The Democratic-led Assembly this month passed a measure that would impose a two-year delay in aspects of Common Core when it comes to student and teacher assessment.
The education budget bill introduced this morning does not appear to go nearly as far on that delay.
Here's what I see in the bill relating to assessment for 3rd-8th grade:
THE COMMISSIONER SHALL PROVIDE THAT NO SCHOOL DISTRICT OR BOARD OF
47 COOPERATIVE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES MAY PLACE OR INCLUDE ON A STUDENT'S
48 OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT OR MAINTAIN IN A STUDENT'S PERMANENT RECORD ANY
49 INDIVIDUAL STUDENT SCORE ON A STATE ADMINISTERED STANDARDIZED ENGLISH
50 LANGUAGE ARTS OR MATHEMATICS ASSESSMENT FOR GRADES THREE THROUGH EIGHT,
51 PROVIDED THAT NOTHING HEREIN SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO INTERFERE WITH
52 REQUIRED STATE OR FEDERAL REPORTING OR TO EXCUSE A SCHOOL DISTRICT FROM
S. 6356--D 56 A. 8556--D
1 MAINTAINING OR TRANSFERRING RECORDS OF SUCH TEST SCORES SEPARATELY FROM
2 A STUDENT'S PERMANENT RECORD, INCLUDING FOR PURPOSES OF REQUIRED STATE
3 OR FEDERAL REPORTING.
4 46. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL PROVIDE THAT ANY TEST RESULTS ON A STATE
5 ADMINISTERED STANDARDIZED ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS OR MATHEMATICS ASSESS-
6 MENT FOR GRADES THREE THROUGH EIGHT SENT TO PARENTS OR PERSONS IN
7 PARENTAL RELATION TO A STUDENT INCLUDE A CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS NOTICE
8 THAT SUCH RESULTS WILL NOT BE INCLUDED ON THE STUDENT'S OFFICIAL TRAN-
9 SCRIPT OR IN THE STUDENT'S PERMANENT RECORD AND ARE BEING PROVIDED TO
10 THE STUDENT AND PARENTS FOR DIAGNOSTIC PURPOSES.
11 S 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
12 deemed repealed on December 31, 2018.
And this:
47. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL PROVIDE THAT NO SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL MAKE
17 ANY STUDENT PROMOTION OR PLACEMENT DECISIONS BASED SOLELY OR PRIMARILY
18 ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE ON THE STATE ADMINISTERED STANDARDIZED ENGLISH
19 LANGUAGE ARTS AND MATHEMATICS ASSESSMENTS FOR GRADES THREE THROUGH
20 EIGHT. HOWEVER, A SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY CONSIDER STUDENT PERFORMANCE ON
21 SUCH STATE ASSESSMENTS PROVIDED THAT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT USES MULTIPLE
22 MEASURES IN ADDITION TO SUCH ASSESSMENTS AND THAT SUCH ASSESSMENTS DO
23 NOT CONSTITUTE THE MAJOR FACTOR IN SUCH DETERMINATIONS. IN ADDITION,
24 THE COMMISSIONER SHALL REQUIRE EVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT TO ANNUALLY NOTIFY
25 THE PARENTS AND PERSONS IN PARENTAL RELATION TO THE STUDENTS ATTENDING
26 SUCH DISTRICT OF THE DISTRICT'S GRADE PROMOTION AND PLACEMENT POLICY
27 ALONG WITH AN EXPLANATION OF HOW SUCH POLICY WAS DEVELOPED. SUCH NOTIFI-
28 CATION MAY BE PROVIDED ON THE SCHOOL DISTRICT'S WEBSITE, IF ONE EXISTS,
29 OR AS PART OF AN EXISTING INFORMATIONAL DOCUMENT THAT IS PROVIDED TO
30 PARENTS AND PERSONS IN PARENTAL RELATION.
31 S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Is that the CCSS moratorium?
If so, it seems a little fluid in how a district interprets it when it comes to promotion policies.
Otherwise the moratorium seems to be that CCSS test scores don't get put on official transcripts until after 2018.
I know there's language in here about reducing testing time, reducing test prep time, etc., but let's be honest - with APPR still in effect and 40% of a teacher's evaluation based upon so-called "student performance," there isn't going to be any reduction in testing or test prep.
They may change the name of the "test" to "task" or something along those lines, but you can bet there is still going to be an inordinate amount of time on testing and test prep.
That's what happens when you hold schools and teachers "accountable" for test scores and so-called student performance as based upon so-called "objective measures."
In short, this is what happens when you run a test-centric education system obsessed with data and so-called objective measures.
RBE...what is the bottom line on teacher evals? Is there a moratorium on them?
ReplyDeleteDoesn't seem like it:
Deletehttp://www.lohud.com/story/news/education/2014/03/29/common-core-testing-starts/7051561/
To be honest, I never thought there would be.
That they're going to use tests to evaluate teachers that don't count for students gives us a great opportunity to expose this as the sham it is. They may have done us a big favor by keeping all of APPR in place, even for the teachers under the CCSS test VAM. Helluva p.r. opportunity - take a look at the LoHud headline:
"Common Core tests will count for teachers, not students"
That's what Cuomo, legislature now has to defend. Plus, test anxiety not eliminated because high stakes remain for both teachers and schools.
I'm going to work on a piece later about this.