Saturday, March 29, 2014

Common Core Moratorium Watered Down In Budget Bill?

From State of Politics:

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   12  deemed repealed on December 31, 2018.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.

2 comments:

  1. RBE...what is the bottom line on teacher evals? Is there a moratorium on them?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Doesn't seem like it:

      http://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.

      Delete