protection?
Date CapturedWednesday December 27 2006, 3:37 AM
NY Times reports, "Like Mr. Noguera [professor of sociology at Steinhardt School of Education at New York University], Diane Ravitch, the education historian, says she thinks testing students after one year may not be a bad idea, but is concerned about how the scores are used. Comparing this year’s Port Chester fourth graders with last year’s based on the upcoming test will put this year’s students and the schools needlessly to shame because last year’s classes did not have many immigrant children tested. But comparing how well students do this school year with how those same students do a year later, Ms. Ravitch said, would provide a telling reflection of the school’s progress. The federal government has started a pilot program in such so-called “growth model” comparisons in Tennessee and North Carolina. What many experts seem to agree on is that No Child Left Behind testing policy lacks a fine enough filter for the nuances of immigrant education."
Problem Solving in the PISA and TIMSS 2003 Assessments
Date CapturedTuesday December 26 2006, 1:38 PM
NCES: When examining the outcomes of education at local, state, national, or international levels, one of the major concerns of educators is whether students are able to employ the knowledge and skills they have acquired in formal schooling and through daily living experiences to solve problems. Students’ capabilities to solve problems are necessary not only for the demands of everyday life—personal, social, and public decisionmaking—but also for their future careers and their ability to continue learning in formal education settings. The purpose of this report is to compare and contrast features of the problem-solving tasks found in the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the 2003 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)." Dossey, J.A., McCrone, S.A., and O’Sullivan, C. (2006). Problem Solving in the PISA and TIMSS 2003 Assessments (NCES 2007-049). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 26, 2006 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
Colleges may have something to prove
Date CapturedTuesday December 26 2006, 8:51 AM
Express-News reports, "Gov. Rick Perry [Texas] has said he wants more scrutiny of university budgets and has floated the idea of an exit test for college students, and possibly tying funding incentives to the test and other performance measures. That kind of talk has some educators fearing that a kind of No Child Left Behind, President Bush's sweeping public school overhaul that stresses standardized testing, will be imposed on colleges. It's an approach critics say could end up rewarding universities for pushing out students, many of them low-income, who don't perform as well on standardized tests as more affluent students do."
Some kids who 'failed' skip ahead
Date CapturedFriday December 22 2006, 4:36 AM
NY Daily News reports, "More than half of the 1,400 city kids who were wrongly held back because of changes in statewide exams decided to advance a grade in the middle of the school year, officials said yesterday. The kids and their parents made that choice against the advice of Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, who said they would be better served by a second year in the third or fifth grades."
Rating 'No Child Left Behind' a failure
Date CapturedThursday December 21 2006, 6:23 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle contributor Howard Maffucci, superintendent, East Rochester School District opines, "Actually, we've been down this road before. In 1983, when the report A Nation at Risk was published, public schools were blamed for every social, economic and military ill that faced our nation. Thirty years later, America is the world's only leading military power and our economy is second to none. That report was a fraud then, as No Child Left Behind is a fraud now. The No Child Left Behind law doesn't need to be reformed. It needs to be abolished."
Passing Rate for High School Equivalency Test Climbs in U.S.
Date CapturedThursday December 21 2006, 5:51 AM
Bloomberg.com reports, "The number of people passing the General Educational Development Tests increased to 423,714, the GED Testing Service said today. The number taking the full set of exams climbed 3.1 percent to 587,689. The passing rate compares with about 71 percent in 2002, when the current series of tests began. The GED exams measure the academic skills and knowledge expected of secondary school graduates in the United States and Canada, and students who don't complete high school often take them to get better jobs or to enter college. In 2005, 1 in 100 adults in the U.S. without a high school diploma passed the GED tests and earned their diploma, the testing service said."
Top Grades, Without the Classes
Date CapturedWednesday December 20 2006, 3:35 AM
NY Times opines, "The deeper and more alarming lesson is that the unethical behavior often associated with big-time college sports doesn’t always end with athletes. It can easily seep outward, undermining academic standards and corrupting behavior in the university as a whole."
More higher ed 'accountability' could mean more Perry vetoes
Date CapturedMonday December 18 2006, 7:32 AM
San Antonio Express reports, "Perry [Texas Gov.] spokesman Robert Black said the governor will offer a number of other higher education initiatives, maybe even 'incentive funding' for universities or an 'exit test' for some university graduates as a means of measuring the quality of their educations. Details will come later, he said. Black said Perry also will support efforts to repeal or restrict the top 10 percent law, which guarantees the highest-ranked high school graduates admission to the state university of their choice but is excluding thousands of other qualified students from the University of Texas at Austin."
Exam has changed how Florida teachers teach
Date CapturedSunday December 17 2006, 8:37 AM
Miami Herald reports, "The [Gov. Bush] governor gives a one-word response to account for the improvements: `'scrutiny.'' Except in one place: Private schools that take tax money to educate public school students. The voucher schools get the public money but face no punishments for FCAT scores, an exemption born of Bush's free-market privatizing philosophy as well as political necessity."
New York encouraging ACT to challenge SAT
Date CapturedWednesday December 13 2006, 4:26 AM
AP reports, "New York is pushing wider use of the ACT college entrance exam in the Northeast to compete with the SAT exam, which has long dominated in the region, a top state senator said Tuesday."
University of the State of New York, P-16 Education: A Plan For Action
Date CapturedMonday December 11 2006, 1:53 PM
We will confront the data, share it broadly, and use it to define as precisely as possible where resources and energy should be applied. We will recognize the achievements and also declare the problems as clearly as we can. We will engage everyone by listening to the people the education system is supposed to serve, to parents, to educators at every level, to the employers, and to the elected officials who must weigh enormous competing demands for scarce resources. In particular, we will engage students and their parents, and the wider community because educational institutions do not belong to the educators but to the people. We will create a communications plan to listen to, inform, and involve people statewide. We will define measurable objectives so that others can hold us accountable, and we can hold education leaders accountable for improving results. We will study the practices of high performing education systems, states and nations, and adapt the best to New York’s situation. We will examine what actions are most effective, and invite others to learn with us. We will take action focused on systematic change to effect sustained improvement. We know, for example, that closing the achievement gap for students requires correcting the unequal distribution of teaching talent. And we know that in demanding change in educational institutions to achieve better results, we must also build capacity in our own State Education Department to take on its part of this improvement strategy. We will continually renew the alignment of our actions to ensure coherence and effectiveness. For example, academic standards, curriculum, assessment, and instructional practice have to be aligned to be effective. When one element changes, all other elements must be examined to ensure that the system remains effective. We will strengthen USNY, because it has great potential to build more effective transitions for students from one level of the system to the next. We will advocate for State and federal financial resources and legislative actions that will help achieve better educational outcomes. And we will be accountable for the effective use of those resources.
Alabama advances new way to track students
Date CapturedWednesday December 06 2006, 7:53 AM
The Birmingham News reports, "The U.S. Department of Education recently granted permission to North Carolina, Tennessee, Delaware, Arkansas and Florida to use the "growth" model - tracking each student year-to-year - as a pilot program to determine their progress toward state and federal goals."
Bad apples and public schools
Date CapturedWednesday December 06 2006, 4:12 AM
Washington Times Terence P. Jeffrey writes, "Increasing per pupil spending by another 111 percent -- whether it is done by compassionate conservatives in Washington, D.C., or plain old liberals in your home state -- will not fix public schools. It's time to give all American parents vouchers equal to the per-pupil spending in local government schools. Then parents can decide whether the government schools deserve their children -- or whether they will try the apples elsewhere, thank you."
Florida Gov. Bush vows national school reform
Date CapturedTuesday December 05 2006, 11:20 AM
"Miami Herald reports, "Flanked by Bloomberg, New York City schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein and Florida Education Commissioner John Winn, Bush said the 5-year-old federal law created by his big brother, President George W. Bush, needs to take after his A-Plus plan. The law is up for renewal by Congress next year."
Can calculators help Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS)?
Date CapturedTuesday December 05 2006, 8:45 AM
East Valley Tribune reports, "Educators and parents pleaded with the state [Arizona] Board of Education on Monday to let students use calculators on the high-stakes AIMS test. But state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne says use of the instruments could cause hundreds of Arizona schools to fail the No Child Left Behind law because federal officials won’t allow calculators to be used on state exams. Not everyone in the standingroom-only crowd agreed, however, with some East Valley educators saying Horne and the state board need to take responsibility for helping children succeed on the math test."
At Ease: Hey! Leave those teachers alone
Date CapturedWednesday November 29 2006, 9:34 AM
Gaylord Herald Times writes, "Teacher accountability and performance cannot be completely and accurately measured by student performance, for a litany of reasons which I don't have the space to get into. But there's a lot going on in those 16 other hours of the day that affect test results."
D.C. Superintendent Janey Seeks Time to Turn Around Schools
Date CapturedWednesday November 29 2006, 6:45 AM
Washington Post reports, "Janey called for laying 'a new foundation' for schools that includes higher academic standards, more rigorous student assessment and modernized facilities. It was his first-ever 'State of the Schools' speech, as well as his first formal public statement since his future came into question when Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty said in September that he might seek to take over the schools."
Group challenges No Child Left Behind
Date CapturedTuesday November 28 2006, 7:33 AM
The Journal News reports, "No Child Left Behind is up for reauthorization in the coming year. The collaborative's report devotes more than six pages to recommendations on how to improve the law. Chief among them is funding changes: the group is calling on the federal government to fully fund NCLB mandates, to earmark funds for after-school programs for low-performing schools, and to reimburse school districts for the costs of scoring exams. The collaborative also advocates changes to the testing regimen, recommending that tests be conducted on alternate years instead of each year, and for additional measures - such as portfolio assessments and classroom participation - to be used in measuring whether a student has met state and national standards. The report said, on the local level, government officials and residents can also play a role in improving student performance. Affordable housing, early childhood education programs, adult literacy programs and child-health programs could all contribute to the success of children in public schools, the report said."
UB-Educational Opportunity Center using credential exam
Date CapturedMonday November 27 2006, 10:16 AM
Buffalo News reports, "The exam is a national credential that certifies that job-seekers have the knowledge, skills and abilities to succeed in an entry-level job."
‘Value added’ assesses Pennsylvania students, schools
Date CapturedMonday November 27 2006, 7:46 AM
Times Leader reports, "Under the federal 'No Child Left Behind,' law, all schools must have 100 percent of their tested students scoring proficient or better by 2014. Under this system, whether or not a school makes 'progress' is measured by how all students are doing collectively on the test. Value added assessment opts, instead, to look at how much each student improves, regardless of whether he is 'proficient.”'
Iowa Grade: Incomplete
Date CapturedFriday November 24 2006, 9:22 AM
The Quad-City Times reports, "Hoover said Iowa’s charter law makes it more difficult to monitor the schools because it does not require them to set annual goals. Also, a majority of the state’s charter schools submitted applications with vague goals. For example, every school said it would increase student achievement on state reading, math and science tests. But only a handful specified by how much. The wide range of types of charter schools also makes it difficult to set up a common way to measure their progress because their goals vary."
Only the Bathwater -- Or the Baby, Too?
Date CapturedWednesday November 22 2006, 5:46 PM
Teachers College Columbia University reports, "TC Professor Amy Stuart Wells provided historical context for that question in the Symposium's opening presentation, in which she noted that unlike many other developed nations, the U.S. has traditionally focused on educational achievement as a primary means to better the lot of the economically disadvantaged. Where other nations have established broad social welfare systems, Wells said, the U.S. has historically 'laid the task of rectifying societal inequalities at the schoolhouse door.'"
Virginia Gov. Warner aids in education testing
Date CapturedTuesday November 21 2006, 9:59 AM
Dailypress.com reports, "Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings asking her to give Virginia more time to develop a new test to meet the demands of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Warner's letter comes a month after the state board of education approved changes to the state's testing program to comply with the law."
Indiana University groups recommend new test for special-education students
Date CapturedTuesday November 21 2006, 6:20 AM
AP reports, "The recommendation by the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community and the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy focuses on a federal law's requirement that special-education students pass annual achievement tests at the same rate as other students."
"Photo Finish: Which Teachers Are Better? Certification Status Isn't Going to Tell Us
Date CapturedMonday November 20 2006, 7:47 PM
Economists Thomas J. Kane of Harvard University, Jonah E. Rockoff of Columbia Business School, and Douglas O. Staiger of Dartmouth College, in Education Next, 2007 No. 1 answer the question of whether certification ensures highly effective teachers in the classroom. Researchers write, "The results of our study of New York City public school teachers confirm a simple truth: some teachers are considerably better than others at helping students learn. For example, elementary-school students who have a teacher who performs in the top quartile of all elementary-school teachers learn 33 percent of a standard deviation more (substantially more) in math in a year than students who have a teacher who performs in the bottom quartile. Yet as we embrace this piece of conventional wisdom, we must discard another: the widespread sentiment that there are large differences in effectiveness between traditionally certified teachers and uncertified or alternatively certified teachers. The greatest potential for school districts to improve student achievement seems to rest not in regulating minimum qualifications for new teachers but in selectively retaining those teachers who are most effective during their first years of teaching. "
The No Child Left Behind Act: Have Federal Funds Been Left Behind?
Date CapturedMonday November 20 2006, 1:57 PM
"The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) imposes new requirements on state education systems and provides additional education funding. This paper estimates education cost functions, predicts the spending required to support NCLB standards, and compares this spending with the funding available through NCLB. This analysis is conducted for Kansas and Missouri, which have similar education environments but very different standards. We find that new federal funding is sufficient to support very low standards for student performance, but cannot come close to funding high standards without implausibly large increases in schooldistrict efficiency. Because of the limited federal funding and the severe penalties in NCLB when a school does not meet its state’s standards, states have a strong incentive to keep their standards low. NCLB needs to be reformed so that it will encourage high standards." *The authors are Professor of Public Administration, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University; Associate Professor of Public Administration, University of Nevada at Los Vegas; and Professor of Public Administration and Economics, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University, respectively. We are grateful to David Sjoquist for helpful comments. 1 1. Introduction The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) both imposes mandates on states and gives them more federal education funding. The authors are William Duncombe, Anna Lukemeyer and John Yinger, Professor of Public Administration, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University; Associate Professor of Public Administration, University of Nevada at Los Vegas; and Professor of Public Administration and Economics, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University, respectively.
How the No Child Left Behind Act Undermines Education Standards
Date CapturedMonday November 20 2006, 1:36 PM
EFAP Director John Yinger, in a monthly column writes, "The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has brought unprecedented federal involvement in elementary and secondary education. More specifically, NCLB imposes strict new requirements on state education systems and provides additional education funding."
Why science scores stink
Date CapturedMonday November 20 2006, 7:44 AM
NY Daily News contributor Gross, emeritus university professor of life sciences at the University of Virginia writes, "In the end, no attempt to improve science achievement will succeed without addressing the obvious problem staring us in the face. Namely, teachers who haven't studied science are teaching it to our kids. More than 25% of seventh- to 12th-grade science teachers nationwide have neither a major nor a minor in their subject area. Yes, we need reform. But, in the spirit of the scientific method, that reform must be realistic and informed by the mistakes we've made over the years. It must not put faith in untested hypotheses."
Bronx high school in cheat probe
Date CapturedMonday November 20 2006, 4:32 AM
NY Daily News reports, "Authorities are investigating whether teachers at a Bronx high school cheated on crucial state exams by coaching students during the test and then inflating their scores, the Daily News has learned."
English teachers seek to reform No Child Left Behind law
Date CapturedSaturday November 18 2006, 4:35 PM
The Tennessean reports, "The group, which has 50,000 members, also wants to see that multiple assessments be used to measure student progress accurately and that teachers and schools are credited with progress made by students even if they miss the federal benchmarks mapped out by the law."
Is there too much testing?
Date CapturedFriday November 17 2006, 3:51 PM
NorthJersey.com reports, "Forum/Survey: Are standardized tests a fair gauge of student achievement? Standardized tests have been a necessary evil in public education for decades. But since the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, students are being asked to sit for more exams than ever. Nevertheless, educators remain divided about the tests' value."
Most Students in Big Cities Lag Badly in Basic Science
Date CapturedThursday November 16 2006, 3:33 AM
NY Times DIANA JEAN SCHEMO reports, "At least half of eighth graders tested in science failed to demonstrate even a basic understanding of the subject in 9 of 10 major cities, and fourth graders, the only other group tested, fared little better, according to results released here Wednesday. The outcome of those tests, part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called the nation’s report card, showed that student performance in urban public schools was not only poor but also far short of science scores in the nation as a whole."
Just Whose Idea Was All This Testing?
Date CapturedTuesday November 14 2006, 3:36 AM
The Washington Post reports, "In 1988, Congress created the National Assessment Governing Board. It established new standards for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test that has been given to a sampling of students since 1970. In 2002, President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind law. For the first time, it required annual testing of all public school children in certain grades and required states to use results to help rate schools. The National Education Association and other teacher organizations argue that it is unfair to rate schools through such tests when teachers lack adequate training and pay. In a 2004 essay for the Hoover Digest, Ravitch wrote that the advocates of inputs and the champions of outputs 'are in constant tension, with first one and then the other gaining brief advantage.' 'How this conflict is resolved,' she wrote, 'will determine the future of American education.'"
As Math Scores Lag, a New Push for the Basics
Date CapturedTuesday November 14 2006, 3:32 AM
NY Times TAMAR LEWIN reports, "For the second time in a generation, education officials are rethinking the teaching of math in American schools. The changes are being driven by students’ lagging performance on international tests and mathematicians’ warnings that more than a decade of so-called reform math — critics call it fuzzy math — has crippled students with its de-emphasizing of basic drills and memorization in favor of allowing children to find their own ways to solve problems. At the same time, parental unease has prompted ever more families to pay for tutoring, even for young children."
Schools to lobby against English testing change
Date CapturedMonday November 13 2006, 5:55 AM
The Journal News reports, "Before this school year, students who spoke little English had up to three years to work on their proficiency before taking the standard reading and writing test that others take in grades 3 to 8. Now, students have just one year's exemption. That will hurt the children and their schools, critics say."
The Writing Section? Relax
Date CapturedSunday November 05 2006, 8:02 AM
NY Times contributor Nancy Hass, contributing editor at Conde Nast Portfolio writes on SAT exams, "Despite its perceived shortcomings, some administrators, even those not willing to embrace it fully, believe it has long-term value. 'We are supportive of the College Board creating it, because we think it sends a good message,' says Mr. Furstenberg [dean of admissions at Dartmouth] . 'It communicates to high school teachers and students that writing is important and is looked at carefully.' Even if, it seems, it’s not."
CITY SCHOOL EXAMS FAIL THE 'TYPO' TEST
Date CapturedSunday November 05 2006, 7:35 AM
NY Post reports, "A total of 1.2 million booklets went out to the 600,000 students taking the exams. One English and one math booklet was given to each kid. Of the 1.2 million booklets, between 10,000 and 20,000 of them had problems, testing officials said yesterday. Some 90 different exams were created for the empowerment schools - though some questions were the same on all the tests. Each of the tests contained about 25 to 30 questions, testing officials said. Empowerment schools are allowed to set their own curricula but must prove their kids aren't falling behind."
Test scores under investigation at New York City high school
Date CapturedFriday November 03 2006, 3:45 AM
AP reports, "City and state education officials are investigating claims that a high school tampered with students' scores on key state tests. Teachers at Susan E. Wagner High School in Staten Island say administrators pushed to raise some students' scores on Regents science, English and history exams last June, teachers' union spokesman Stuart Marques said Thursday."
School Bigs Eyed in S.I. Kid-Test 'Cheat'
Date CapturedThursday November 02 2006, 4:48 AM
NY Post David Andreatta reports, "Seventeen teachers at a Staten Island high school claim that administrators ordered them to bump up scores on Regents exam given in June, officials said yesterday."
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003 Nonresponse Bias Analysis
Date CapturedWednesday November 01 2006, 11:47 AM
This NCES technical report explores the extent of potential bias introduced into the U.S. TIMSS study through nonresponse on the part of schools. Data from the third cycle of TIMSS, conducted in April-June, 2003, are the basis for the analyses.The investigation into nonresponse bias at the school level for U.S. TIMSS 2003 samples for grades 4 and 8 shows that there was no statistically significant relationship detected between participation status and the majority of school characteristics that are available for analysis. Ferraro, D., and Van de Kerckhove, W. (2006). Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003 Nonresponse Bias Analysis (NCES 2007-044). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved November 1, 2006 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
DODEA seeks parents’ opinions in online survey
Date CapturedSaturday October 28 2006, 6:45 PM
Stars and Stripes reports, "The survey, which is based in part on the Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, helps DODEA identify areas that need improvement. Teachers, parents and students in grades four and five, six through eight and nine through twelve are given separate surveys. Questions focus on areas such as curriculum, instruction, standards, assessment, technology and student support, according to a DODEA statement."
Pittsfield (Massachusetts) Public Schools not making the cut
Date CapturedThursday October 26 2006, 5:41 PM
Capital News 9 reports, "The Pittsfield [Massachusetts] School Committee now faces questions from concerned parents. Some wonder why they have not been included in school improvement plans. 'One thing that seems to be missing out of those school improvement plans is the word parent. The word parent is missing from many of those plans,' concerned parent Tricia Farley-Bouvier said. For the past four years, the school district has failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress required by the No Child Left Behind Act. Now the district is being placed into 'corrective action.'"
An education gap: Arizona scores higher
Date CapturedWednesday October 25 2006, 6:33 PM
East Valley Tribune reports, "Arizona Learns does not factor certain groups of students into its equations. The performance of some special education students doesn’t count, and neither does the performance of English learners who have been in the country for less than than three years."
Grades go home, but tests don't
Date CapturedTuesday October 24 2006, 9:13 AM
Dallas Morning News reports, "A Plano parent's four-year struggle to review his daughter's tests at home reveals a common practice at several area high schools. Teachers often prohibit students from taking graded tests home because they want to reuse them without worry of cheating or test-swapping on the Internet. The Plano school district is weighing two sides of the equation: parents' right to help their children vs. teachers' desire to keep difficult-to-prepare tests secure."
Louisiana public schools show improvement
Date CapturedMonday October 23 2006, 2:13 PM
KATC reports, "But dozens of schools in hurricane-damaged areas -- including many of the state's lowest performing schools in Orleans Parish -- weren't included in the results because they were shut down for days and months, in some cases. The results were based on individual student scores on high-stakes tests, attendance rates and dropout rates."
To curb dropout rate, develop new paths for learning and careers
Date CapturedFriday October 20 2006, 6:46 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opined, "At least 27 of the nation's 100 top liberal arts schools that scrapped their SAT or ACT requirements have decided that students' high school performances should weigh as heavily as test scores. With this growing realization, educators also need to provide more alternatives to students who may be interested in vocational and technical education."
SAT, ACT See Number of Test-Takers Rise
Date CapturedWednesday October 18 2006, 8:24 PM
JUSTIN POPE, AP Education Writer reports, "The SAT and ACT college entrance exams each report the number of students taking their test this month is up sharply from a year ago, a likely sign more students are trying both exams to boost their admission chances. About 520,000 students have registered for the Oct. 28 sitting of the ACT, a 17 percent increase from last year, according to the latest figures. The number of students who took last Saturday's SAT was about 660,000, compared to 570,000 last October."
State education officials looking for more leeway in 'No Child Left Behind' law
Date CapturedWednesday October 18 2006, 8:36 AM
WCF Courier reports, "Focused strictly on education policy, the task force [Under the auspices of the Council of Chief State School Officers],did not address what many critics see as the most urgent problem facing No Child Left Behind: the lack of federal funding for it. In 2006, Iowa received only 59 percent of the $171 million it was authorized to obtain under the act, according to the National Education Association."
Standardized tests can send students who fail into tailspin
Date CapturedWednesday October 18 2006, 6:36 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle guest essayist Dan Drmacich, prinicipal School Without Walls, Rochester School District writes, "Students who are poor, who are from English-as-a-second-language families, who have special education needs, who desire to have a vocational education or who have unique interests or learning styles, have suffered under the one-size-fits-all Regents education process. Even those students who do well on Regents tests suffer because they are often denied the opportunities to focus their studies on areas of personal interest, citizenship and other lifelong-learning skills. Each person who agrees should voice his or her concerns to school district officials, state and federal representatives. Only through active citizenship can we create an education system that truly meets the needs of our students and our society."
Union College makes SAT history
Date CapturedWednesday October 18 2006, 5:11 AM
Times Union reports, "After years of debate, Union administrators decided such standardized tests were "a prestigious but flawed instruments" with demonstrated biases based on racial, gender, socioeconomic and cultural factors, according to Dan Lundquist, Union's dean of admissions and financial aid. The tipping point for Union's decision to drop the standardized test requirement for admission came amid widely reported SAT scoring errors in the past year and a continued refrain from the anti-test movement."
Improving student achievement is key to future
Date CapturedTuesday October 17 2006, 8:36 AM
AP reports, "[Gov. Jeb] Bush said that while stricter accountability standards are still being debated in Florida, other countries are surging ahead in the global market because of their higher standards. 'You think the Chinese are debating whether or not to have a 10th-grade-level aptitude test to determine whether someone is qualified to graduate from high school?' he said. 'They are way beyond that. And so is India and so is Singapore and so is southeast Asia. Many countries all around the world have figured that out before we have.'"
Time to grade colleges
Date CapturedTuesday October 17 2006, 7:14 AM
USA TODAY opined, "While fears of compromised privacy are hypothetical, the need for a new system is real. The current state systems are incompatible, so comparison among schools in different states is impossible. Federal statistics miss students who start part-time, enter later or transfer from other institutions. Better data, through either a comprehensive database or scientifically valid sampling, could answer many pressing questions. Consumers who now see only a school's sticker price might learn what students actually pay, after financial aid is calculated. Researchers might learn why students drop out and where they go. Or what impact college has on their future success."
Kids' skills aren't adding up
Date CapturedTuesday October 17 2006, 4:41 AM
NY Daily News reports, "Only 25% of the borough [Bronx] schools' eighth-graders performed at grade level on the math exam, the lowest score of all five boroughs. In Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island, nearly 40% or more of eighth-graders hit the mark, with Brooklyn, for example, coming in with a score of 39% at grade level."
Merit system won't pay off
Date CapturedMonday October 16 2006, 2:29 PM
Statesman Journal contributor and mother of eight children, Karen Utley writes, "Public education is expensive. The rate of student failure is deeply depressing. Policy makers and budget-keepers search for simple solutions, but complicated problems require incremental adjustment and no progress will be made until they stop hoping they can fix the schools by blaming the teachers."
Attendance to make up 10 percent of Buffalo students' grades
Date CapturedFriday October 13 2006, 9:40 AM
Buffalo News reports, "Supporters of the measure described it as an appropriate way to improve poor attendance rates and emphasize the importance of being in school. Opponents said it offers rewards to students for doing what they should be doing anyway."
A step backward
Date CapturedFriday October 13 2006, 6:37 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opined, "There's no acceptable way to sugarcoat the latest math test scores coming out of the City [Rochester] School District. Overall, the performance was troubling. This was a step backward in the city's effort to raise standards and to prepare kids in basic academic skills."
Education panelists: Lobby for No Child Left Behind changes
Date CapturedFriday October 13 2006, 12:29 AM
The Desert Sun reports, "'We need a growth model,' said Barbara Kerr, president of the California Teachers Association. 'It’s the only measure that makes sense.' A growth model, which North Carolina and Tennessee are piloting this year, measures student performance based on how much each individual improved from the beginning of the school year. No Child Left Behind, on the other hand, measures student performance based on prescribed goals that all students are required to meet each year."
Rome: Curriculum changes will help
Date CapturedThursday October 12 2006, 8:06 AM
UticaOD.com reports, "The changes this year included an increased focus on basic concepts of pre-algebra and understanding place value in the fifth- and sixth-grade curriculums. Instead of reviewing and re-learning the concepts in seventh and eighth grades, most students will have mastered these concepts earlier, Simons said. All teachers now will use the same curriculum to ensure students are prepared for what the state tests focus on."
Grade 3-8 Math Tests For First Time Show Year-by-Year Trends in New York Schools Performance
Date CapturedThursday October 12 2006, 12:18 AM
New York State Education Department Press Release: For the first time, students this year took State tests in Grade 3-8 math. Those results, released today, showed a steady and relatively higher level of achievement in the elementary grades and lower achievement starting in Grade 5 and continuing through Grade 8. They also showed that student achievement overall in Grade 3-8 ranged from about 35 percent meeting all the standards in the Big 4 Cities to about 74 percent in Average Need Districts to 86 percent in Low Need Districts.
New York City Mayor Bloomberg defends do-or-die tests
Date CapturedWednesday October 11 2006, 4:22 AM
NY Daily News reports, "Mayor Bloomberg lashed out yesterday at critics who object to his emphasis on using standardized exams to gauge students' performance in the city schools - saying 'high-stakes tests are a part of life.'"
Making the grades
Date CapturedMonday October 09 2006, 4:58 AM
NY Daily News reports, "Teachers and principals have publicly worried that the department [New York City Department of Education] will oversimplify their efforts, dismissing the many subtleties of creating a safe and successful school."
New agenda for Texas education
Date CapturedSunday October 08 2006, 8:19 AM
Chron.com contributor Jim Windham, Texas Institute for Education Reform writes, "During the 1990s, Texas became a national leader in education reform when a bipartisan group of Texans joined together to establish academic standards and accountability as the framework for transforming public schools. The reforms began in 1993 when the state adopted a new accountability system that linked school accreditation with success in meeting academic standards."
Regulations put resolve to the test: Home-schooled New Yorkers need GED
Date CapturedSunday October 08 2006, 8:14 AM
Times Union reports, "All athletes must be declared eligible by the NCAA Clearinghouse. Living in New York doesn't make it any easier for home-schoolers. New York is the only state that does not accept a home-school diploma as proof of graduation. Because there is no other way to certify a substantial equivalent of a four-year high school diploma, home-schoolers are required to take and pass the General Education Development test in order to meet the NCAA's graduation requirement."
Colleges making SAT, ACT optional
Date CapturedSaturday October 07 2006, 12:46 PM
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, "Fair Test, a Cambridge, Mass., group critical of standardized testing, says about 730 campuses make exams optional for all or a substantial share of their students, up from 280 schools about a decade ago."
Rochester School Without Walls reflects
Date CapturedSaturday October 07 2006, 8:38 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "These days, School Without Walls has 385 students in seventh through 12th grades, and differs from other city high schools in that it veers its focus away from conventional classroom learning. It continues the tradition of requiring students to complete 300 hours of community service from grades nine to 12, and submit a senior project, which is voted on by a six-person jury, as a graduation requirement."
The Accuracy and Effectiveness of Adequate Yearly Progress, NCLB's School Evaluation System
Date CapturedFriday October 06 2006, 7:06 PM
William J. Mathis writes, "Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is the key element of the accountability system mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This report reveals that AYP in its 2006 form as the prime indicator of academic achievement is not supported by reliable evidence. Expecting all children to reach mastery level on their state’s standardized tests by 2014, the fundamental requirement of AYP, is unrealistic. The growth model and other improvement proposals now on the table do not have sufficient power to resolve the underlying problems of the system. In addition, the program, whether conceived as implementation costs or remedial costs, is significantly underfunded in a way that will disproportionately penalize schools attended by the neediest children. Further, the curriculum is being narrowed to focus on tested areas at the cost of other vital educational purposes." Mathis, William J., Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union, University of Vermont.
Denver Schools grading system explored
Date CapturedFriday October 06 2006, 10:00 AM
Rocky Mountain News reports, "Also Thursday, board members gave informal approval to beginning a new method of funding schools. Called 'weighted student funding,' the idea is to allow dollars to follow individual students to schools rather than doling out dollars based on set classrooms of 26.5 kids."
Conservatism’s Big Test
Date CapturedWednesday October 04 2006, 8:32 AM
National Review Michael J. Petrilli writes, "Parents need the information yielded by standards and tests for the education marketplace to function efficiently. But most states have proven unable to develop these tools and current federal policy is pushing them in the wrong direction."
Regrading grades
Date CapturedWednesday October 04 2006, 6:18 AM
Star-Gazette opined, "Typically, a weighted grade, an A for instance, is multiplied times a factor of 1.01 or more in figuring a mathematical grade point average. The unweighted courses are multiplied by 1. Some districts use different multipliers for more challenging courses -- honors or accelerated -- while others might add bonus points to final averages for specific courses. Whatever the technique, it should be made clear to students and parents what courses carry extra numerical weight."
Demoting Advanced Placement
Date CapturedWednesday October 04 2006, 3:34 AM
NY Times JOE BERGER writes, "The high school years have been distorted enough by the frenzied rounds of college visits, applications and S.A.T. cram courses. At an evening forum last week to acquaint Scarsdale parents with the faculty proposal, critics of A.P. courses asked: Is our mission to steal a head start on college? Or should we be cultivating habits of mind like tolerance of ambiguity, persistence in the face of setbacks, the ability to work with others on complex problems? Nevertheless, questions from parents signaled some considerable anxiety about dropping a program that has reliably gotten Scarsdale students into top colleges."
Letter grades may take on more weight in Elmira schools
Date CapturedSunday October 01 2006, 10:10 AM
The Star-Gazette reports, "The state [New York] Education Department does not keep track of the number of New York schools that weigh grades. However, nationally about half of America's school systems weight student grades, according to a paper on the subject written in 2000 by Gail C. Downs of the Center for Research and Evaluation."
Academic reforms needed to help athletes graduate
Date CapturedFriday September 29 2006, 7:06 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opined, "A newly released study of 93,000 Division I athletes showed 77 percent of them graduated within six years, up from 76 percent last year. That kind of progress among mostly scholarship athletes who entered college from 1996 to 1999 speaks to the merit of academic reforms adopted by the NCAA in recent years. It's also a solid model for local school districts such as Rochester's to improve the graduation rates of high school athletes. The sooner student athletes understand that they're students first, the better their chances of succeeding on the college level. Fortunately, there is already talk in Rochester about finding new ways to improve the graduation rate among student athletes."
Is the Feds' Lesson Plan Working? YES: Expectations + Rigor = Promising Results
Date CapturedFriday September 29 2006, 12:19 AM
Op-ed by Secretary Margaret Spellings, in the San Francisco Chronicle on September 26, 2006, "Going forward, we are working closely with states to help them comply with NCLB. States that follow the 'bright lines' of the law—assessing students regularly, disaggregating data, hiring highly qualified teachers and informing parents about their options—may qualify for flexibility in measuring and reporting their results. We prefer collaboration to confrontation. Many states, including California, clearly have room to improve. But the bottom line remains the same. No Child Left Behind has added a fourth 'R' to reading, writing and 'rithmetic—results. We are beginning to see those results. And soon the world will, too."
Higher Ed Panel Calls for College Database
Date CapturedWednesday September 27 2006, 8:49 AM
NPR reports, "The panel says students and parents would benefit from a common database that explains what different schools offer."
Experts: Education plan likely won't fly
Date CapturedTuesday September 26 2006, 8:18 AM
The Houston Chronicle reports on the Commission of the Future of Higher Education's 62 page report, "The commission did not recommend mandatory testing, but encouraged institutions to measure learning and make the results available to students and tuition-paying parents."
They’re All Federal Educators Now
Date CapturedTuesday September 26 2006, 8:11 AM
Neal McCluskey, policy analyst at the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom writes, "As Congress moves inexorably closer to next year's scheduled reauthorization of NCLB, conservatives must reject calls for federal standards and tests, and remember the principles that they once held dear. Politically compromised, big-government policies will simply never provide the education our children need and deserve. Only pulling government out of education, and empowering parents and families with school choice, will do that."
NCLB's flaws cast Binghamton High in bad light
Date CapturedTuesday September 26 2006, 6:33 AM
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin contributors Donald Loewen, assistant professor of Russian and Dale Tomich, professor of sociology at Binghamton University write, "Students who move out of the area are still considered Binghamton's responsibility if they don't officially register at another school. And students who move into Binghamton are considered the school's responsibility immediately, even if they show up a week before a mandatory test and the school has no chance to prepare them."
New York City Schools Even Odds for Gifted Kids
Date CapturedTuesday September 26 2006, 4:49 AM
NY Post David Andreatta reports on a uniform application procedure for gifted children, "Citing an unreliable hodgepodge of selection criteria that varied from school to school and district to district, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said that a standardized system would ensure equity."
The US doesn't need more college grads
Date CapturedMonday September 25 2006, 6:41 AM
Christian Science Monitor contributor George C. Leef, executive director of the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy in Raleigh, N.C. writes, "Above all, the US should stop worrying about the percentage of its younger citizens who have college degrees vs. the percentage in other countries. The truth is, most of what people need to know in order to be successful in life is not learned in formal educational settings. The job skills that help workers advance in their careers are usually learned on the job."
TEST-SCORE BLUNDER PUTS NEW YORK CITY CHILDREN IN LIMBO
Date CapturedSunday September 24 2006, 7:17 AM
NY Post reports, "Educators (New York City) admitted Friday they overestimated how many fifth-graders should not be promoted - after basing their estimate on preliminary, rather than actual, statewide exams scores from January."
New York City Says 339 Students Were Left Back Unnecessarily
Date CapturedSaturday September 23 2006, 1:27 PM
NY Times DAVID M. HERSZENHORN reports, "A day after New York State released results of the 2005-6 reading and writing exam, city officials said the scores showed that they had required 339 students to repeat fifth grade even though, it turned out, they had scored high enough on the English test to be promoted."
It's deja vu for some test questions
Date CapturedFriday September 22 2006, 5:41 AM
Newsday John Hildebrand reports, "When the state's [New York]first fourth-grade tests came out in 1999, published reports quoted some Coney Island schoolchildren as exulting because they already had read most of the passages. On Long Island, educators continue hearing similar stories. Said Neil Lederer, superintendent of Lindenhurst schools, 'I would imagine that where students are exposed to that, it gives those students a real advantage.'"
Data is driving education now
Date CapturedThursday September 21 2006, 8:25 AM
South Idaho Press contributor Mike Chesley, superintendent of the Cassia Joint School District (Idaho) writes, "Across America, educators, parents and students are swimming in data. Over the past decade, education based on academic standards has become the norm. This has fueled the push for data to show how students are doing and to guide efforts to improve. The trend has only grown since the early 2002 signing of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, mandating all students in public schools (Cassia School District #151 included) be proficient in math and reading by 2014. Guess what? It is a good thing."
California academic standards bill vetoed
Date CapturedThursday September 21 2006, 8:14 AM
Sacremento Bee reports, "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation Wednesday that proposed an instant fix for students failing to meet California's standard for proficiency: redefine proficiency. Schwarzenegger concluded that changing a few words won't solve academic woes. 'Redefining the level of academic achievement necessary to designate students as 'proficient' does not make the students proficient,' his veto message said."
Why We Need a National School Test
Date CapturedThursday September 21 2006, 3:55 AM
Washington Post Op-Ed contributors William J. Bennett, education secretary under President Ronald Reagan and Rod Paige, education secretary under President George W. Bush write, "As both of us have long argued, Washington should set sound national academic standards and administer a high-quality national test. Publicize everybody's results, right down to the school level. Then Washington should butt out."
Unfair Advancement
Date CapturedThursday September 21 2006, 3:52 AM
NY Times Op-Ed contributor Rodney Labrecque, head of Wilbraham & Monson Academy, a college preparatory school opined on Advanced Placement (AP) tests, "Even if Advanced Placement were an effective high school education tool, there is little evidence to think it would be a useful yardstick for admissions. A 2004 study of the University of California system found that 'the number of Advanced Placement and honors courses taken in high school bears little or no relationship to student’s later performance in college.' (Not surprisingly, the College Board, which administers the tests, rebutted this conclusion.)"
Oregon reapplies to pilot way of assessing students
Date CapturedWednesday September 20 2006, 10:53 PM
AP reports, "Oregon has some key selling points in pitching itself as a candidate for the pilot program, including the development of a statewide database that allows for the tracking of a student's academic progress, even if they switch school districts."
The schoolyard bully
Date CapturedTuesday September 19 2006, 12:16 PM
Dick Iannuzzi, President, New York State United Teachers writes, "President Bush and his supporters in Congress have used NCLB as a weapon to punish schools instead of as a tool to improve them. Now they've turned that weapon on children with disabilities and children trying to learn English and adapt to a new culture." Iannuzzi additionally criticizes New York State Education Department (SED).
Higher Standards Don't Lead Every Student to Success
Date CapturedTuesday September 19 2006, 4:02 AM
The Washington Post reports, "Twelve states have business-sponsored State Scholars programs to encourage students to take college-preparatory courses. All 50 states and the District of Columbia offer incentives for students to take Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or dual enrollment courses in cooperation with local colleges, the center [National Center for Educational Accountability] said." Fewer than one in four low-income Texas students in the graduating class of 2002 who took AP exams passed.
Educating School Teachers
Date CapturedMonday September 18 2006, 6:47 PM
Study author Arthur Levine, who recently left the presidency of Teachers College, Columbia University to become president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation concludes "that a majority of teacher education graduates are prepared in university-based programs that suffer from low admission and graduation standards. Their faculties, curriculums and research are disconnected from school practice and practitioners. There are wide variations in program quality, with the majority of teachers prepared in lower quality programs. Both state and accreditation standards for maintaining quality are ineffective."
Maine education head to challenge ruling on SATs
Date CapturedMonday September 18 2006, 9:26 AM
Statehouse Reporter reports, "The federal government wanted more proof that the SAT was aligned with the curriculum, in general, and found it didn’t adequately measure progress in math. A second test will be added at the high school level measuring science and math next year."
Skip the Test, Betray the Cause
Date CapturedMonday September 18 2006, 3:29 AM
NY Times Op-Ed contributor Colin S. Diver, president of Reed College opined, "An institution that, commendably, seeks to enroll more minority and lower-income students can do so by giving less weight to SAT or ACT scores, either across the board or in selective cases. But concealing the applicants’ test scores is just willful blindness."
Feds reverse ruling on Nebraska's assessment program
Date CapturedSaturday September 16 2006, 9:46 AM
AP reports, "Two months after rejecting Nebraska’s assessment system under the No Child Left Behind law, the U.S. Department of Education has reversed itself. Federal officials told Nebraska Friday that its system for testing students met standards."
Issue of school reform tackled at recent Kentucky retreat
Date CapturedFriday September 15 2006, 12:35 AM
The Kentucky Standard reports, "Haycock [Director of The Education Trust] said there are certain things in common among high achieving schools and school districts. Among these are: setting clear, high goals for students; putting all children in a demanding high school core curriculum; use of a common curriculum that does not leave teachers to develop their own; benchmark testing that tracks performance; and providing extra help for students that arrive behind at a certain grade level."
Secretary Spellings' Prepared Remarks to the National Conference of Editorial Writers Convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date CapturedThursday September 14 2006, 11:04 PM
"When I [US Department of Education Secretary Spellings] hear people say things like some children just can't learn, I say, 'Whose child are they talking about?' Not mine, I hope, because as a mom, I don't think it's too much to ask that my child leave the third grade reading and doing math at the third grade level. And I'm pretty sure almost all parents feel that same way—regardless of where they live or how much money they make."
Kentucky home educators required to teach rigid curriculum
Date CapturedThursday September 14 2006, 8:41 AM
Pioneer News reports, "Kentucky law recognizes home schools as private institutions. The laws that apply to state private schools apply to home schools as well."
228 New York High Schools Are Identified As Needing Improvement
Date CapturedWednesday September 13 2006, 9:25 PM
A total of 228 high schools have been identified by the State Education Department as needing improvement under federal and state rules. Of these, 18 high schools were newly identified this school year. In addition, 29 schools have been removed from the list because they have made Adequate Yearly Progress for two consecutive years in all areas for which they were identified. An additional 75 high schools made AYP last year and will be removed from the list if they make AYP in 2006-2007.
Secretary Spellings Announces Final Limited English Proficiency Regulations
Date CapturedWednesday September 13 2006, 5:11 PM
The new Title I Regulation is intended to help recently arrived Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students learn English and other subjects while giving states and local school districts greater flexibility on assessment while continuing to hold them accountable under No Child Left Behind.
Think tank urges Florida school reforms, no class-size limits
Date CapturedWednesday September 13 2006, 10:20 AM
Orlando Sentinel reports, "New educational reforms could be ahead for Florida schools now that a conservative think tank has called for better-qualified teachers, tougher reading and math standards and an end to the state's constitutional directive to reduce class sizes."
Nine local Mid-Hudson school still get failing marks
Date CapturedWednesday September 13 2006, 7:00 AM
Times-Herald Record reports, "The list is more than name-calling. Districts have to pour resources into the problem areas — resources that local taxpayers often have to pay for. In the long run, teachers and principals might be fired if the failures continue. The federal No Child Left Behind Law sets the rules. It covers not only scores but the performance of various racial, ethnic, and other special groups."
Oregon athletes must meet tougher standards
Date CapturedWednesday September 13 2006, 12:34 AM
Ashland Daily Tidings reports, "The Ashland School Board was wary of approving a new policy permanently until the high school creates more detailed plans for how to work with students who are not meeting the requirements."
New standards unveiled for Illinois kindergarteners
Date CapturedTuesday September 12 2006, 11:57 PM
AP MEGAN REICHGOTT reports, "The standards, which go into effect immediately, cover eight subjects, including language arts, math, science, social science, physical development, the fine arts, foreign language, and social or emotional development. They are the product of a four-year collaboration between the ISBE and more than 500 teachers from districts around the state, including Decatur, Springfield, Champaign, Rockford, Peoria and Charleston, ISBE officials said."
Nearly 1 in 5 Massachusetts schools not making adequate yearly progress
Date CapturedTuesday September 12 2006, 1:42 PM
AP reports, "In Massachusetts, the progress is measured using attendance rates, graduation rates and participation of and performance on the state's MCAS math and English/language arts tests."
SAT becoming less important
Date CapturedSunday September 10 2006, 10:27 AM
Buffalo News former editor Murray Light opined, "No matter what admissions option college officials claim, a student submitting a record of very good SAT scores is bound to have an edge over those who have passed on taking the exam or who have not scored too well on the exam. The competition for acceptance in colleges is greater than ever and every bit of positive fodder certainly helps admissions officers make their decision."
Florida high school implements tenth-grade academy to support students
Date CapturedSunday September 10 2006, 2:49 AM
Boca Raton News reports, "With the implementation of a ninth-grade academy two years ago and a tenth-grade academy this year, students are segregated to different buildings based on grade level. Teachers of different subject areas are also teamed up and assigned to certain students, according to Johnny McDaniel, assistant principal at Atlantic Community High School."
Maine To Add To SAT Test To Meet NCLB Standards
Date CapturedFriday September 08 2006, 10:48 PM
AP reports, "The federal government threatened to withhold more than $100,000 because of what it viewed as shortcomings with the SAT."
NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT UNVEILS NEW SYSTEM TO TRACK AND REPORT STUDENT DATA, SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE NEW TOOLS TO IMPROVE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Date CapturedThursday September 07 2006, 6:10 PM
Beginning this fall, test results will be delivered directly to schools in an electronic format, giving authorized school administrators and teachers instant access to data regarding individual student performance, performance by groups of students (including breakdowns by race, ethnicity, disability status, gender, English proficiency, economic status, and migrant status), and overall performance by school and school district. This electronic system will give schools interactive reports on all this information. Parents will receive more detailed printed reports explaining their children’s performance on the tests. The reports will not only give the overall score but will also give a more detailed breakdown of a student’s performance on several indicators of achievement. All individual student information will be protected during every phase of data collection and reporting.
Certification and Private School Teachers' Transfers to Public Schools
Date CapturedThursday September 07 2006, 10:25 AM
This Issue Brief was authored by Emily W. Holt, Mary McLaughlin, and Daniel J. McGrath of the Education Statistics Services Institute (ESSI). "In three out of four time periods, higher percentages of movers who held state certification in year two of the time period only switched to public schools than did those without regular state certifications in their main assignment in either year of the time period. In all four time periods for which data were collected, higher percentages of movers with regular state certifications in both years of the time period moved to public schools than did their peers without the certification. However, regardless of certification status, 11 percent or fewer of private school teachers changed schools during any 2-year period."
Behind the statistics
Date CapturedThursday September 07 2006, 8:46 AM
The Providence Journal reports, "It [NCLB} doesn't capture a child's speaking and listening skills,' Furia [principal] said. 'Our students can understand what's being read and answer an inferential question. That's an "Aha" moment that isn't captured here.'"
Arizona State School Superintendent Tom Horne gives local educators his views on state of schools
Date CapturedThursday September 07 2006, 8:40 AM
Sierra Vista Herald reports on NCLB, "Horne said the feds changed the rules in the middle of the game, setting more schools up for “failure” — a word he eschews — in three ways: by giving English language learners only one year to pass the AIMS tests in English, instead of the original three years; by dismissing adaptive assistance to testing of special education students, essentially throwing them out of the count; and by adding more grade levels in computation of total scores."
Feds decrease education grants to Connecticut
Date CapturedWednesday September 06 2006, 7:07 PM
AP reports, "Federal grants for programs and services required under the No Child law are based on U.S. Census poverty figures, so many New England states have seen their grants drop because of their relative affluence compared with other parts of the country, state education officials said."
Arizona educators see NCLB as good but cumbersome
Date CapturedWednesday September 06 2006, 1:17 PM
Eastern Arizona Courier reports, "As a group, the school administrators also conveyed the message that there needs to be better communication between federal and state education agencies and between those agencies and the public schools."
Inequality and the Right to Learn: Access to Qualified Teachers in California's Public Schools
Date CapturedTuesday September 05 2006, 6:46 PM
By Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University. "The article outlines the legal rationale for insisting on access to qualified teachers for all students, analyzes the reasons for the current shortfalls in California, and proposes a set of remedies based on research and policy outcomes elsewhere." Teachers College Record Volume 106 Number 10, 2004, p. 1936-1966. http://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 11677, Date Accessed: 9/5/2006 5:46:06 PM
Editorial: The nation's learning curve
Date CapturedTuesday September 05 2006, 6:16 AM
The Journal News opined on special education, "Among the high-profile changes in Congress' 2004 reforms now taking effect: States can no longer use the discrepancy formula as the sole reason for rejecting a child as learning disabled. Actually, New York's regulations have said for years that the formula's use was not required; in fact, if it was used, it couldn't be the sole determinant of learning difficulties. However, hundreds of appeals by parents to the state's education commissioners reveal widespread use of the practice by districts. No more. Under the new regulations, no state or district can rely solely on the discrepancy canard. Parents fighting for services for their children should know that."
Exam-free rule for religious holidays in New York City schools
Date CapturedTuesday September 05 2006, 4:29 AM
NY Daily News reports, "The law was spurred after statewide English exams for third-graders were scheduled during the Muslim holidays of Eid-al-Adha and Eid-al-Fitr during the last school year."
“Slow migration” towards more ACT test takers, Princeton Review says
Date CapturedSunday September 03 2006, 8:54 AM
Boca Raton News reports, "But why are so many students taking the ACT? Deutsch [Vice President of the Princeton Review] stated many reasons. One in particular affected students nationwide when The College Board mis-graded hundreds of SAT test scores. Another is the largest decline in SAT scores in more than 30 years. 'Students are looking for alternatives,' he said."
National School Testing Urged: Gaps Between State, Federal Assessments Fuel Call for Change
Date CapturedSaturday September 02 2006, 10:23 PM
Washington Post Jay Mathews reports, "The growing talk of national testing and standards comes in the fifth year of the No Child Left Behind era. That federal law sought to hold public schools accountable for academic performance but left it up to states to design their own assessments. So the definition of proficiency -- what it means for a student to perform at grade level -- varies from coast to coast."
New York State English test scores delayed
Date CapturedSaturday September 02 2006, 8:54 AM
The Journal News reports, "Under the federal No Child Left Behind Law, students who score '1' or '2' on a four-point scale are required to receive extra help, called 'academic intervention services' for the following year." Chambers said the district would rely on its own assessments for extra help when school starts, and then readjust its program when the scores are released."
Massachusetts charter school facts in
Date CapturedFriday September 01 2006, 10:49 PM
The Boston Herald reports, "In 2001, 19 percent of the [Massachusetts] charter schools performed significantly better than their district schools in English and 26 percent did so in math. From 2002 to 2005, some 30 percent outperformed district schools in both subjects (60 percent performed at the same level)."
California Bill Renews Debate Over Helping English Learners
Date CapturedFriday September 01 2006, 9:42 AM
LA Times reports, "While the legislation has gained wide support, it has also become a symbol of the fierce philosophical clash over English instruction in California, with many opponents, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, insisting that the option would lead to lower standards and segregation of students based on English ability."
Education Secretary Spellings spotlights early literacy
Date CapturedFriday September 01 2006, 8:50 AM
The Providence Journal reports on funds granted, "The $3.6-million Reading First grant will be used to train childcare workers at four Providence daycare centers: Federal Hill House, West End Community Center, Genesis Center and John Hope Settlement House. The grants will also help the centers buy books and other materials to prepare children for kindergarten and first grade. The $3.3-million professional-development grant will pay for 250 hours of training in early childhood literacy for 200 childcare workers."
New York Teachers union opposes new mandate for English language learners
Date CapturedFriday September 01 2006, 8:30 AM
New York Teacher reports, "Until now, students who have attended school in the United States for less than three years were not required to take the ELA exam. The recent ruling by the U.S. Depart-ment of Education contradicts the state's policy and NYSUT is investigating possible actions."
Massachusetts Gov. Romney applauds student measurement in No Child Left Behind
Date CapturedThursday August 31 2006, 7:42 PM
AP reports, "Romney [Gov.], addressing a commission taking testimony in preparation for a congressional reauthorization debate scheduled for next year, said testing identifies problematic schools that can then be helped through funding, teacher training and student programs."
CALIFORNIA API AND AYP SCORES RELEASED TODAY HIGHLIGHT API’S FLAWS AS A SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY MEASUREMENT
Date CapturedThursday August 31 2006, 7:36 PM
California Business for Education Excellence (CBEE) again denounced the state’s Academic Performance Index (API) today as failing to accurately report student academic achievement and hold schools accountable. “The API growth targets are minimal, the scoring is confusing, and worst of all there is no accountability linkage to subgroup API scores making it much more likely that ethnic minority students, disadvantaged students and English Language Learners will continue to fall through the cracks,” said Jim Lanich, Ph.D., president, CBEE.
SAT blues: Standardized test scores don't show the whole picture
Date CapturedThursday August 31 2006, 9:38 AM
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opined, "There are many ways to judge a student's abilities, from letters of recommendation and grades to personal essays and extra-curricular activities. Students, parents and college admissions officers shouldn't get hung up on SATs. Passing tests shouldn't be an end-all."
Students’ Paths to Small Colleges Can Bypass SAT
Date CapturedThursday August 31 2006, 8:28 AM
NY Times TAMAR LEWIN reports, "Half a century ago, the SAT was a tool for opening college access to students who did not come from elite schools, a steppingstone to academic meritocracy. But many admissions officers now see the test as a barrier to low-income students and those who do not speak English at home. Test scores, college officials say, present a skewed picture both of poor students who have had little formal preparation, and wealthy ones who spend thousands of dollars — not to mention evenings, weekends and summers — on tutoring."
Late exam results test city parents' patience
Date CapturedThursday August 31 2006, 8:22 AM
NY Daily News ERIN EINHORN and CARRIE MELAGO report, "'When the data are finally released, schools will get the information electronically, which Dunn [state Education Department spokesman] argued would make it 'more useful to them in helping children.' Parents also will be given user-friendly reports that explain how their child fared, he said."
Girls top boys nationwide on SAT writing exam
Date CapturedWednesday August 30 2006, 7:27 AM
AP reports, "Girls nationwide surpassed boys' scores on the new writing portion of the SAT exam. The Class of 2006 results, released yesterday, show girls across the country did 11 points better than males in writing. But males can take some solace in the remaining two categories on the SAT. In critical reading and math, boys still performed better than girls — again on a nationwide basis."
SAT scores fall by largest margin in 31 years: Changeover to lengthier exam cited as national average drops 7 points
Date CapturedTuesday August 29 2006, 8:45 PM
AP reports, "The new exam has been expanded from three hours to three hours, 45 minutes, and can take more than a full morning counting prep time and breaks. Some parents and fair-testing advocates predicted the longer exam would cause scores to decline, but the College Board said its research showed no drop-off in student performance as the test goes on. Still, the results will spark debate over whether the College Board -- also facing criticism over 4,000 incorrectly scored exams last year --was able to deliver a new test that is comparable to the old one."
NY grads low on SAT, but here more take test
Date CapturedTuesday August 29 2006, 8:36 PM
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "New Yorkers' scores (SAT) were below the national average. But close to 90 percent of New York's high school graduates take the SAT, the highest percentage of any state, while in many other states only the top kids academically take the college entrance exam."
More Arizona schools miss performance measure
Date CapturedMonday August 28 2006, 9:56 PM
AP reports, "However, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said the increase is due to new rule changes by the Bush administration, not diminished performance by Arizona students. Horne cited changes in federal rules dealing with English-learning students, accommodations for special education students and the counting of more grades' test results."
A helping hand, Brand: Time has come for NCAA to help prep athletes
Date CapturedMonday August 28 2006, 8:52 PM
AP reports, "At a time when the NCAA is stepping up accountability for poor academic performance with colleges and universities using data tied to academic progress and graduation rates, Brand said it's unfair to schools and student-athletes when the students arrive at college without the academic background to take college-level courses."
Plattsburgh State president discusses the state of the college
Date CapturedMonday August 28 2006, 8:36 AM
Press Republican reports, "If Plattsburgh State doesn't earn accreditation for its teacher-education program the second time around, the result will be catastrophic, college President Dr. John Ettling says. At the very least, enrollment in that area will experience a quick downward spiral, he said, and, ultimately, the State Education Department could pull the program."
Exploding the Charter School Myth
Date CapturedSunday August 27 2006, 8:23 AM
NY Times opined on charter schools, NCLB and teacher quality, "One advantage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 was the wave of education studies it started. They offer hope that Congress will look at the record when it considers reauthorizing the law next year. If it does, lawmakers will back away from the part of the act that offers charter schools as a cure-all. They should instead home in on the all-important but largely neglected issue of teacher training and preparation — which trumps everything when it comes to improving student achievement."
Good news in public education
Date CapturedSunday August 27 2006, 8:16 AM
The PressRepublican opined on school choice, "Private schools have long argued that New Yorkers should have a choice in the schools they attend. They do have a choice, but the law provides a free education in a public school. It doesn't provide subsidies for schools that could drain money from the public system. Nor should it. School choice is a luxury, not a necessity."
Shed light on exams: New York should be more parent-friendly in explaining tests
Date CapturedSunday August 27 2006, 8:02 AM
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opined, "A lot of this information is now available on the Education (New York) Department's Web site. But getting to it requires weeding through a lot of dense education-speak. The site, which should be regarded as a prime information source for literally millions of New Yorkers, lacks clarity and readability — two standards, by the way, of writing that the state purports to measure."
Gov. Jeb Bush helps hand out $157.6M to schools for good grades
Date CapturedFriday August 25 2006, 10:14 PM
AP reports, "The money can be used to give teachers and staff bonus pay, hire temporary help to assist in improving student performance or spend on such things as new educational equipment."
DC Students Face New Learning Standards
Date CapturedThursday August 24 2006, 4:02 PM
The Washington Post reports, "The learning standards, outlining what students should know and be able to do at each grade level, are among many new policies and initiatives slated to be launched this year. The changes, school officials say, are intended to boost student achievement, increase the level of parental involvement in the schools and improve efficiency for teachers and administrators."
New York City Mayor Bloomberg and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush discuss accountability in public schools
Date CapturedThursday August 24 2006, 12:51 PM
The Association for a Better New York will host a breakfast meeting on Tuesday, August 29, 2006 where New York City Mayor Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg and Florida Governor Honorable Jeb Bush will discuss increasing accountability and results in public schools. Register today.
Manhattan: Teacher Exam Suit Back to Lower Court
Date CapturedThursday August 24 2006, 8:54 AM
NY Times reports, "In 2003, Federal District Court in Manhattan ruled in favor of the state and the New York City Board of Education, rejecting the class-action suit brought on behalf of hundreds of black and Latino city teachers who were dismissed after failing the tests."
. . . AND FAKING CHARTER FAILURE
Date CapturedThursday August 24 2006, 7:32 AM
NY Post editorial opined on charter schools, "Charter schools proliferate in areas where public schools are dramatically worse than the national standard, like New York City and Washington, D.C. In these places, charters generally outperform their public-school counterparts. It shouldn't be surprising that they fall short when measured against a nationwide public-school average."
Early, higher education among ethnic-minority parents' top concerns
Date CapturedWednesday August 23 2006, 4:03 PM
Whittier Daily News reports on multi-language poll, "Findings show that all African American, Asian and Latino parents interviewed strongly support preschool programs, as well as the state-mandated high school exit exam."
Do Charter Schools Make the Grade?
Date CapturedWednesday August 23 2006, 9:45 AM
NPR Elaine Korry reports (audio), "For a decade charter schools have been touted as an alternative to under performing public schools. But a new government survey shows these schools lagging slightly behind public schools in student achievement."
Free college-prep exams for New Yok City students
Date CapturedTuesday August 22 2006, 8:08 AM
Daily News Erin Einhorn reports, "In addition to helping kids get into college, Klein said, the test and its results will also serve to help teachers and parents to know the areas where each student is struggling and extra attention is needed. The College Board says that similar arrangements in other cities dramatically increased the number of students taking the test and better prepared them for college."
Plattsburgh State requests teacher-education program extension
Date CapturedMonday August 21 2006, 8:30 AM
The Press Republican writes, "Under the Regents amended guidelines, after a college has been reviewed for accreditation and deficiencies have been found, it can apply for an extension by submitting an action plan to the state Education Department, which determines how much longer the school gets."
ELITE SCHOOLS UNDER FIRE
Date CapturedMonday August 21 2006, 7:03 AM
NY Post editorial opined on academic achievement and enrollment at CUNY and elite schools, "Lowering admissions standards at elite public high schools - in other words, admitting students who are not able to handle a deliberately difficult and challenging workload - will hardly prepare those students for academically elite colleges and universities."
New Hampshire outside school plan too outside the box
Date CapturedSunday August 20 2006, 6:46 PM
The Herald opined on non-traditional for credit courses, "The program would allow students to substitute outside-the-school learning for classroom work to gain high school credit. For example, a student could get high school science credit for taking an Internet course on astronomy or get physical education credit for running in a road race."
No child left unshuffled
Date CapturedSunday August 20 2006, 1:21 PM
The Courier-Journal (Kentucky) editorial opined on NCLB, "It's become ever clearer that education improvement depends on looking as hard and clearly at the children who are not succeeding as at the schools that aren't -- and looking at them not as members of sociological groups but as the individual packages of cognitive, emotional, biologic and familial traits that they are."
New Jersey to look at revising high school standards
Date CapturedFriday August 18 2006, 8:46 PM
AP reports, "New Jersey high school students need more science, mathematics and technology education, even if they plan to go right to work instead of college, state officials said Thursday as they unveiled plans to rework high school requirements."
New Mexico efforts to close achievement gap questionable
Date CapturedFriday August 18 2006, 9:58 AM
Alamogordo Daily News reports, "There continued to be a significant drop in all grade levels and on all three tests from the scores posted by Anglo and Asia students, and those posted by their Hispanic and African American peers, and then another significant drop in the scores posted by Native American students."
Utah's reading tests, goals don't always match
Date CapturedFriday August 18 2006, 8:51 AM
The Salt Lake Tribune reports, "The findings are part of 'Smart Testing: Let's Get It Right - How Assessment-Savvy Have States Become Since NCLB?' which looked at each state's tests and how they align with content standards. Utah State Office of Education officials defend both."
State High School Exit Exams: A Challenging Year
Date CapturedThursday August 17 2006, 7:48 AM
Authors: Nancy Kober, Dalia Zabala, Naomi Chudowsky, Victor Chudowsky, Keith Gayler, and Jennifer McMurrer. Center on Education Policy report finds, "... no state legislature adopted a new exit exam requirement in 2006 although Maryland, Washington, and Oklahoma are following through on plans set earlier to phase in exit exams. Of the four states scheduled to begin withholding diplomas based on exam performance this year, Arizona and California did so only after facing significant legal challenges, while Utah backed down from its earlier plans to do so. Idaho began withholding diplomas in 2006 with less conflict and controversy than other states experienced. Meanwhile, most of the 25 states that currently require or are phasing in exit exams have moved to create greater flexibility and support to help struggling students meet the exam requirements."
Illinois State achievement tests delayed, board of education says
Date CapturedTuesday August 15 2006, 7:34 PM
AP reports, "The test results help schools develop or change curriculum. Schools have preliminary data, enabling them to do some analysis, but they don't have the details many rely on to fully assess their performance, Minton said. A state board of education official sent an e-mail to school administrators Friday saying 'it is very unlikely' they would receive complete results by the start of the school year, Minton said."
CUNY IN THE CROSSHAIRS
Date CapturedMonday August 14 2006, 8:45 AM
NY Post opined on academic standards at CUNY, "As CUNY's own records confirm, the percentage of black students at City College slipped from 40 percent in 1999 to 30 percent last year. At Hunter College, the decline was from 20 percent to 15 percent. At Baruch, black students made up 24 percent of the undergraduate population in 1999; last year, the number was down to 14 percent. But, notably, no one is charging that the results are in any way the result of intentional discrimination. Indeed, overall black enrollment at CUNY has increased 1.3 percent."
WELCOME BACK, KIDS - NOW LET THE TESTS BEGIN
Date CapturedMonday August 14 2006, 8:09 AM
NY Post DAVID ANDREATTA reports, "Incoming ninth- and 10th-graders at nearly half of all city high schools will be tested in reading and math during the first few weeks of school next month, The Post has learned."
Mike joins 1st Bro Jeb to propose school fixes
Date CapturedMonday August 14 2006, 7:44 AM
NY Daily News reports on co-authored Washington Post opinion piece, "Florida and New York City are leaders when it comes to accountability in education," they [Bush and Bloomberg] wrote. The two listed several ways Congress should change the act as it faces reauthorization: Make standards meaningful, encourage student gains, recognize degrees of progress and reward and retain high-quality teachers."
Texas schools to offer TAKS online
Date CapturedSunday August 13 2006, 7:11 PM
AP reports, "Texas joins 21 other states this year by offering its standardized test, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, online. The test is used to assess skills in math, English, science, reading, writing and social sciences, and teacher pay and school funding is tied to how well students perform."
Indiana educators question value of school labels
Date CapturedSunday August 13 2006, 12:02 PM
Journal Gazette reports on NCLB and state accountability systems, "The federal system compares grade levels with one another, year after year, and those not meeting the established passing rate – either as an entire school or one subgroup with as few as 30 students – are placed on a list and labeled as not making adequate academic progress. Indiana’s accountability system considers how students performed on the ISTEP+ over time and ranks schools in five categories: exemplary progress, commendable progress, academic progress, academic watch and academic probation. Other states with two systems have run into problems when one system lists the school as a good school and the other lists it as failing."
Appeals court upholds California state high school exit exam
Date CapturedSaturday August 12 2006, 2:14 PM
AP reports, "A state appeals court on Friday upheld the state's [California] high school exit exam, rejecting claims by a group of students who argued the test discriminates against poor students and those who are learning English. The three-judge panel said that although all California students don't have access to equal education, eliminating the test as a graduation requirement would harm disadvantaged students more than it would help them."
Graduation rates must be a focus
Date CapturedSaturday August 12 2006, 7:51 AM
Poughkeepsie Journal opined on graduation, "Statewide testing has shown where the achievement gap exists. While the drop-out rate is significant, especially in some minority communities, lowering expectations is not the answer. Far from a hindrance, these test results are giving the state the opportunity to fix the problems."
Some students with limited English skills face new hurdle: State-ordered exam stirs Binghamton concerns
Date CapturedWednesday August 09 2006, 8:18 AM
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin reports, "Until now, students with less than three years of U.S. schooling were exempt from the state ELA test, which is used to gauge whether schools are making adequate yearly progress for their students under No Child Left Behind. Instead, they could take a different test, the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test. But the federal government ruled this procedure fails to comply with No Child Left Behind rules, Stevens [Deputy Education Commissioner ] said."
Texas teachers union calls for TAKS overhaul
Date CapturedTuesday August 08 2006, 10:24 PM
Star Telegram reports, "The union is pushing for the state legislature to institute school evaluation methods that account for poverty, high mobility and other factors that affect the learning environment in low-performing schools. It also seeks legislative support for giving individual teachers more control over how students prepare for tests."
Many Louisiana children pass LEAP, thanks to exemptions
Date CapturedTuesday August 08 2006, 9:43 PM
The Times reports, "'This year has been different than any other we've faced in Louisiana because of the hurricanes that devastated many districts and drastically increased the student population of so many others,' said state Superintendent of Education Cecil Picard. 'Many of our schools lost weeks, even months of schooling.'"
School spending called ineffective: New York top in spending, bottom in graduation
Date CapturedTuesday August 08 2006, 7:46 AM
The Journal News reports, "The head of the state's largest teacher union said the findings did not surprise him. 'We do spend a lot on education because we offer a lot,' said Richard Ianuzzi, president of New York State United Teachers. 'In New York state, the cost of living and the quality of curriculum and the toughness of the standards demand a lot.' And he said high standards mean that not everyone will graduate on time."
A victory for education
Date CapturedMonday August 07 2006, 11:53 PM
Boston Globe columnist Adrian Walker writes on high-stakes testing and freedom of speech, "Superior Court Judge Hiller B. Zobel ruled last week that the DOE [Massachusetts] violated Kohn's civil rights by blocking him from speaking at an education conference in 2001. Kohn had been booked to speak on standardized testing. The department, which had funded the conference, threatened to withdraw its money if Kohn was allowed to speak. Kohn's offense was that he is an outspoken opponent of high-stakes testing generally, and of the MCAS specifically."
NEW YORK EDUCATION STATISTICS SHOW HIGH SPENDING FOR AVERAGE RESULTS
Date CapturedMonday August 07 2006, 11:34 AM
The Public Policy Institute of NYS "Just the Facts" series shows, "New York's per-pupil spending is the second highest in the nation while the state's graduation rate is near the bottom." Additional data on pupil/teacher ratios, class sizes, teacher salary, student performance on math and reading exams and SATs, and other higher education statistics are included.
New York changing test requirements for immigrant kids
Date CapturedMonday August 07 2006, 7:25 AM
The Journal News reports, "Education Commissioner Richard Mills outlined the changes in a letter last week to Assistant Secretary Henry L. Johnson of the U.S. Department of Education. Immigrant students who have been enrolled in U.S. schools for at least a year, as of January 2007, will begin taking the standard English language arts test in grades three to eight."
Worker evaluations aid schools, taxpayers
Date CapturedSaturday August 05 2006, 10:12 AM
Poughkeepsie Journal op-ed contributors Doug Hieter and Stephen Hughes, trustees of the Hyde Park Central School District opined, "School boards generally recognize the public's frustration with ever-increasing budgets and struggle to balance the cost of education with the community's ability to pay. Not all decisions are popular or readily understood with a casual knowledge of the system. In the long run, individual steps a district takes are important in the context of the direction a district is heading and progress toward its goals. Tying pay to performance is fiscally responsible. Evaluating performance is academically responsible. This is the direction Hyde Park is headed."
LEP/ELL Student Statewide Assessment Policy/Title I Requirements
Date CapturedSaturday August 05 2006, 1:34 AM
New York State Education Department press release from Jean C. Stevens reads, "New York has been notified by the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE), based upon USDOE’s NCLB standards and assessment peer review process, that NYSESLAT can no longer be used for Title I accountability purposes, except as described below for students newly arrived in the United States. USDOE determined that New York’s use of NYSESLAT for ELA accountability was not consistent with the requirements of NCLB and directed New York to come into compliance with NCLB by the end of the 2006-07 school year. As a result, New York must administer its ELA assessment to LEP/ELL students who, as of January 3, 2007, have been enrolled in school in the United States (excluding Puerto Rico) for one year or more."
More Students in New York Will Take Regular English Test
Date CapturedSaturday August 05 2006, 12:58 AM
NY Times DAVID M. HERSZENHORN reports, "Ordered by the federal government to improve its testing of students who speak limited English, New York State said yesterday that all children enrolled in school in the United States for at least a year would be required to take the state’s regular English Language Arts exam. The test is given annually in the third through eighth grades.
Maine counters No Child left Behind failure
Date CapturedTuesday August 01 2006, 6:20 PM
AP reports, "State officials believe a proposed withholding of federal funds is due primarily to the state's use of the S-A-T as a high school-level assessment tool, and that federal dissatisfaction reflects a lack of appreciation for Maine's effort to promote student advancement."
Indiana state to help ease test language gap; To allow dictionaries, reading directions
Date CapturedTuesday August 01 2006, 8:54 AM
The Journal Gazette reports, "Statewide, more than 35,000 LEP students attended Indiana schools during the 2005-06 school year – an increase of 364 percent in the last decade. And while the number of students has grown, lawmakers have done little in the way of additional financing to address the this population. Many states recently sought permission for alternative testing for LEP kids – including Indiana – but the federal government turned them all down. That means the LEP students who took a proposed alternative test called ISTAR last year will count as failures for the schools as far as the federal No Child Left Behind accountability program is concerned."
Student data vault exceeds intent
Date CapturedMonday July 31 2006, 8:05 AM
Times Union includes article by op-ed contributor Haley Will, president of Gettysburg College and chair-elect of the Annapolis Group, "The commission calls our nation's colleges and universities unaccountable, inefficient and inaccessible. In response, it seeks to institute collection of personal information designed to quantify our students' performance in college and in the work force."
REPORT-CARD REVOLUTION
Date CapturedFriday July 28 2006, 8:07 AM
NY Post columnist Ryan Sager writes, "The broad, squishy ideas of 'standards' and 'accountability' have been all the rage in education reform for some time. They were the basis for President Bush's No Child Left Behind law, which theoretically requires all public schools in America to make all students 'proficient' in English and math."
Government requiring New York immigrant kids to take regular English test
Date CapturedFriday July 28 2006, 7:47 AM
The Journal News reports, "New York was faulted over its testing of English learners and disabled students, two groups given special attention under NCLB. The state must submit a plan by Aug. 2 on how it will fix the problems. At stake is $1.2 million in federal school aid."
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT: Assistance from Education Could Help States Better Measure Progress of Students with Limited English Proficiency
Date CapturedThursday July 27 2006, 9:57 AM
GAO July 2006 study, "The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) focused attention on the academic achievement of more than 5 million students with limited English proficiency. Obtaining valid test results for these students is challenging, given their language barriers. This report describes (1) the extent to which these students are meeting annual academic progress goals, (2) what states have done to ensure the validity of their academic assessments, (3) what states are doing to ensure the validity of their English language proficiency assessments, and (4) how the U.S. Department of Education (Education) is supporting states’ efforts to meet NCLBA’s assessment requirements for these students."
Fulton-Montgomery Community College moves to address concerns of accreditation group
Date CapturedWednesday July 26 2006, 5:42 PM
The Business Review (Albany) reports, "One is in 'outcomes assessment,' which is the college's process of determining how well students meet the standards F-MCC has set for those earning degrees in various programs. The other is in how well the college is doing at meeting its overriding goals in areas such as student success and economic development."
Providence College to no longer require SATs for admission
Date CapturedWednesday July 26 2006, 10:15 AM
Providence Journal reports, "Providence College's president, the Rev. Brian J. Shanley, said three factors convinced him to make the policy change: evidence that test scores were not as good an indicator of student performance as grades and the rigor of classes in high school; a desire to increase access to minority and first-generation college students; and a perceived inequity in the current college application process."
Special Report: ‘Deal’ inflates Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) scores
Date CapturedTuesday July 25 2006, 9:40 AM
East Valley Tribune reports, "Arizona took advantage of an off-the-books deal Horne says he struck with the U.S. Education Department in 2003 to exclude most English learners — students who are not proficient in English — from the official record of exam scores."
Let students graduate
Date CapturedMonday July 24 2006, 10:32 PM
USA Today op-ed contributor Monty Neill, executive director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) writes, "Recent studies reinforce the conclusion that graduation tests increase the dropout rate. The harder the test, the more kids drop out. Across the USA, high-stakes tests push at least 40,000 young men and women out of school each year."
SAT Group Can Do Better, Says Report It Commissioned
Date CapturedThursday July 20 2006, 11:40 PM
NY Times KAREN W. ARENSON reports, "The College Board should acquire better scanning software, increase training for test center personnel and make other improvements in its procedures to help prevent errors in scoring SAT exams, according to a report released yesterday."
College Board Releases SAT Answer Sheet Processing Report
Date CapturedThursday July 20 2006, 1:57 PM
Read the College Board SAT Report. (Requires Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer)
Massachusetts educators wary of cost of state assessment plan
Date CapturedThursday July 20 2006, 8:52 AM
The Boston Globe reports, "The state Department of Education wants local school districts to create a system to monitor student performance on state standardized tests that could force districts, already strapped for cash, to spend more money on staffing."
National Center for Fair & Open Testing
Date CapturedWednesday July 19 2006, 2:02 PM
Push becomes shove
Date CapturedMonday July 17 2006, 8:48 AM
The Journal News editorial, "A state senator rightly flexed an underused muscle last week, prevailing upon the College Board to release a report on scoring errors in the SAT college-entrance exam."
Teachers use data to tailor education
Date CapturedMonday July 17 2006, 8:00 AM
The Arizona Republic reports, "The Arizona Department of Education is not allowed to collect student data beyond what state and federal law requires. Student grades, discipline records and the names of teachers who taught them are among the things that cannot be legally tracked."
A stronger net
Date CapturedSunday July 16 2006, 7:53 AM
The Journal News editorial , "State education officials got formal word recently from the U.S. Department of Education that the testing many New York schools have been doing of students learning English — usually recent immigrants — and special-education students is not on a par with that offered general-education students."
Kentucky contests federal findings that testing system is flawed
Date CapturedThursday July 13 2006, 3:26 PM
The Courier-Journal reports, "Federal officials say the state’s testing system sets different standards for disabled students, and they also question whether the tests adequately and validly measure all students reading and math achievement."
Senator Subpoenas College Board President Over SAT Errors
Date CapturedWednesday July 12 2006, 7:06 AM
NY Times registration. Karen W. Arenson reports, "In response to those errors, the committee’s chairman, State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, introduced a bill calling for increased oversight of college admissions testing. It was passed by the Senate in June, but not by the Assembly. The senator plans to reintroduce it."
U.S. Says Language Exam Does Not Comply With Law
Date CapturedTuesday July 11 2006, 7:21 AM
NY Times registration. NY Times reports, "The federal Department of Education has found that New York State’s methods for testing the annual progress of disabled students and students with limited English proficiency do not comply with the No Child Left Behind law and that the state must correct the problems within a year or risk losing $1.2 million in federal school aid."
Standard tests set for special ed kids
Date CapturedTuesday July 11 2006, 7:16 AM
NY Daily News reports, "The U.S. Education Department rejected New York's longstanding practice of giving below-grade-level tests to some special ed students - triggering changes that could lead to lower test scores at some schools."
REGENTS RACKET
Date CapturedMonday July 10 2006, 7:07 AM
NY Post registration required. NY Post editorial writes, "New York state school officials had a problem: Not enough kids were meeting the standard to graduate with a Regents diploma. So what'd they do? They lowered the standard, of course."
The Disability Gap
Date CapturedThursday July 06 2006, 2:41 PM
HuffingtonPost.com reports, "Nationwide, under 2% of students have learning disabilities severe enough to qualify for extra time on the SAT. In private school Manhattan, the percentage is substantially greater. And that means dramatically higher scores."
Test scores vary, cloud students' progress; Group says results of state and federal exams differ, making it hard to gauge achievement
Date CapturedWednesday July 05 2006, 9:00 AM
CONTRA COSTA TIMES reports, "The study found a drop in the number of fourth-grade students passing federal reading tests in roughly half the states analyzed from 2002 to 2005. Yet those same states showed improvements in language arts on their own separate standardized tests. States also made more gains in math on state tests than on the national exam, called the National Assessment for Educational Progress."
AUGUST 2006 REGENTS EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
Date CapturedWednesday July 05 2006, 8:50 AM
The University of the State of New York
REGENTS RATE SOARS UNDER EASIER RULES
Date CapturedWednesday July 05 2006, 7:55 AM
NY Post registration required. NY Post reports, "At the same time, the gap between black and Hispanic students and white and Asian students earning a Regents diploma widened last year, despite strong growth across all ethnic lines."
Results of school testing are challenged
Date CapturedSunday July 02 2006, 8:20 AM
BELOW-GRADE ED. DEPT.
Date CapturedSunday July 02 2006, 7:09 AM
NY Post registration required
The School Testing Dodge
Date CapturedSaturday July 01 2006, 8:33 PM
NY Times registration required. Read referenced PACE study on Education New York Online EDUCATION POLICY page, NCLB folder.
Florida universities using standardized tests to gauge progress
Date CapturedTuesday June 27 2006, 11:54 AM
A National Dialogue: The Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education
Date CapturedMonday June 26 2006, 10:14 PM
Schools will end black and white policy on race
Date CapturedMonday June 26 2006, 11:31 AM
Staten Island Advance
Follow the Child will leave New Hampshire children behind
Date CapturedMonday June 26 2006, 10:25 AM
Colleges enter testing debate
Date CapturedSunday June 25 2006, 9:25 AM
New ABA Policy Change Requires Law Schools to Report Only Students' Highest LSAT Score
Date CapturedSaturday June 24 2006, 9:31 AM
Students face choice of SAT or ACT
Date CapturedWednesday June 21 2006, 4:56 PM
Florida Should Grade FCAT
Date CapturedSaturday June 17 2006, 8:16 AM
New teachers in Iowa will have to pass test
Date CapturedFriday June 16 2006, 9:35 AM
Delaware committee wants more high school credits
Date CapturedFriday June 16 2006, 9:21 AM
PARENTS GET 'TEST'Y (NY Post registration)
Date CapturedFriday June 16 2006, 7:04 AM
Gap grows in how schools graded -- Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said state system better than NCLB
Date CapturedThursday June 15 2006, 9:02 AM
Cutting to the core of Ohio's high school curriculum
Date CapturedThursday June 15 2006, 8:52 AM
Michigan education schools to be graded
Date CapturedWednesday June 14 2006, 7:33 AM
Schools' 'D' for delay
Date CapturedWednesday June 14 2006, 7:11 AM
New Hampshire data problems force do-over of No Child reports
Date CapturedMonday June 12 2006, 8:27 PM
Delaware task force recommends student testing overhaul
Date CapturedFriday June 09 2006, 8:02 AM
Massachusetts schools await OK on changing standards
Date CapturedWednesday June 07 2006, 9:42 AM
Sit down, SAT
Date CapturedWednesday June 07 2006, 9:03 AM
NCAA finds prep schools don't make grade
Date CapturedWednesday June 07 2006, 7:26 AM
Paige Says Schools on Track
Date CapturedTuesday June 06 2006, 9:47 AM
Testing special students is tricky
Date CapturedTuesday June 06 2006, 9:22 AM
South Carolina world history curriculum aces test
Date CapturedTuesday June 06 2006, 9:18 AM
Colleges drop SATs
Date CapturedTuesday June 06 2006, 9:14 AM
Academic review could sideline some athletes
Date CapturedTuesday June 06 2006, 8:42 AM
The State of State World History Standards 2006
Date CapturedTuesday June 06 2006, 7:47 AM
Historian Walter Russel Mead, author of Fordham's The State of State World History Standards 2006, found that thirty-three states deserved D or F grades for their world history standards. And without standards that competently organize the subject’s vast expanses, textbook writers and curriculum developers will be left guessing, teachers won’t know what to teach, students will be adrift, and parents will be bewildered. America's future generations will be unprepared to operate and compete successfully in an international society.
Utah state education board close to setting graduation requirements
Date CapturedSaturday June 03 2006, 9:07 AM
Rebellion Over Who Gets Diploma
Date CapturedThursday June 01 2006, 11:01 AM
Top of the class: Virginia a model for science education
Date CapturedWednesday May 31 2006, 8:47 AM
Science Test (Washington Post registration)
Date CapturedSunday May 28 2006, 10:28 AM
Oklahoma Lawmakers Pass Bill For High School Exit Exams
Date CapturedSaturday May 27 2006, 2:33 PM
BLACK & WHITE AND SEEING RED (NY Post registration)
Date CapturedThursday May 25 2006, 11:07 AM
Some Allowed to Sit Out the SAT (Washington Post registration)
Date CapturedThursday May 25 2006, 8:03 AM
US Sen. Alexander (TN) Cites Need To Improve Science Education
Date CapturedWednesday May 24 2006, 11:29 PM
California High Court Reinstates School Exit Exam
Date CapturedWednesday May 24 2006, 11:25 PM
All Things Considered, May 24, 2006
Science scores up in grade four, stalled in grades 8 and 12
Date CapturedWednesday May 24 2006, 5:14 PM
View the StatChat transcript on The Nation's Report Card: Results from the 2005 NAEP Science Assessment on-line discussion.
Date CapturedWednesday May 24 2006, 4:55 PM
Associate Commissioner Peggy Carr answered questions on-line & live pertaining to the results of the 2005 national and state science assessment. The report and results were released at 10:00 a.m. and the on-line discussion took place from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday May, 24th, 2006
The Nation’s Report Card: Science 2005
Date CapturedWednesday May 24 2006, 10:52 AM
May 2006 Authors: Wendy S. Grigg, Mary A. Lauko, and Debra M. Brockway. This report presents results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2005 science assessment. In addition to national results for grades 4, 8, and 12, fourth- and eighth-grade results are reported for 44 participating states and the Department of Defense schools. The report also includes sample assessment questions and examples of student responses. Of the 37 states and jurisdictions that participated in both the 2000 and 2005 fourth-grade science assessments, nine showed gains in average scores and none showed declines. Of the 37 states and jurisdictions that participated in the 2000 and 2005 eighth-grade assessments, 11 showed gains and 4 showed declines.
Keeping an Eye on State Standards
Date CapturedTuesday May 23 2006, 2:34 PM
Comparing Mathematics Content in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003 Assessments
Date CapturedTuesday May 23 2006, 10:49 AM
This report describes a study that was undertaken to compare the content of three mathematics assessments conducted in 2003: the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) fourth- and eighth-grade assessments; the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which also assessed mathematics at the fourth- and eighth-grade levels; and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which assessed the mathematical literacy of 15-year-old students. Its aim is to provide information that will be useful for interpreting and comparing the results from the three assessments, based on an in-depth look at the content of the respective frameworks and assessment items. The report draws upon information provided by the developers of the assessments, as well as data obtained from an expert panel convened to compare the frameworks and items from the three assessments on various dimensions.
Regents need rigorous requirements
Date CapturedTuesday May 23 2006, 7:07 AM
Call for Comment on Reading Standards; Revised NCATE Reading Standards Incorporate Recent Research
Date CapturedMonday May 22 2006, 4:05 PM
Testing methods must be flexible
Date CapturedSunday May 21 2006, 10:06 AM
Academy aims high
Date CapturedSunday May 21 2006, 9:25 AM
Senator Proposes Creating Board to Oversee College Admissions Tests (NY Times registration)
Date CapturedSaturday May 20 2006, 7:49 AM
Accountability plus standards equals success
Date CapturedFriday May 19 2006, 8:49 AM
Simulations and Learning
Date CapturedThursday May 18 2006, 11:55 AM
Odd Math for 'Best High Schools' List (NY Times registration required)
Date CapturedWednesday May 17 2006, 8:04 AM
No offense, history exam is fine
Date CapturedWednesday May 17 2006, 7:58 AM
Outsourcing test preparation
Date CapturedTuesday May 16 2006, 6:37 PM
States Struggle to Computerize School Records (NY Times registration)
Date CapturedMonday May 15 2006, 7:13 AM
Testing boundaries
Date CapturedMonday May 15 2006, 7:08 AM
FUROR OVER PSYCH TESTS FOR TEACHERS (NY Post registration)
Date CapturedMonday May 15 2006, 7:00 AM
Separate and unequal?
Date CapturedSunday May 14 2006, 5:08 PM
Judge's Decision to Suspend Exit Exam Is Bad for Students, According to California Business for Education Excellence
Date CapturedFriday May 12 2006, 7:41 PM
Arizona English learners look good for AIMS
Date CapturedFriday May 12 2006, 10:13 AM
Expectations raised for minority students
Date CapturedThursday May 11 2006, 8:31 AM
Drop in scores for new SAT has educators puzzled
Date CapturedWednesday May 10 2006, 12:01 AM
California judge likely to strip test of relevance
Date CapturedTuesday May 09 2006, 12:40 PM
Do your SAT scores reflect your education ... or your parents'?
Date CapturedTuesday May 09 2006, 6:30 AM
Judge inclined to halt California's high school exit exam
Date CapturedTuesday May 09 2006, 5:39 AM
Buffalo superintendent apologizes for mixup
Date CapturedSunday May 07 2006, 3:33 PM
SO, GRAMA AND GRANDPA ONLY HAD AN 8TH GRADE EDUCATION!
Date CapturedSunday May 07 2006, 1:29 PM
As Test-Taking Grows, Test-Makers Grow Rarer
Date CapturedFriday May 05 2006, 9:36 AM
Taking the SAT, Graduating Middle School
Date CapturedFriday May 05 2006, 1:03 AM
In Wake of SAT Errors, Senator Seeks New Rules on College Testing (NY Times registration)
Date CapturedWednesday May 03 2006, 12:14 AM
Cornell Looks to Gain Prestige by Re-Branding
Date CapturedWednesday May 03 2006, 12:11 AM
Shape of the Nation - - Status of Physical Education
Date CapturedTuesday May 02 2006, 8:03 PM
Read the Shape of the Nation Report -- information about the status of physical education in each state and the District of Columbia in the following areas: time requirements, exemptions/waivers and substitutions, class size, standards, curriculum and instruction, student assessment, teacher certification.
Another Federal Ed. Folly
Date CapturedMonday May 01 2006, 9:08 AM
Virginia Gov. Kaine Wants Schools to Aim Higher Than SOLs
Date CapturedThursday April 27 2006, 8:34 AM
Cornell's Worried Image Makers Wrap Themselves in Ivy (NY Times registration)
Date CapturedSaturday April 22 2006, 8:33 AM
Panel Considers Revamping College Aid & Accrediting (NY Times registration)
Date CapturedWednesday April 12 2006, 8:18 AM
Why Newsweek’s List of America’s 100 Best High Schools Doesn’t Make The Grade
Date CapturedMonday March 06 2006, 10:19 PM
By Andrew J. Rotherham and Sara Mead
PRIMARY PROGRESS, SECONDARY CHALLENGE: A STATE-BY-STATE LOOK AT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT PATTERNS
Date CapturedThursday March 02 2006, 8:54 PM
Primary Progress, Secondary Challenge: A State-by-State Look at Student Achievement Patterns. Education Trust, March 2006. This report examines state assessment results in reading and math between 2003 and 2005.
Future of Kansas education is individualized data-driven instruction
Date CapturedTuesday January 24 2006, 8:18 AM
The State of State Science Standards 2005 (Thomas B. Fordham Institute)
Date CapturedThursday December 08 2005, 3:13 PM
Written by Paul R. Gross, The State of State Science Standards finds that even though the majority of states have reworked, or crafted from scratch, their science standards over the past five years, we're no better off now than before.



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