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By Dr. Harry Tennant

Dan S. Martin's Principal Rider

by Dan S. Martin
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Entries with keyword: Standardized Testing
Posts 1 - 7 of 7

Monday, May 21, 2012

Education Ride 365: Standardizing A Paradox





"Paradoxically we are embracing standardized tests just when the economy is eliminating standardized jobs."

-Robert Reich

Posted at 8:46 PM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment Share this post with email Share this post on Facebook Share this post on Twitter Share this post on LinkedIn
Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Assessment, Standardized Testing

 

Monday, March 26, 2012

Education Ride 365: Warning, This Prescription May Produce Dangerous Side Effects



Texas launched its statewide "STAAR" testing today as a replacement for its previous system, TAKS.  The school accountability movement nationwide is almost exclusively based upon these types of standardized tests.  I have discussed some of the pros and cons of these exams in previous posts and will certainly discuss them more in coming posts.  Evaluating districts, schools, teachers, and students in this manner is not as commonsensical as it may seem.  It is fraught with unintended consequences and ripe for abuse.

Consider a report today by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution detailing their study of the largest school districts across America which, in part, found that:

"Overall, 196 of the nation’s 3,125 largest school districts had enough suspect tests that the odds of the results occurring by chance alone were worse than one in 1,000."

The full article can be accessed here.  Imagine the potential extent of this problem as teacher pay ('merit pay') is increasingly linked to these tests.  Furthermore, consider the growing trend of publishing individual teacher results (the average performance of each individual teacher's students) as part of the public record, to be reported by the media for all to see. 

Here is an interesting promotional video piece that accompanies the article cited above:



How ironic is it, too, that we are creating a system in which significant student gains are an indicator of dishonest behavior!  Improve, just don't improve too much in one year lest a red flag fly high over your school/district!

Again, cheating is but one of many unintended consequences of an accountability movement intended to improve school performance for the betterment of our children.  The motivation for high stakes testing is just...but like most any medicine intended to cure ills---> there are significant side effects.  On balance, are we on track?

Posted at 11:42 PM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment Share this post with email Share this post on Facebook Share this post on Twitter Share this post on LinkedIn
Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Accountability, Cheating, Merit Pay, Standardized Testing, STAAR

 

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

STAAR: Texas Assessment Conference PowerPoints

EdConnections Posted by Dan S. Martin
Earlier today I posted "STAAR Trek"--- a PowerPoint from the general session of the Texas Assessment Conference.  For more, any of seventeen other PowerPoints used during the conference may be downloaded from this helpful TEA web page!



What a resource!

Check It Out!  Pass It On!

Posted at 6:00 PM (permalink) 4 Comments View/Leave Comment Share this post with email Share this post on Facebook Share this post on Twitter Share this post on LinkedIn
Keywords: STAAR, Accountability, Standardized Testing, Assessment, Texas

 

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Pass It On Education Tools: STAAR Overview From The Texas Assessment Conference

EdConnections Posted by Dan S. Martin
As previous posts have discussed, Texas is adopting a new state assessment system called STAAR.  One of EdClick's fantastic customers, Pilot Point ISD, has posted a PowerPoint (STAAR Trek) on their district website from the Texas Assessment Conference held November 30th-December 2nd in Austin.



When you click "To Slideshow" on the page, the view will change to one like that below and it will then present the slides:



Download the actual PowerPoint file here!

Check It Out!  Pass It On!

Posted at 10:23 AM (permalink) 5 Comments View/Leave Comment Share this post with email Share this post on Facebook Share this post on Twitter Share this post on LinkedIn
Keywords: STAAR, Accountability, Standardized Testing, Assessment, Texas

 

Friday, December 3, 2010

STAAR: House Bill 3 Transition Plan

EdConnections Posted by Dan S. Martin
"The Transition Plan for House Bill 3 contains a detailed description of the process the commissioner of education will use to develop and implement the provisions of House Bill 3 (81st Texas Legislature, 2009), as required by Section 68 of the bill.

The transition plan has sections covering the development of the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR™) program; the development of new performance ratings for Texas public schools; federal requirements for assessment and accountability; accreditation, sanctions and interventions; and financial accountability.
Although HB 3 and this transition plan focus on assessment and accountability, two appendices include summaries of actions taken across other provisions of the bill. A Rulemaking Schedule summarizes State Board of Education and commissioner of education rulemaking required by HB 3. A Status of Implementation table summarizes the implementation status of the bill."



Download Complete House Bill 3 Transition Plan
You can also see it broken down into easier to manage sections by clicking here!

Posted at 10:01 AM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment Share this post with email Share this post on Facebook Share this post on Twitter Share this post on LinkedIn
Keywords: STAAR, TAKS, Accountability, Standardized Testing, Assessment, Texas

 

Thursday, November 18, 2010

STAAR: A New Assessment Model (for Texas)

EdConnections Posted by Dan S. Martin
"The state assessments will continue to be based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), the standards designed to prepare students to succeed in college and careers and to compete globally. However, consistent with a growing national consensus regarding the need to provide a more clearly articulated K–16 education program that focuses on fewer skills and addresses those skills in a deeper manner, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is implementing a new assessment model for the STAAR tests for elementary, middle, and high school.

The majority of the new STAAR assessments will test content students studied that year, as opposed to testing content studied over multiple years. Doing so will strengthen the alignment between what is taught and what is tested for a given course of study.....for more click: STAAR: A New Assessment Model

Quoted from TEA .pdf document available above and at TEA's STAAR Webpage.

Posted at 11:13 AM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment Share this post with email Share this post on Facebook Share this post on Twitter Share this post on LinkedIn
Keywords: STAAR, TAKS, Accountability, Standardized Testing, Assessment, Texas

 

Thursday, November 11, 2010

STAAR: Texas Education Agency Letter

EdConnections Posted by Dan S. Martin
Distributed  by the Texas Education Agency
October 15, 2010
TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:

SUBJECT: Resources for the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR)

This letter provides school districts and charter schools with important information about the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR), the new state assessment program that will replace the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) in spring 2012. For grades 3–8, the STAAR program will assess the same subjects and grades that are currently assessed on TAKS. At high school, however, grade-specific assessments will be replaced with a series of 12 end-of-course assessments: Algebra I, geometry, Algebra II, English I, English II, English III, biology, chemistry, physics, world geography, world history, and U.S. history. Attachment A provides an overview of the STAAR program.

The Texas Education Agency with the assistance of Texas educators has developed a number of resources related to the STAAR program. These resources, which are available on a new STAAR webpage at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/, include the following:

  • Assessment attributes. This chart compares TAKS and STAAR based on the primary features of the state assessment program and provides a quick overview of the major differences between the two programs.
  • Assessed curriculum. The assessed curriculum documents show the reporting categories (referred to as objectives on TAKS) for each assessment as well as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) that are eligible to be assessed. The eligible TEKS student expectations grouped under each reporting category are divided into those that are considered essential for academic readiness and those that are considered supporting. See Attachment A for details about the specific distinctions between readiness standards and supporting standards.
  • Test blueprints for the grades/subjects and courses assessed. The test blueprints show the reporting categories, the number of questions and TEKS student expectations assessed in each reporting category, and the number of questions on the test overall. All blueprints are final with the exception of U.S. history, world history, and world geography. The preliminary blueprints included for the assessments for these courses will be reviewed by Texas educators in early 2011 prior to finalization.

In December 2010, a plan required by the Texas legislature will be posted to the Texas Education Agency’s website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/. This plan detailing the transition from TAKS to STAAR will include specific information about topics such as the STAAR test designs, the assessment requirements for graduation, the measurement of college readiness, standard setting, and plans for meeting the assessment needs of English language learners and students receiving special education services. Additional STAAR resources will be provided throughout this next year, including explanatory material similar to that found in the current TAKS Information Booklets. These resources will be made available on the STAAR webpage as they are finalized.

If you have questions or need further clarification about this information, please contact the Student Assessment Division.

Texas Education Agency
Assessment Contact Information
Department of Assessment, Accountability, and Data Quality, Criss Cloudt, Associate Commissioner
Division of Student Assessment, Gloria Zyskowski, Deputy Associate Commissioner
(512) 463-9536
studenta@tea.state.tx.us

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Keywords: STAAR, TAKS, Accountability, Standardized Testing, Assessment, Texas

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