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VOICES: NCLB test results: Bogus results for a misguided program
There are several reasons why the results of a mandatory statewide test released Monday by the state Department of Education are bad news for Minnesota students.
The achievement gap between blacks and whites grew from 32 percent last year to 36 percent. These test results unfortunately don’t reveal any new information; a host of national tests show that Minnesota blacks lag greatly behind their white counterparts. The MCAII does nothing to shed more light on the issue.
34 percent of all students — only 8 percent of black students — passed this year’s 11th-grade math test. Next year, students will have to meet a minimum score on this test to graduate. Using these results as an example, 66 percent of all students would not receive a diploma.
Why did the Department of Education release these results before a holiday weekend – a tactic often used by public relations officials to hide bad news? Last year the department released similar bad news just before Labor Day weekend. The timing of the release is suspect. The week of July Fourth is a busy time for eating hotdogs and enjoying fireworks, but not for watching television news or reading newspapers. These results may never be known by many Minnesotans.
Most importantly, why should we care? The results come from the MCAII test, which is Minnesota’s response to the No Child Left Behind Act’s requirement for a statewide test to assess student achievement. The test’s results are widely regarded as painting an inaccurate picture of state education. The MCAII tests consist of one half-day spent on the math test then another half-day on the reading test. That’s it. The entire weight of NCLB lies on these two half-day tests.
Students in third through eighth grades were tested last spring in reading and math, while 10th-graders were tested in reading and 11th-graders were tested in math. Under NCLB, schools must disaggregate the test results and each group must meet achievement levels so their schools can be considered making “Adequately Yearly Progress.” Schools are required to meet 100 percent AYP proficiency within six years, a requirement that is clearly unrealistic.
To make matters worse, schools with many poor students receive Title I funds from the federal government for programs that help students learn. For Title I schools, failure on the MCAII test’s means losing some or all of that money as well as facing punishment that runs the gamut from being forced to spend taxpayer money for private tutoring companies to restructuring the schools administration and faculty. Meanwhile, schools that do not receive Title I funds face no sanctions at all.
Educators know this is a faulty way to measure student ability. They know the results are of little value. They know NCLB is a political animal and any smoke about the program being “for the kids” blew away years ago. Minnesota needs real educational accountability and student performance measurement tools. NCLB doesn’t provide either.
Comments
The right tools for the job
If the objective of NCLB is to reform education in ways that will identify the strengths and weaknesses of school programs and then offer specific resources to remedy the problems in order to help every child succeed, then NCLB has proven itself to be an ineffective tool. If the success of every child is our objective, then we need a program designed to truly take into account all of the variables which determine a child’s success in school. Punishing schools for student failure on a single annual test is counterproductive. It puts schools on the defensive and that is counterproductive as well.
We need to create a system which provides opportunities for every child to reach their full potential. The United States offers public education to every child, but we are a long way from structuring the system in a way that will honor children in every stage of their development or their particular strengths. Far too many basic needs are still unmet. And we still have not addressed the disparities of opportunity created by economic instability and unsafe neighborhoods and schools. As a society we have not created a culture in which children are protected and honored. Affordable quality daycare, paid leave for new parents, early childhood education, small class sizes, adolescent programs designed to help students thrive and be connected to their community, affordable post-secondary programs and more community resources for families – each of these and more are the tools we need to help every child reach their full potential.
The NCLB is a poorly designed tool which cannot do the job.
NCLB Results for Minnesota
NCLB feeds money to the Halliburtons of education, the testing companies. Follow the money. The intent of NCLB is to privatize public education.
Marita’s comments are right on. NCLB has not added value, but instead has created a myriad of problems, and exacerbated others.
NCLB is an oxymoron, like the word mastery. The standardistos, politicos, and business folks need to quit acting like THEY have the answers….such arrogance. They also think schools are factories and that the business model should be used in education, which is pure folly.
Watch out for those P-20 Councils and their members who think they have a crystal ball and see over the horizon.
Teachers have been blamed for the problems of society. I am so sick of teacher bashing. If people want to blame anyone, blame the bureaucrats.
Lastly, I think Minnesota’s idea of telling the feds to keep their money re: NCLB is certainly a move in the right direction. Go Minnesota and tell the feds, “NO MORE! Leave our educational system to us, and local control.”
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