Standardized Tests

What Washington Can Learn from Minnesota

laura — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:34:22 -0600

Educators in Minnesota have a lot to cheer about. Their students participated in the 2007 International Mathematics and Science study (TIMSS), and saw improved results since they last participated in 1995. And for a state that had no standards on these subjects thirteen years ago, it looks like their commitment and effort toward continual refinement has paid off.

From edweek.org:

“As one of only two U.S. states to participate in a prominent international measurement of academic skill, Minnesota is scoring at or near the level of many of the highest-performing countries on that exam, and its scores in some categories have jumped significantly since it first took part in 1995.”

Washington has not participated in TIMSS and it’s unknown whether we will in the future, but taking a look at what changes Minnesota made to achieve the improved results can be valuable, particularly in Math, since their science results stayed flat.

The 2007 report shows fourth grade math results jumped from a 516 to a 554 on a 1,000 point scale. Improvements are contributed to the increased amount of time teachers spend on number related topics, and the amount of time they take to ensure students have a deep understanding of simpler math concepts.

Improvements with 8th grade math scores could be related to the increased amount of time teachers are spending on algebra in the classroom, which TIMMS emphasizes on the test. In Minnesota, all students take introductory algebra in 8th grade, and they are currently phasing in a mandate that requires algebra 2 prior high school graduation. Thankfully, Washington is on track with a similar requirement. In July 2008, the Washington State Board of Education made algebra 2 a graduation requirement effective in 2013.

The only other state to participate in TIMSS was Massachusetts, a state known for demanding academic standards. They saw progress too, however contributed their improvement to professional development.

Math and science matter. And although these subjects and there standards are currently under review in Washington, anything educators can do to strengthen instruction will ensure brighter futures for students. Looking at what changes Minnesota and Massachusetts made to see their improved results, can be a small piece to the puzzle. Who knows, if we get our act together, Minnesota and Massachusetts may not be the only two states who participate in TIMSS in the future.

TIMSS Rumble: How U.S. Students Stack Up in Math

Caroline — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:48:57 -0600

Last week, the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS) results were released. TIMSS tests 4th and 8th graders from over 35 countries. On the surface, the news looked promising.

As former U.S. Commissioner of Education Statistics Mark Schneider notes in Education Week, “U.S. students scored higher on average than most nations’ students, our scores are increasing, and we have two to three times as many students doing math at the advanced level than the international median.”

Digging deeper, we find the glass really is half empty.

First, the TIMSS “average” comprises scores from highly-industrialized countries like the U.S. and Hong Kong alongside emerging markets like Morocco and Romania. The other major international student assessment, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which is given to 15-year olds from OECD countries may be a better benchmark for the U.S. On the 2006 PISA test of scientific knowledge, the U.S. ranked 26th out of 57 countries, performing 24 points below the OECD average and lagging well-behind our economic peers—Hong Kong, Canada, the UK, and Australia among others.

Second, the TIMSS unmasks disturbing performance trends within the U.S.

As Schneider reports:

“The difference separating the average performance of black and white students on TIMSS is almost the same size as the distance between the United States and Hong Kong, and the difference between students in the most-affluent American schools vs. those in the least-affluent is almost 50 percent larger.

The distance the United States is lagging behind Hong Kong is even larger than the distance separating Massachusetts, the highest-performing state in NAEP, and the nation’s lowest-performing state, Mississippi.”

The take-away for Washington State? Just to ram home President-elect Barack Obama’s message: “If we want to out-compete the world tomorrow, we have to out-educate the world today.”

China Prep—a reality show that matters?

maureen — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:49:49 -0500

Last night, deep in the depths of what my friends and I are beginning to call “the Olympic haze”— watching so many events they all run together in to an epic morass of swimnastics—I stumbled upon a program that broke my trance and snapped me back to reality.

“China Prep” is a production of PBS’ documentary-style show “Wide-Angle” and traces a year in the lives of the Class of 2008 at one of China’s top high schools. If you’re imagining something on the scale of MTV’s “The Paper” (my guilty pleasure), think again. The students attending Bashu Middle School, in the burgeoning town of Chongqing, don’t really have time for afterschool activities and, frankly, they don’t have time for much else besides school.

“Usually I study 16 hours per day, eat for two hours and sleep for six,” One student said. “But that is nothing. I hear the students at MIT only sleep for five hours.”

Throughout the show, the student and her classmates are preparing for the “Gaokao,” China’s feared exit-exam—which blows our nation’s “high-stakes” tests out of the water (trust me, you can view some sample questions on PBS’ website). Since the GaoKao determines which students will attend top universities, nearly all students are only children and their family’s only shot at success, the pressure is incredibly high.

What I found most interesting about China Prep was the fact that, despite China’s new determination to bring more creativity to a population raised on rote memorization, I saw little evidence of creative problem-solving at Bashu. Students practiced all sorts of memorization techniques, but there appeared to be little discussion in the classroom, aside from the standard question/answer model. This bodes disconcerting, as Bashu has positioned itself to mold the next generation of Chinese leaders and critical thinkers.

A talking head at the end of the program, however, noted that though rote memorization is not the most effective way to learn and Chinese students often detest it initially, they grow to appreciate the rigor of their education in later years (perhaps when they are able to find jobs internationally?).

I don’t think I have to remind anyone that China is currently educating the largest population in the world. But one hopes that as the world’s attention turns to Beijing, audiences will shake off their Olympic haze and take a closer look at the competitive grooming of China’s youth and an education system that is increasingly developing some of the world’s most elite students.

To learn more and watch clips of China Prep, visit PBS’ website.

Ladies and Gentleman, the Washington Class of 2008

maureen — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:32:33 -0500

Just like the tagline of a cinema epic, the road forged by the class of 2008 has been a groundbreaking one, more than a decade in the making. In the next few weeks, students will graduate as the first class to be better prepared for life after high school, demonstrating their ability to succeed on the reading and writing WASL, complete a culminating project and implement a "high school and beyond" plan.

No one doubts the that process of implementing these new graduation requirements has been difficult, but to the credit of principals, teachers, students and parents, out of 67,000 12^th graders currently enrolled in Washington schools an impressive 91.4 percent of students have met state standards in both the reading and writing and are on track to graduate later this month.

“This is a celebration of over a decade of work. These are our first graduates to have more scrutiny placed on them than almost anyone in the state and they’ve risen to the challenge,” said Terry Bergeson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. “But the big picture is that our schools are now delivering more personalized attention than ever to keep students engaged in school and help them achieve high standards.”

It’s important to note that, to date, there are 3,000 students who have yet to take the test. When these students are subtracted from the total population, the number of students who have met standard goes up to a remarkable 95 percent.

A More Meaningful Diploma

The delivery of these results has proven both inspiring and cathartic for students and teachers. Many students took the reading and writing Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) several times to reach state standards, others demonstrated their capabilities through the submission of portfolios, still others used SAT and AP scores to prove their skills. But later this month, they will all receive a diploma that’s more meaningful than any in our state’s history.

Rose Worgum, an academic counselor at Curtis High School, has seen firsthand how the state’s new diploma requirements have helped to better prepare students for the world of college and work.

“One thing that stands out as significant to me is a student that I worked with who transferred here from the Ukraine in her sophomore year, just a few months before the WASL was administered,” said Worgum. “She spoke no English and ended up taking the WASL that year and did not pass. She worked very hard in her classes and with her English language and in her junior year when she took the WASL, she passed with Level 4's (advanced) in reading and writing and also passed math with a Level 3 (proficient).”

The state’s other new graduation requirements including the completion of the culminating project have also posed challenges for students, but significant benefits, as well, as they plan their next step in life.

“When students are invited to stretch their learning in a meaningful and manageable way, they rise to the occasion,” said Molly Berger, an English teacher in the Yakima School District who supported many of her students through the new culminating project requirement.

The Credit Deficiency Culprit

The students who have not yet passed the reading and/or writing WASL still have a chance to meet state standards through either registering to submit a “collection of evidence” portfolio by June 16 or retaking the WASL in mid-August. The decision to allow these students to participate in graduation ceremonies has been left up to individual districts.

In most cases, however, failure to pass the required reading and writing WASL will not be the decisive factor that holds some students back from graduation. According to a 2007 Washington State University study of more than 10,000 students in 13 districts, lack of sufficient course credits will hold far more students back than failure to meet state graduation standards (see chart below).

“The problem of credit deficiency is ultimately a larger challenge for our students than assessment,” said Brian Jeffries, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) graduation policy director. “Thankfully, programs like ‘Navigation 101’ that help students plan for college and careers and tie their courses to their future goals will reduce credit deficiency as a barrier to graduation.”

Strengthening the Graduation Rate

OSPI will not know the total graduation rate for the class of 2008 until early September, after the August WASL retake. But contrary to the fears of some, there is no indication that the dropout rate will increase this year as a result of the new requirements.

“It is unacceptable to assume the WASL will either increase or decrease our state’s dropout rates,” said Larry Ehl, executive director of Partnership for Learning. “While the WASL itself is not a means to fix our dropout rate, it measures whether a student is ready to take that next step in life. We must continue to explore ways to keep students engaged, motivated and supported while also holding them to the high standards needed for college and work success.”

Supt. Bergeson has often noted that, in other states, the implementation of testing requirements have little impact on graduation rates over time. They have, however, been shown to decrease the number of remedial classes students must take when the exit high school and enter post-secondary institutions, which often strengthens the student incentive to finish well.

Looking Ahead

In many ways, the success of the class of 2008 is just the beginning. The classes of 2009-12 will be subject to the same requirements, but will also be expected to build on this year’s achievement as the process for helping students meet standards and finish requirements becomes more clarified and streamlined. Starting in 2013 and 2014, students will be required to pass the high school math WASL or an end-of-course exam to graduate (currently, students who don’t pass math WASL can earn two math credits after 10^th grade to meet standard).

But Supt. Bergeson doesn’t want to short-change this year’s accomplishment.

“To the students, I must say: Congratulations. You’ve met the challenge and you’ve prepared for your future. You will be going into the 21^st century with the skills to build our future and make our country and economy what we truly want it to be.”

Tracking the Class of 2008

This diagram, created by OSPI, shows the progress of the class of 2008 starting in 9th grade.

Resources for the Class of 2008

To learn more about the requirements for the Class of 2008 and the upcoming requirements for the Classes of 2009-2013, visit OSPI’s resource page.

To find out about the alternative methods for students to meet state standards and graduation requirements, visit OSPI’s Certificate of Achievement page.

Key Upcoming Dates

June 3 -- Public release of 12^th grade WASL results

June 6 -- School districts receive individual student WASL score reports from Pearson Educational Measurement, the state’s testing contractor. School districts receive combined score report for assessment for segmented mathematics

June 9-13 -- Individual student results for grades 10, 11 and 12 available for districts to share with students and their families.

June 16 -- Deadline to submit Collection of Evidence and Report to Families: OSPI’s announcement of state-level High School WASL results and progress with graduation requirement in reading, writing and math

June 9-27 -- Registration window for August High School WASL

June 16-20 -- Third batch of Certificate of Academic Achievement/Certificate of Individual Achievement certificates delivered

August 11-14 -- August High School WASL (Counts for 2007-08 school year)

By September 10 -- OSPI releases statewide Spring 2008 WASL performance in all subjects and all grades.

Washington Math Teachers Gear Up for New Standards

With Washington’s new K-8 math standards in place, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is undertaking a series of massive training sessions for more than 10,000 math teachers statewide.

The training sessions will take place in Spokane in late June and in Tacoma in late July and early August. Some Educational Service Districts (ESDs) and school districts are scheduling their own sessions, as well. The state will pay for related materials including copies of the 2008 Washington State K-8 Mathematics Standards for all participants.

“The mathematics standards training is not required,” said Lexie Domaradzki, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning at OSPI. “However, starting in the spring of 2010, math tests at all grade levels will assess whether students have learned the mathematics content contained in the new standards.”

Professional development for mathematics standards in grades 9-12 will be scheduled later this year, following the adoption of the revised standards for those grades.

For more information on — and to register for — OSPI and ESD-sponsored trainings visit https://eds.ospi.k12.wa.us/EventsManager/Public/Calendar.aspx (Events Manager search terms: Revised Mathematics Standards, Math, K-8).

Clarifying the role of the WASL

maureen — Mon, 05 May 2008 12:54:44 -0500

Over the gorgeous weekend, the Washington State PTA staged its annual conference near SeaTac airport. One of the first sessions of the conference was a panel discussion on standards and assessment featuring Joe Willhoft (Assistant State Superintendent for Assessment and Student Information, OSPI), Maureen Ramos (Washington Education Association, Spokane), Pat Steinburg (Special Education Coalition), Thelma Jackson (Washington Alliance of Black School Educators), Lester Krupp (a high school English teacher from Yelm) and David Fisher (former chair of the State Academic Achievement and Accountability Commission).

The speakers addressed the WASL’s role as an assessment tool; its impact on instruction and student achievement, especially for special education students, English language learners and those from diverse cultures and lower socio-economic backgrounds; the financial impact of the WASL on the K-12 system; and proposed changes to improve the state’s assessment program.

The audience turn-out for the session was modest, which was unfortunate because the panel discussion provided a number of important insights on standards and assessment. The panelists each clearly brought a different perspective to the discussion, and there were many points of disagreement on priorities and policy implications for assessment. Despite these differences, a few common themes emerged. One area of consensus was especially important: All of the panelists acknowledged that assessment results should be used to help identify where our schools need to do a better job in helping students develop the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.

In other words, we can’t allow the controversy that has raged over the WASL to continue distracting policymakers, the media, educators and parents from the critical issue of preparing students for the rigors of post-secondary education and training, the workplace and citizenship in the 21st century.

Hats Off to Washington AP Students!

maureen — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:15:06 -0600

As a past AP student, I know how tough AP classes can be (and occasionally still have nightmares about Mrs. Gould’s AP US History). But I also know how entirely worth it they are in terms of getting ahead and being prepared for college, which is why I was happy to see that the number of high school students taking AP exams has increased 74 percent in the last five years.

And—more importantly—according to a national report released yesterday, more Washington high school students also earned a good enough score to earn college credit for their high school work: 24,776 Washington students earned a score of three or higher, which is considered passing on the test. That’s up almost 15 percent from last year!

"Increasing participation and rising scores are measurable testaments to the great teaching and learning going on here in Washington," state Supt. Terry Bergeson told the Seattle P-I. "They tell us that if we raise expectations, students will rise to meet those expectations."

It’s also good to hear that state officials are using $1.3 million in grants to lower the cost of each test from $84 to $5 for low-income students and hope to increase participation in rural and minority students.

Hats off to the committed AP teachers working to ensure students are prepared for future college work and to the students studying hard!

WASL portfolio deadline approaching

maureen — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:02:39 -0600

Valentine’s Day is about to take on a new meaning for 9,000 Washington high school juniors and seniors. The date normally reserved for chocolates and roses is this year’s deadline for submission of “collection of evidence” portfolios as an alternative option for students who did not pass the WASL.

According to the Tacoma New Tribune, these students will be submitting a total of 15,000 portfolios, which take the form of a 2-inch, white binder filled with students’ work samples. Senior portfolios will be returned to school districts April 18. Portfolios submitted by juniors will be returned graded on May 27.

To learn more about collection of evidence portfolios visit OSPI’s website.

Class of 2008 -- Don't Miss This Deadline!

maureen — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:01:41 -0600

We all know it’s a busy time of year, so we just wanted to remind everyone of a fast-approaching deadline. This Friday, Dec. 15 is the cutoff for high school seniors graduating in the Class of 2008 to register for the collection of evidence alternative assessment to the WASL.

The collection of evidence portfolio won’t be due until Feb. 15, but if students fail to register they will be not be eligible to use the portfolio in place of the WASL (should they want to access this alternative) and potentially graduate. The February portfolios will be graded by early May.

To learn more about collection of evidence portfolios as an alternative assessment to the WASL visit OSPI’s website.

Science standards to be revamped

allisonm — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:25:20 -0500

First math, now science. The State Board of Education (SBE) is moving right along, continuing to make huge, important changes to Washington's education system.

Last week, the SBE announced the selection of a consultant to review the science standards -- David Heil and Associates. The firm specializes in the development and evaluation of science-based educational programs, products and services.

In addition to Heil, the leadership team will include Rodger Bybee, Director Emeritus of the Biological Science Curriculum Study and Harold Pratt, a private consultant who has just completed a three-year term as the Disciplinary Literacy Fellow in Science at the Learning Research Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh. (I have no idea what any of that means, but it sure sounds impressive.)

SBE will receive an interim report from this stellar science team in March 2008. Public comment will be gathered in April and the final report is scheduled to be completed in May 2008.

Like the math standards process with Strategic Teaching, the SBE is also putting together a science advisory panel to help guide this work.

Want to be a part of this group? You have until October 21 to apply for a seat on this panel. And be sure to check back with us later as we'll be watching this process closely!

Our Nation's Report Card Day

allisonm — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 13:14:54 -0500

Ah, report cards. Displayed on the refrigerator when it's filled with good grades, hidden from your parents as long as possible when bad grades prevail. But unlike those report cards that can conveniently get misplaced, there's no hiding from our Nation's Report Card.

Released earlier this week by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test, commonly known as the Nation's Report Card, is the yardstick used to measure learning in each state across the country. It measures what America's students know and can do in various subject areas.

Nationally, the test results show that we're making progress in closing the achievement gap (hooray!), and overall, states are doing better. Small improvements, but improvements nonetheless. (Although see this Seattle PI article for more specifics on Washington's miniority students).

For Washington students, scores remained steady since our last report card in 2005. Out of a possible score of 500, our fourth-graders scored 224 in reading, and 243 in math. Our eighth-graders scored 265 in reading and 285 in math. All scores are above the fourth- and eighth-grade national averages of 220 in reading and 239 in math, and 261 in reading and 280 in math, respectively.

Good news in terms of a state-by-state comparison. But what about how it compares to our WASL scores? You'd think that since both tests are meant to measure student proficiency that the results would be similar.

Not quite.

Like most states, Washington does worse on NAEP than they do on the WASL. As this article notes, The No Child Left Behind law requires states to participate in NAEP but in a nod to states' rights, states are allowed to use their own tests (ours being the WASL) in meeting the law's central mandate - that schools increase the percentage of students demonstrating proficiency each year. The law requires 100 percent of the nation's students to reach proficiency - as each state defines it - by 2014.

For example, according to NAEP, 44% of Washington's 4th-graders performed at or above the proficiency level in math, while 36% are at or above proficiency in reading. But looking at this year's WASL report card, 57.9% met proficiency in math and 76.4% met proficiency in reading. Uh, something's not right here.

So what does it mean?

Some argue it means state tests are easier because states that fail to raise scores over time face serious sanctions. Others argue that the federal test gives policy makers a snapshot of student performance across the nation, while state tests provide data about individual performance so it's unfair to compare results.

Either way, what it does show is the Washington's standards aren't too high or unreasonable. In fact, they might even need to be increased at some point to align to national standards.

We hide bad grades from our folks because we know that there's likely a consequence for our poor performance. That's actually a good thing. It's that accountability that drives us to do better. To improve and work harder. So that one day, we can proudly hang our report card on our nation's fridge.