Houston ISD resolution concerning high stakes, standardized testing of Texas public school students

As of May 16, 2012, 462 Texas school districts representing more than 2.6 million students have adopted the Resolution Concerning High Stakes, Standardized Testing of Texas Public School Students.

This is the text of the Houston ISD Resolution that was passed and approved by the Board of Trustees on last Thursday, May 10, 2012.

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES
HOUSTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
RESOLUTION CONCERNING HIGH STAKES, STANDARDIZED TESTING
OF TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS

WHEREAS, we believe that the mission of our public schools is to ensure that all Texas children have access to a quality education that enables them to achieve their potential and fully participate now and in the future in the social, economic, and educational opportunities of our state and nation; and

WHEREAS, we support high standards and accountability for results for ourselves, our schools, our educators, and our students and their families; and

WHEREAS, the over reliance on standardized, high stakes testing as the only assessment of learning that really matters in the state and federal accountability systems is undermining the transformation of a traditional system of schooling into a broad range of learning experiences that better prepares our students to live successfully and be competitive in a global economy; and

WHEREAS, we commend Robert Scott, Commissioner of Education, for his concern about the overemphasis on high stakes testing that has become “a perversion of its original intent” and for his continuing support of high standards and local accountability; and

WHEREAS, State-mandated standardized tests may affect as many as forty-five instructional days during the school year on a high school campus, and even interfere with the normal instructional activities of students not taking such tests; and

WHEREAS, we believe our state’s future prosperity is dependent on a high-quality education system that prepares students for college and careers, and without such a system Texas’ economic competitiveness and ability and to attract new business will falter; and

WHEREAS, the real work of designing more engaging student learning experiences requires changes in the culture and structure of the systems in which teachers and students work; and

WHEREAS, what occurs in our classrooms every day should be student-centered and result in students learning at a deep and meaningful level, as opposed to the current overemphasis on that which can be easily tested by standardized tests; and

WHEREAS, We believe in the tenets set out in Creating a New Vision for Public Education in Texas (TASA, 2008) and our goal is to transform this district in accordance with those tenets; and

WHEREAS, Our vision is for all students to be engaged in more meaningful learning activities that cultivate their unique individual talents, to provide for students’ choice in work that is designed to respect how they learn best, and to embrace the concept that students can be both consumers and creators of knowledge; and

WHEREAS, only by developing new capacities and conditions in districts and schools, and the communities in which they are embedded, will we ensure that all learning spaces foster and celebrate innovation, creativity, problem solving, collaboration, communication and critical thinking; and

WHEREAS, these are the skills that business leaders desire in a workforce and the very attitudes that are essential to the survival of our democracy; and

WHEREAS, while we believe that standardized tests are integral to accountability in public schools and point with pride to the performance of our students, we concur that making these tests the sole measure of accountability causes preparation for these tests to dominate instructional time, impeding progress toward a world-class education system of student centered schools and future-ready students.

NOW THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Houston Independent School district Board of Education calls on the Texas Legislature to reexamine the public school accountability system in Texas and to develop a system that encompasses multiple assessments, reflects greater validity, reduces the number of instructional days affected by State-mandated standardized tests, and more accurately reflects what students know and can do in terms of the rigorous standards essential to their success, enhances the role of teachers as designers, guides to instruction and leaders, and nurtures the sense of inquiry and love of learning in all students.

PASSED AND APPROVED on this 10th day of May, 2012.


By: ____________________ By: _____________________
Name: Name:
Title: Title:
By: ____________________ By: _____________________
Name: Name:
Title: Title:
By: ____________________ By: _____________________
Name: Name:
Title: Title:
By: ____________________
Name:
Title:

Would Texas school trustees pass the STARR test?

How many Texas school board Trustees would pass the high-stakes STARR test or a similar test?  

How many successful school superintendents, state board of education members, school administrators, politicians, Mayors, members of Congress, members of city councils, legislators would fail?  

It is an interesting thought.  Maybe there should be a test for politicians and public officials who impose such tests on children.

Those who label children and schools as failures because of one high-stakes test might fail the same test. Still, they consider themselves to be successful citizens.

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From The Answer Sheet - by Valerie Strauss - Washington Post - May 10, 2012 - Click Here

Student video: How high-stakes tests affect kids

"In the video seven students are featured who are outstanding achievers academically but who failed the FCAT on their first try. The students, who had excelled in honors and Advanced Placement courses, were placed in remedial reading classes, according to Stanley, because of their poor showing on the FCAT. Also in the video is Orange County School Board member Rick Roach, the man who decided to take a test similar to the FCAT last year to see why so many excellent students were flunking."

Finland education has no annual high stakes testing

Finland consistently ranks near the top of international ratings. Teachers are allowed to teach. Finland has no annual high stakes testing.

Dan Rather Reports on education in Finland.

High-Stakes Testing and No Child Left Behind: An Animated Debate

Does high stakes testing harm low income children?

High stakes testing hurts education of low income students

From the  National Center for Fair and Open Testing - Click Here

The report states:

"Evidence continues to mount demonstrating that high-stakes testing undermines, rather than enhances, efforts to improve education for all children.

The picture that emerges from several studies is of a nation severely hurting its educational system while failing to provide help to schools that need it, thereby harming the nation’s children – all in the name of “accountability.” High-stakes testing puts narrow, flawed instruments at the center of education and leads to intensive teaching to the exams, which does not result in real learning gains. At the same time, many children are less motivated, are denied a high-quality educational experience, and become more likely to leave school before graduating. While state-mandated exams have been the major culprit, the federal government’s imposition of high stakes on schools and districts will compound the problem (see stories on NCLB, pp 23- 28).

Amrein and Berliner
Last year, Professors Audrey Amrein and David Berliner of Arizona State University reported that gains states report on their own high-stakes tests do not correlate with results from other exams, such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress or SAT and ACT college entrance tests (see Examiner, Spring 2002). In states with graduation tests, scores on these other exams often declined or grew less quickly relative to the nation as a whole. Their students were apparently less well prepared and less likely to go to college than their peers in non-high-stakes states.

In a second report, Amrein and Berliner examined dropout and graduation rates in the 16 states that used high school exit exams in the 1990s. They found that the graduation rate decreased in 10 states after high school exit exams were implemented and increased in only five states. Similarly, dropout rates increased in 8 states and decreased in 5. They also found that General Equivalency Diploma (GED) enrollments tended to increase and the age of GED examinees decreased, indicating that more students had left school before graduating.

The authors also examined news clips from 26 states with high stakes for students or schools, to consider other consequences. This evidence is suggestive, not systematic. The authors found tendencies toward greater grade retention (a policy that fails to improve student learning while harming children); more students being expelled, in some cases apparently to drive out low scorers; and increased exemptions of students with disabilities or limited English proficiency.
Amrein and Berliner also reviewed other published research that found high stakes cause increased teaching to the tests and narrowing curriculum to fit them, with particular harm to low-income students.

Boston College Study
The National Board on Testing and Public Policy at Boston College reported that three-quarters of surveyed teachers said state testing programs were not worth the time and money. A substantial majority said the testing caused them to teach in ways that contradicted their views of sound instruction.

The board released two studies of teachers’ views of the effects of state-mandated testing on teaching and learning, one from a national survey of 4,200 teachers, the other from in-depth interviews with teachers. The studies compared the effects in low-, medium- and high-stakes states.
In both studies, teachers said higher stakes created more pressure to teach to the test. About 40 percent of survey respondents said students could raise their test scores without improving their real knowledge. As stakes increased, teachers were more likely to narrow classroom curriculum to focus more on tested areas and to engage in more test preparation, including use of items similar to what is on the exams.

The teacher interviews were conducted in Kansas (low stakes), Michigan (medium) and Massachusetts (high). As stakes increased, so did teachers’ reports of test-related effects on their classrooms. Some findings:

-Only one in ten urban Michigan teachers thought the state’s test-based scholarship awards motivated their students, compared to one-third of suburban and rural teachers.
-In Massachusetts, more than half the high school teachers thought that testing demoralized their students. Two-thirds of all teachers thought the tests were unduly stressful and unfair to special populations. Four out of five thought the exam should not be used as a sole hurdle for graduation.
In addition to the over-arching findings, the Board reports detail many of the complex and subtle ways tests with different stakes impact teaching and learning in elementary, middle, and high school levels.

Tests Demotivate

A thorough summary of research on education and motivation by a British team found that constant testing motivates only some students and increases the achievement gap between higher and lower achieving students.

The results of the study, titled “A Systematic Review of the Impact of Summative Assessment and Tests on Students’ Motivation for Learning,” rebut the claim that standardized testing motivates low achievers to reap the reward of high scores and avoid the punishment of failure. In fact, researchers Wynne Harlen and Dr. Ruth Deakin-Crick of Bristol University found that the two categories of students particularly discouraged by constant testing are girls and low achievers.

These findings call into question the claims of U.S. high-stakes testing proponents that they have found the key to closing the race-based achievement gap, since the study results suggest that groups such as low-income and many minority students, who traditionally score low on standardized tests, are likely to be among those who are demotivated by consistently poor test results. 

The study also found that constant testing encourages even successful students to see the goals of education in terms of passing tests rather than developing an understanding of what they are learning, supporting previous research done in the United States (see Examiner, Winter 1997).

The researchers found firm evidence that achievement of literacy is linked to students’ interest in learning, the degree to which their learning strategies link to existing knowledge rather than just memorizing, and the degree to which they feel in control of their learning. The authors concluded that policymakers must recognize that high-stakes testing is providing information about students’ attainment while reducing their motivation to learn.

A pamphlet summarizing the study, “Testing, Motivation and Learning,” is available from The Assessment Reform Group, http://arg.educ.cam.ac.uk/. See also http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/EPPIWeb/home.aspx?page=/reel/review_groups/assessment/review_one_abstract.htm.

Counterproductive

John Diamond and James Spillane of Northwestern University found that the response to high stakes accountability in low-performing schools may be counterproductive. They closely examined four Chicago schools—two performing fairly well on mandated tests, two doing poorly. All the schools did considerable test preparation, but the lower-performing schools tended to test more, focus attention on those close to passing, and engage in other activities not likely to help most of their students. Since low-income and minority-group students are concentrated in the lower-performing schools, and those schools use unhelpful methods while schools serving wealthier students use more effective methods to raise scores, the results of high-stakes accountability testing could be to widen test-score gaps. 

Dropouts

Using data from the federal government’s National Educational Longitudinal Survey, Sean Reardon and Claudia Galindo of Pennsylvania State found that “the presence of an eighth grade promotion test requirement is strongly associated with an increased probability of dropping out prior to tenth grade.”  This particularly affects low-income, lower-achieving students.

• Both Amrein and Berliner studies are at http://www.asu.edu/educ/epsl/EPRU/epru_Research_Writing.htm
• The Board reports are at http://www.bc.edu/research/nbetpp/reports.html
• Diamond & Spillane at http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/publications/papers/2002/WP-02-22.pdf
• Reardon & Galindo at http://www.pop.psu.edu/general/pubs/working_papers/psu-pri/wp0301.pdf"

How Finland Reached the Top of the Educational Rankings

"They got rid of the mandated standardized testing that used to tie teachers’ hands."

From NEA Today - Click Here

October 7, 2010 by cmccabe

By Alain Jehlen

Many people these days are pointing to Finland as the world’s top success story in student achievement. So what’s their secret?

In the latest issue of NEA Today magazine, we feature an excerpt from a book by Stanford University scholar Linda Darling-Hammond that tells the Finnish story. Basically, Darling-Hammond explains, Finland did the opposite of what we’re doing in America.

In the 1970s, reports Darling-Hammond, Finland’s student achievement was low. But in the decades since, they have steadily upgraded their education system until now they’ve reached the top.

What’s more, they took what was once a wide achievement gap between rich and poor, and reduced it until it’s now smaller than in nearly all other wealthy nations.

Here’s how:

* They got rid of the mandated standardized testing that used to tie teachers’ hands.

* They provide social supports for students including a free daily meal and free health care.
* They upgraded the teaching profession. Teachers now take a three-year graduate school preparation program, free and with a stipend for living expenses. In Finland, you don’t go into debt to become a teacher.
* The stress on top-quality teaching continues after teachers walk into their schools. Teachers spend nearly half of their time in school in high-level professional development, collaborative planning, and working with parents.

These changes have attracted more people to the teaching profession — so many that only 15 percent of applicants are accepted.

The Finns trust their teachers, Darling-Hammond reports. They used to have prescriptive curriculum guides running over 700 pages. Now the national math curriculum is under 10 pages.

With the support of the knowledge-based business community (think Nokia), Finnish schools focus on 21st century skills like creative problem-solving, not test prep."

Call to boycott education tests in Australia

From EducationViews.org on April 27, 2012



"A GROUP of education consultants is urging Australian parents to withdraw their children from next month’s annual NAPLAN (National Assessment Program, Literacy and Numeracy) tests, saying they are damaging children’s creativity.

The group, made up of teachers, consultants and academics, says the testing – now in its fifth year – is providing poor-quality information about students’ abilities in the classroom, and is compromising students’ attitudes to learning.

Campaigning under the banner, ”Say No to NAPLAN”, the group will launch its broadside against the government’s standardized tests at the Australian Education Union’s Melbourne offices on Monday.

The union is not associated with the campaign, though it has provided the group with a rent-free venue for the meeting.

Group member Lorraine Wilson, who began her teaching career in 1959, said standardized testing was producing a generation of ”automaton” children, and devalued teachers.

”All control of education has been taken out of educators’ hands. These decisions have been made by politicians, not by teachers,” Ms Wilson said. ”It’s standardizing the children and expecting them to be the same.”

The group will call on parents to boycott the tests, and says most parents are not aware the tests are not compulsory.

To support the campaign, the group on Monday will release 10 papers written by academics and consultants that raise several concerns about the tests, including their approach to spelling and supposed misuse of statistics.

In one strongly worded paper, former Primary Education Queensland director Phil Cullen described the tests as showing ”contempt” for children.

”Over the past few years, schooling in the US, Britain, Australia and New Zealand has become a test-driven, fear-based operation. Effective teaching-learning strategies are being contemptuously ignored. Preparing for the tests dominates school time and pushes creative aspects of the school curriculum out of the way.”

Cheating our children: Suspect scores put award’s integrity in question

From the Atlanta Constitution - Click Here

By Alan Judd, Heather Vogell and John Perry

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

"Second in a series: Last month, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an unprecedented investigation into test scores that found signs of potential cheating nationwide. Today, we examine schools that won the prestigious Blue Ribbon Award. These schools, the AJC found, were more than three times as likely as all schools to exhibit extreme score gains the year they applied for the honor.

MORE HERE

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Cheating our children: Atlanta’s frayed Blue Ribbons 
Cheating our Children: Years of testing analyzed
Get Schooled: Schools must face revelations
List of Blue Ribbon schools with most improbable gains
Cheating our children: Suspicious school test scores across the nation
Cheating our Children series

Austin ISD Board President opposes high stakes testing

From Community Impact Newspaper - Click Here

by Kevin Stich

April 27, 2012

Photo by Kevin Stich

Mark Williams, board president of the Austin Independent School District, said he believes high-stakes testing “is not a productive way to run school districts.”

 ....

 “My own personal philosophy is I’m with them (the resolution). I think high-stakes testing, the pressure of accountability, the pressure of punitive sanctions, is not a productive way to run school districts."

Major education, civil rights, and religious groups launch nationwide solution to roll back high-stakes testing; seek sign-ons from organizations, individuals

From Education News.org-Click Here

April 26, 2012 

"Inspired by a statement adopted by more than 360 Texas school boards, major national education, civil rights and parents groups have launched a resolution calling on federal and state policymakers to reduce standardized test mandates and, instead, base school accountability on multiple forms of measurement.

The initial signers include the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Parents Across America, National Education Association, United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries, Advancement Project, National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest), Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Forum for Education and Democracy. Other supporters include educators such as Deborah Meier and Diane Ravitch as well as community-based education groups in New York, Chicago and Charlotte.

The groups are seeking endorsements from other local, state and national organizations as well as individuals concerned with the rapid increase in time, money and energy devoted to exams used to make major decisions about students, educators and schools. Supporters can sign on at http://www.timeoutfromtesting.org/nationalresolution
 
Dr. Monty Neill, Executive Director of FairTest who helped coordinate drafting the resolution, explained,“The over reliance on high-stakes standardized testing is undermining

educational quality and equity across the U.S. The collateral damage includes narrowed curriculum, low-scoring students pushed out of school, and teaching to the test.”

“”By teaching to the test, we are depriving a generation of youth, particularly youth of color growing up in low-income communities, from developing the critical thinking skills they need, and our country needs, to be competitive in this global economy,” added Matt Cregor, Assistant Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

“Parents are fed up with constant testing,” concluded Pamela Grundy from Parents Across America, who helped lead a community revolt against expanding testing in Charlotte, North Carolina last year. “We want our elected leaders to support real learning, not endless evaluation.” 

The resolution urges state officials to “reexamine school accountability” and develop a system “which does not require extensive standardized testing, more accurately reflects the broad range of student learning, and is used to support students and improve schools.” At the federal level, it calls on the U.S. Congress and Obama Administration to overhaul “No Child Left Behind” and “to reduce the testing mandates, promote multiple forms of evidence of student learning and school quality in accountability, and not mandate any fixed role for the use of student test scores in evaluating educators.” The full text is online at http://www.timeoutfromtesting.org/nationalresolution"
 

Austin school board decries high-stakes testing

From Impact News.com - Click Here

Joe Olivieri

Kealing Middle School student Callier Creadle spoke out against high stakes standardized testing before the April 23 Austin Independent School District meeting.

"Austin Independent School District became the most recent Texas school district to speak out against high-stakes testing for students.

At its April 23 meeting, AISD's board of trustees unanimously approved a resolution asking the state Legislature to re-examine public school accountability and develop a system that more accurately reflects what students know. That system would enhance teachers' roles as leaders and instructional guides, as well as instill a sense of inquiry and a love of learning in students.

AISD's resolution is similar to a model Texas Association of School Administrators resolution that takes a harder line on the issue.

Both commend Commissioner of Education Robert Scott for his concern on the overemphasis of high-stakes testing and continued support of high standards and local accountability. The TASA resolution goes on to say that over-reliance on standardized high-stakes testing is strangling public schools and undermining any chance of educators turning the education system into one that can prepare children to compete on the global stage."

MORE HERE

Lew Blackburn approved the high stakes testing resolution for the April 12th board briefing agenda - then refused to allow a vote at the April 26th Board meeting - Why?

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Re: Agenda Request -- Resolution Concerning High Stakes, Standardied Testing - TASB
Date:	Wed, 4 Apr 2012 16:54:49 +0000
From:	Dr. Lew Blackburn
Reply-To:
To:	Carla Ranger, Alan King
CC:

Carla,
I approve adding this item to the Board Briefing agenda for discussion and possible action at the Regular Board meeting this month. Thanks for your request.

Lew Blackburn, Ph.D.
President
Dallas ISD Board of Trustees

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From: Carla Ranger

Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2012 12:58:58 -0500

To: Alan King

Cc: Lew Blackburn

Subject: Agenda Request -- Resolution Concerning High Stakes, Standardied Testing - TASB

Good afternoon,

At the Texas Association of School Boards Board of Directors
Spring Meeting this past week-end, the Resolution Concerning
High Stakes, Standardized Testing of Texas Public School Students
was adopted. 

As you are aware, the resolution was initiated by the Texas Association
of School Administrators during the recent TASA convention.

This is to request placement of the resolution on the Dallas ISD Board
Agenda for the April 26, 2012 Board meeting for adoption after
review and approval by the legal staff.

A copy of the Resolution is attached.

In addition to being adopted unanimously by the TASB Board of Directors
on Saturday, March 31, I believe the Resolution has been adopted by over
100 Texas school districts.

Please include a copy of the Resolution in the Friday Board update so all
Trustees will be able to review it.

Thank you.

CR

Lew Blackburn - Third Board Agenda Request -- Resolution Concerning High Stakes, Standardized Testing - TASA and TASB

As of April 19, 2012, 344 Texas school districts have  adopted the resolution. TASA

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Third Email Request
-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Third Board Agenda Request -- Resolution Concerning High Stakes, Standardized Testing - TASA and TASB
Date:	Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:05:12 +0000
From:	Ranger, Carla
To:	Lew Blackburn, King, Alan
CC:

Good morning,

More than disappointing, your reply is a reminder that politics too often prevails
at Dallas ISD.

This is my third request to you on behalf of our children, teachers, parents, taxpayers,
and the Texas Association of School Boards. The first request was made April 2, 2012;
the second was made on April 18, 2012.

Please refer me to the Board policy that requires a consensus for an item to
be placed on the agenda. I am not aware of any policy that requires a consensus. 
The Board does not act by consensus.

Four Board members spoke against the Resolution at the Board Briefing - Lew Blackburn,
Bernadette Nutall, Edwin Flores and Nancy Bingham. No other Trustee spoke either way.

Your refusal to allow an up or down Board vote undermines democracy and robs our
community of an opportunity to address the important issue of high stakes testing.

The Resolution is supported by hundreds of school districts, as well as the two
leading public education organizations in Texas - TASA and TASB. Texas
Commissioner of Education Robert Scott has also spoken publicly against the excessive
use of high stakes tests.

What possible justification do you have to block Board action? If Board members
don't support the resolution, their votes will defeat it.

Again, I request that you place this important Resolution on the Agenda
in the interest of our children, teachers, parents and public education.

Please include this email address when responding: Carla@CarlaRanger.com.

Awaiting your reply,

Carla Ranger
District 6 Trustee.

Standardized tests with high stakes are bad for learning, studies show

 From Austin American-Statesman - Click Here

Monday, March 12, 2012

Education Equity, Politics and Policy in Texas - Click Here

"We spent nearly a decade reviewing the evidence as it accumulated...Our conclusion in our report to Congress and the public was sobering: There are little to no positive effects of these systems overall on student learning and educational progress, and there is widespread teaching to the test and gaming of the systems that reflects a wasteful use of resources and leads to inaccurate or inflated measures of performance."

This exemplifies the politics of whose knowledge counts. It wasn't enough for researchers to publish peer-reviewed articles on the harms of testing for the past decade, we needed to be pump money into an analysis of this literature to confirm that it is happening.

What we can expect from STAAR should NOT be termed "unintended" effects. We have known for years what these systems do to children and youth.

STAAR and its projected harms are not just about the 15% rule. This component just happens to be one that now impacts non-traditional communities, many of whom did not bat an eye when these systems were disproportionately impacting poor, minority, and ELL students.

-Patricia

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Standardized Tests with high stakes are bad for learning, studies show

By Carolyn J. Heinrich | SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Saturday, March 10, 2012

Standardized achievement tests have long been a routine part of our efforts to measure the educational progress of students. In the distant past, testing days came and went with little notice or fanfare for students, parents and teachers alike. And in those days and times, the tests probably provided fairly accurate assessments of students' progress in learning from one year to the next.

But those days of relatively relaxed test-taking for students and limited stakes for school districts and teachers are long gone. Test-based accountability systems that attach weighty consequences to student test results for school district staff, teachers, students and public officials are becoming increasingly institutionalized in the education system. There are probably few other places where the stakes attached to these tests are as high as they are in Texas.

There is a clear rationale for tying incentives for educational improvement to student achievement tests. We know from a variety of economic, psychological and management studies that people are highly responsive to incentives, even those that do not necessarily have individual rewards or sanctions linked to them or that may merely accord some form of public recognition (or shame) based on the results. Unfortunately, what the research has also definitively shown is that people will respond to these incentives in both intended and unintended ways, and the less control they feel they have over the measured outcomes and the more stringent the targets or performance tests, the more likely they are to respond perversely.

We have observed these patterns of unconstructive responses to performance incentives across a number of domains — health, workforce training, public assistance programs and more — but the evidence of serious problems has piled up faster in public education than in any other policy arena.

I was part of a National Academies of Science committee that was asked to carefully review the nature and implications of America's test-based accountability systems, including school improvement programs under the No Child Left Behind Act, high school exit exams, test-based teacher incentive-pay systems, pay-for-scores initiatives and other uses of test scores to evaluate student and school performance and determine policy based on them. We spent nearly a decade reviewing the evidence as it accumulated, focusing on the most rigorous and credible studies of incentives in educational testing and sifting through the results to uncover the key lessons for education policymakers and the public.

Our conclusion in our report to Congress and the public was sobering: There are little to no positive effects of these systems overall on student learning and educational progress, and there is widespread teaching to the test and gaming of the systems that reflects a wasteful use of resources and leads to inaccurate or inflated measures of performance.

Before high stakes are attached to a particular performance measure, such as math scores, it may very well correlate well with positive student outcomes that we are trying to encourage and build up. Indeed, the National Assessment of Educational Progress test is often used as a gauge for actual student performance specifically because it is a low-stakes test. But once a measure of performance is activated in a system that attaches significant consequences to its attainment, individuals are motivated to pursue all possible ways to raise measured performance, including those that do not contribute to the genuine goals of the system — goals such as increasing student knowledge and learning capabilities.

Studies published in the best economics and education journals have shown unequivocal evidence of excessive teaching to the test and drilling that produces inflated measures of students' growth in learning; cheating on tests that includes erasing incorrect answers or filling in missing responses; shifting of students out of classrooms or other efforts to exclude anticipated poor performers from testing, or alternatively, concentrating classroom teaching efforts on those students most likely to increase their test scores above a particular target, and other even more subtle strategies for increasing testing averages.

This type of behavior, which narrows the focus of classroom education and frequently diverts time and resources from more innovative and interactive approaches to teaching, has been characterized in academic literature and policy circles alike as "hitting the target and missing the point."

What we have come to understand to date about test-based accountability does not bode well for the new policy introduced by the Texas Legislature that will make the new STAAR student achievement tests count toward 15 percent of a student's course grade. After a wave of objections, state Education Commissioner Robert Scott announced last month that school districts may wait until a year from now to begin applying the 15 percent rule. If and when it kicks in, these are very high stakes to attach to a test, and this will undoubtedly have implications for how teachers and students spend their time in the classroom.

I am a parent of a freshman in an Austin public high school who is already fretting about what she understands to be very serious and formidable consequences of this new policy for her future. She found the questions on a practice exam to be largely unrelated to what she was learning in the classroom, and this was reflected in the scores she attained. How can she continue to spend five to six hours a night working on her regular schoolwork and preparing for exams created by her teachers and also find time to prepare for taking a separate set of tests that will count toward 15 percent of her course grade?

The empirical research again speaks to the unintended effects this policy is likely to generate: fear, reduced student motivation, increased withdrawals and lower graduation rates are examples of well-documented negative effects that this type of high-stakes testing induces.

In an assembly of parents, teachers, school staff and district officials, a presentation was made showing how the district will be working to improve the students' test-taking skills. The example suggested that if students do not know the meaning of a particular word in a test item, they would be taught to replace it with an "X" and focus instead on grasping the logic of the question phrasing that will give them a better chance of selecting the correct answer. In other words, if you do not understand the content, you can still improve your "guessing" skills through these efforts to help you become a better test-taker. Is this the way we want our children to spend their time in the classroom?

Maybe we should shift to the model widely used in some Asian countries where, in addition to classroom time spent on test-taking, the students spend 10-hour days on the weekends and their holiday breaks in test preparation classes that drill them in precisely this way. As a university professor, I have seen the results of this extreme focus on test-taking: These students score at the highest levels on tests that are reported in their admissions applications, but they score considerably lower on writing assessments, and most importantly, their performance in the classroom does not measure up to the test scores.

Incentivizing this type of intensive focus on improving test-taking capabilities is not going to help produce the better educated, more highly skilled and innovative workforce that business leaders and other employers assert is essential to competing effectively in the global economy.

Texas should be applauded for its tireless efforts to develop new policies that will increase educational effectiveness and to set high achievement goals for its students. But the latest rendition to incentivize better student performance in the form of a policy that ties 15 percent of a student's course grade to these tests is a step backward, not forward. It ignores a now broad base of evidence that these policies produce minimal or no positive effects on student learning and are likely to induce costly, negative responses in and beyond the classroom. I hope that the deferral of its requirement will give the state the time needed to revisit and retract this step in the wrong direction.

Posted by Patricia Lopez at 9:31 PM
 

Lew Blackburn again refuses to allow Board vote on testing resolution approved by TASA, TASB and over 300 Texas school districts

TASA - Texas Association of School Administrators
TASB - Texas Association of School Boards

---

From: Lew Blackburn
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 1:12 PM
To: Ranger, Carla; King, Alan P
Cc:
Subject: Re: Second Board Agenda Request -- Resolution Concerning High Stakes, Standardized Testing - TASA and TASB

Carla,

I appreciate you bringing the resolution to the Board's attention.  However, after the Briefing discussion, I did not get a sense that there was a consensus for this item to move forward for consideration.  As such, I will not add it to the agenda for the April 26, 2012 Board meeting for discussion and possible adoption.

However, as I indicated during the Briefing, if three (3) trustees request that the resolution be placed on the agenda, I will honor the request.  As of today, you are the only trustee who has made the request.  Please note, the agenda will be approved for posting by 3:00 p.m. Friday, April 20.

 Lew Blackburn, Ph.D.

Ken Zornes: Resolution on testing deserves DISD vote

Dallas Morning News-Click Here

Published: 18 April 2012 10:37 PM

“Imposing relentless test preparation and boring memorization of facts to enhance test performance is doing little more than stealing the love of learning from our students and assuring that we fall short of our goals.”

The above quote is excerpted from a resolution protesting the overuse of high-stakes standardized tests in our public schools. Instead of being lukewarm about signing onto this resolution, as reported by The Dallas Morning News , Dallas ISD trustees should be hot to get all of their names on the document as soon as possible.

Forget the fact that Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott believes that Texas’ testing regimen has become “a perversion of its original intent,” or that more than 250 other school boards (nearly 30 of them in North Texas), the Texas Association of School Boards and the Texas Association of School Administrators have finally said they’ve had enough. It’s time to put real instruction back into the classroom.

Dallas ISD board members would be hard-pressed to find even a few — if any — students, parents, teachers or administrators who believe that the current overemphasis on testing is the right path toward preparing our students for post-secondary education and the workforce.

Board President Lew Blackburn suggests that the resolution may not meet legal standards and that he cannot support it as it is written. Nothing in the resolution supports breaking any laws, state or federal. It supports holding our public schools accountable for student performance and merely asks that the Texas Legislature re-examine the current accountability system and develop a system that is more efficient, easier to understand and provides a truer picture of a student’s academic achievement. Nowhere in the resolution does it advocate doing away with testing.

No one can argue that high-stakes standardized testing has played a major role in how we hold our students, teachers and administrators accountable for more than a decade and that we have seen some benefits. However, the misplaced emphasis on these tests has caused many excellent teachers to simply narrow their instruction to preparing students for tests at the expense of preparing them to become productive and responsible citizens.

Much more than they serve students and teachers, high-stakes tests serve the needs of legislators who wish to convince the public that they are holding our public school system accountable and are being good stewards of their tax dollars.

Blackburn is reluctant to place the resolution on the agenda for a vote at the April 26 board meeting, stating that if three trustees ask to have the item on the agenda, he will do so. The board president should assume the leadership role to which he was elected and place the item on the agenda, regardless of how many other trustees want it there.

Having it on the agenda will allow the trustees to find out what teachers, administrators and the public, including DISD parents, think of the resolution. Listening to constituents is never a bad idea.

To read the resolution, go to tasanet.org/sites/tasa/files/gr/2012/sampleresolution.pdf

Ken Zornes is the executive director of the Texas Business and Education Coalition and former DISD board president. He may be contacted at kzornes13@hotmail.com.

Board Agenda Request -- Resolution concerning high stakes, standardied testing

"School boards in school districts as small as Iowa Park ISD and as wealthy as Highland Park ISD have adopted the Resolution Concerning High Stakes Standardized Testing of Texas Public School Students, saying that testing has gone too far.

"Assistant Superintendent Tim Powers (Wichita Falls ISD) didn't mince words when he voiced his opinion to board members ..."

"Testing is getting way out of hand," he said. "There needs to be more consideration taken to what are the successes of our district — not just a one shot, one test deal."

 TimesRecordNews - Wichita Falls-April 11, 2012

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Email Request

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Second Board Agenda Request -- Resolution Concerning High Stakes, Standardized Testing - TASA and TASB
Date:	Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:09:29 -0500
From:	Carla Ranger
Organization:	Dallas ISD
To:	Lew Blackburn , Alan King
CC:

Good morning,

This is to again request placement of the Resolution concerning High Stakes Testing
on the Dallas ISD Board Agenda for the April 26, 2012 Board meeting for adoption. 

The first request was sent on Monday, April 2, 2012.

A copy of the Resolution was previously provided for the Board Briefing.

Both the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) and The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) have approved the Resolution.

As of April 17, 2012, 304 Texas school districts have already adopted the resolution,
including the third largest school district in the state - Cypress-Fairbanks ISD.

In our area, school trustees in Highland Park, Mesquite, Plano, Richardson,
Sherman, Rockwall, McKinney, Waxahachie, Frisco, Coppell, etc., have
adopted the resolution.

Under Dallas ISD Board policy, the Superintendent and Board President prepare
the agenda. There is no requirement other than the Superintendent or Board
President place the item on the agenda.

This is a very important matter at a crucial time in the history of education in Texas.

I am requesting that you place the item on the Thursday, April 26, 2012 Board Agenda
and allow a vote - up or down.
.
Awaiting your reply,

Carla Ranger
District 6 Trustee

A Texas student's testimony on standardized testing

From Houston Chronicle

Updated 08:26 p.m., Friday, April 13, 2012

OpinioninSha

Sad testimony on testing  There have been many articles and news reports over the past few months about the effects of standardized testing on schools in Texas. I am a ninth-grade student attending a Houston Independent School District school, and I'm in pre-AP classes and one AP class. I haven't written this to complain about the testing because I don't like it or because it's hard; I've written this letter because I am angry, disappointed and concerned. Testing has disrupted schedules to the point where teachers can't teach, and I can't learn. In my pre-AP English class for this year, we have read one novel ("Ender's Game"), one short story ("The Most Dangerous Game") and one play ("Romeo and Juliet"). None of these works was really discussed because we had to prepare for the STARR test instead.  I also had practice testing and spent five solid hours in a room for several days. It took about two hours for the actual practice test; the rest of the time I read, others slept. There was no learning, no biology class, no English class, no math class. Before and during this, we were learning "Romeo and Juliet," and it took us more than five weeks to read it and we never discussed it, courtesy of testing and practice testing.
Like most students, I actually want to learn something. Why won't the Texas school system let me? Carl Teegerstrom, Houston