Gotcha

 Gotcha!

 

Where oh where have those high stakes tests gone??  Back in the day of the No Child Left Behind debacle every student was going to be on grade level by 2014.  It was never very clear just when during 2014 that would happen but we were all assured that it would.  Except it didn’t.  

In the process of making this dream come true school districts began testing kids right, left and center.  There were exams at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year.  .Probably why the legislation was also called "No Teacher with a Behind". Over half of the 50 states required these exams. High stakes tests were designed to make sure that every child who graduated from high school would be on grade level and ready for career and college.  Except they weren’t.   Institutions of higher education reported that the number of freshmen needing remedial course work before starting college did not go down; in fact, the number crept up just a bit.

We keep jumping and shouting for research-based teaching when it comes to methodology.  Yet the research regarding high stakes testing lends little support to the process.  Research has repeatedly shown that the use of an exit exam does NOT increase a student’s academic achievement or employability.  What these tests do achieve is an increase in the number of drop outs by kids who have failed the tests.  Generally, these students are often low-income, children of color or both.

In a 2022 study, Papay and his colleagues analyzed the high school graduation rates of students who just barely passed the math exit exam with those who just barley failed it.  The two groups were roughly similar in academic prowess.  They differed mainly by a couple of points on the exam.  The study found that the students who passed had a greater likelihood of staying in school and graduating.  But the kids who just barely failed were more likely to feel defeated and quit school.  Interestingly, for the small number of students who failed the exam but who prevailed on appeal- they were just as likely to stay in school and graduate as the kids who had passed initially.

That brings us back to what is the point of the exam.   Surely the reliability of any test is not so precise as to be able to determine within a couple of points whether a child is competent enough to graduate high school.   Yet we are acting as if we think they are.

Happily, the pandemic caused the canceling of many high-stakes tests.   And now the number of states that are still playing GOTCHA and requiring them- well that is down to eight.  Hopefully the next count will be at zero

 

So, You are proud of THAT!!??

 So, You are proud of that??!!

 

A couple of Severna Park high school students used a racial epithet to another student.  Additionally, belittling and demeaning statements were made to the student who is also a person with special needs.

These kids must have been very proud of their behavior because they videoed the episode and then sent it to students and staff.  No telling how proud the parents of these kids must have been.

The students who did the behaviors and who sent it to as many in the Severna Park high school community as they could were identified.  Anne Arundel County schools are “investigating the video” that was filmed in the school.  “The school is taking or has taken appropriate action with regards to anyone found to be involved” said a school system spokesperson.   He declined to elaborate on exactly what those actions might be.

The principal sent out a letter saying the behaviors were “unacceptable anywhere, especially in a school setting where part of our mission as a collective community is to cultivate students who are kind, accepting and inclusive”.  Looks like we have a lot of mission failures here.  According to the school handbook, these types of behaviors can result in severe disciplinary measures, which include suspension and expulsion.  Yet the school spokesperson could not elaborate on any kinds of consequences these students may be experiencing. The video was also posted on Twitter so it has received a lot of viewership.

Michael McWhorter a filmmaker saw the video and was repulsed.  He shared the video throughout his market with the intent of alerting parents to be aware of what their children might be doing.  He said as a parent he would want to know if his own children were doing these kinds of behaviors.  He said we can’t just assume that they are not.  He also discouraged viewers from contacting the school or making threats to anyone.

The school district is going to have grade level group meetings to teach the importance of respect and inclusivity.  I am sure students will leave the group meetings transformed.   Being talked at always makes an impression- nope not yet.

In the letter to parents and students the principal applauded those who upon seeing the video immediately contacted school administration.  The principal wanted families to know that these behaviors were “simply not ok.”   Dropping chewed gum on the sidewalk is not ok.  Demeaning and belittling someone with a disability and bullying a weaker person in school, then showing the whole community what you did is more than “not ok”.  Those behaviors bring shame on the school, the school system and the community.  Maybe we need to start acting like that!  Deeds people, not more words, behavior needs to change.

Great News! No serious crime in Virginia

 Great News! No serious crime in Virginia!

 

Surely there must be no serious crime of any sort in Virginia.  That is the only reason I can explain why Virginia’s Attorney General is opening a probe to explore why the highly ranked Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology was late in informing parents that their children received letters of commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corp.  Now it seems the plot really thickens as  there now might be at least two other high schools that were also late in informing students.   The Attorney General wants to make sure that race or national origin wasn’t a motivating factor in the delay.  The Fairfax County superintendent also noted that staffers had personally notified EVERY school to which students had applied informing the school of the letters of commendation.  It should be noted that these are letters of commendation and do not include any scholarship money.

The Governor of Virginian, Glenn Youngkin who is noted for his resistance to teaching history that includes the good news and the bad news about how African Americans have been treated in the past was notably very upset that this delay in notification to students, some of whom are of a minority race was a violation of the State’s Human Rights Act.  He is quoted as saying, “So, I mean, this is a real issue.”  As opposed to teaching about slavery and advocating for a new social studies curriculum that advises the majority of Africans brought to this country to be enslaved came of their own free will.  That notion, of course, might not be a “real issue”.

Youngkin is also upset about the new admissions procedures for the elite high school which used to include an exam and a $100 application fee.   Both were eliminated in 2020 to allow for a more diverse socio-economic student body.   Prior to the admission change, the school’s student body was primarily White and 

Asian.  Youngkin and company are saying the new policy may discriminate against Asian Americans since the percentage of Asian American students has decreased by about 20%.  Given that this is a school for science and technology, should have been easy for someone to figure out that if the total number of the freshman class remains constant and more Hispanic and African American students are admitted, then the percentage of other groups would go down. 

Maybe that’s a violation of some mathematical espionage.   Since there seems to be so little for the Virginia’s Attorney General to investigate, perhaps he can delve into that next.  Unless, of course, there may be other law breakers in Virginia worthy of his attention. 

Sometimes a mistake is just- a mistake with no nefarious motive.

We really don't have time for the arts.

 We really don’t have time for the arts

 

Horace Mann, the father of public education, believed the arts enhanced learning.  For many years the arts were seen as a way for the working class to get some class and develop intellectually.

Then along came No Child Left Behind, that amazing piece of federal legislation that was going to assure that every child would be at grade level by 2014.   That was a tall order.  Turns out too tall for public school system to reach but that didn’t matter.  Kids were tested annually in math and reading and it was determined that school time was needed for math and reading and not “wasted” on non-tested areas.   The recession of 2008 didn’t help.  Budgets were slashed and only “important” courses remained.  That cut out more arts courses, particularly in lower socio-economic schools.

Some people noticed.  Arts advocates marshaled evidence to show that arts education matters.  Well okay, but evidently not as much as reading scores.

Finally, arts advocates got together a large sum of money.  They were going to test to see if arts education took away from traditional academic programs, enhanced education as Horace Mann thought so many years ago, or it was just nice to have but made no difference.

Sixteen thousand students participated in the study.  Eight thousand students from 21 elementary and middle schools were matched with another eight thousand students from a different 21 elementary and middle schools.   The two groups were demographically very similar.   Either kids got art or they didn’t, there was no placebo.

The arts programming ranged a lot.  Sometimes artists visited the schools.  Sometimes there were weekly lessons in dance or theatre.  Sometimes the students went on field trips.

After at least a year of this potpourri of arts education, the academic performance of the students in the two groups was- drum roll please- NO difference!  Schools that worry taking time for the arts will diminish time for academics and lower scores- didn’t happen. Attendance didn’t improve either.   Disciplinary infractions were 3.6% lower in schools with the arts programs.  Maybe the arts gave some kids a reason to come to school.  

Principals insist it is hard to make the case for the arts when they need to raise math and reading scores.  But making time for the arts neither lowered NOR raised scores.

So why bother and why spend the money?   Maybe because being fully educated is more important than test scores. Oh not NOT that!  Maybe Horace Mann had it right from the beginning- the arts help us to develop intellectually and give us all some class.

 

Who would want this job?

 Who would want this job?

Thomas Jefferson high schools in Virginia is one of top ranked high schools in the nation.  Many of the students compete for National Merit Scholarships.   This year 261 students at the school received a letter of commendation for this performance.   A letter of commendation does NOT include any monetary or scholarship award.  It is sort of a good job notification.

Recipients of letters of commendation are generally notified in September.  This year they were not notified until just before Thanksgiving break.  The Fairfax school district says it was human error.  NOT so, say a group of parents who are demanding that the principal and the school director of student services have their employment terminated because the parents allege the school officials “deliberately withheld the information” from the 261 students.   The parents have not indicated what they think the motivation might have been to “deliberately” delay notification.  They are consumed with the damage to what they believe is their children’s chances for college admission.   These are kids who are graduating from one of the best schools in the country.   The earned Merit Scholarship letters of Commendation so it is probably safe to assume they have pretty good grades.  The school guidance counselors have directly contacted the admission directors of EVERY school to which the seniors have applied.  NOT enough say the parents.  The parents are convinced that the error will cause “catastrophic” damage to their children’s chances for college admission and other scholarships.  School officials say that almost every senior received either an actual monetary scholarship or the letter of commendation.   Because very few students received neither the school did not make a publicity release in the interest of saving the feelings of the few students who received no award or scholarship.  Thomas Jefferson high school is a school where the majority of the students are children of color.  This year is the first time the announcement was delayed.  

The school district has done its best with a mea culpa.  They are investigating and will modify policy as needed.

The two major questions are qui bono, if the error was intentional?   And secondly,  would anyone want to commit his/her profession to a system that doesn’t come to your support when you have made a relatively harmless error.   My heart goes out to the students who must live under incredible parental pressure if their parents find a late issued letter as "devastating".  And then again, we wonder why folks don’t want leadership positions in the public schools?