From a comment on this Wall Street Journal article about the latest Pearson testing fiasco:
Perdido 03
Showing posts with label crap tests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crap tests. Show all posts
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
So Much For State Of The Art, Cutting Edge Computerized Testing
The education reformers love to talk about the next generation of tests that are going to be state of the art and cutting edge and so much improved from the last generation of standardized tests.
But so far, all these state of the art, cutting edge next gen tests have been just a bust:
And just in case you think it's a case of one company's incompetence that can be remedied by bringing in another company, the problems are not related to one testing vendor:
Here's how states are responding to the problems:
This is not the first time CTB.McGraw-Hill has had issues with its testing apparatus:
It's a mess.
The next time you hear NYSED Commissioner John King or Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch brag about the quality of NY State testing, remember two things:
First, New York has yet to move to computerized testing but will in the next few years. You can be sure districts all over the state will experience these kinds of issues and worse - especially districts like NYC where bandwidth problems are already a challenge.
Second, New York officials are scared to reveal the contents of the tests these days, for fear that the new Common Core Pearson tests will be exposed as garbage the way the old Pearson tests were exposed last year.
The lawsuits will begin next year when teachers get VAMMED on the pencil and paper Common Core tests but are given little to no information for why they got VAMMED.
And then when NY State moves to computerized testing, you can expect even more lawsuits related to technology issues.
As Carol Burris noted over at NYC Educator's blog:
So far, that;s exactly the trajectory I see from all the vaunted Common Core reforms and changes to teacher evaluation systems.
But so far, all these state of the art, cutting edge next gen tests have been just a bust:
INDIANAPOLIS — School districts across several states are rescheduling high-stakes tests that judge student proficiency and even determine teachers' pay because of technical problems involving the test administrators' computer systems.
Thousands of students in Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota and Oklahoma have been kicked offline while taking tests in recent weeks, postponing the testing schools planned for months and raising concerns about whether the glitches will affect scores.
"There's been pep rallies and spirit weeks all getting ready for this. It's like showing up for the big game and then the basketball is deflated," said Jason Zook, a fifth-grade teacher at Brown Intermediate Center in South Bend, Ind.
Many frustrated students have been reduced to tears and administrators are boiling over, calling the problems "disastrous" and "unacceptable" at a time when test results count so heavily toward schools' ratings under the federal No Child Left Behind law. In places such as Indiana, where former Gov. Mitch Daniels approved changes tying teachers' merit pay to student test scores, the pressure is even greater.
"Teachers are extremely frustrated because of the high-stakes nature of this test," said Jeff Sherrill, principal at Emmons Elementary School in Mishawaka, Ind. "They know they're going to be judged on this and their schools are going to be judged on this. Certainly it's changed the outcome of the testing, because there's no way it's not going to."
And just in case you think it's a case of one company's incompetence that can be remedied by bringing in another company, the problems are not related to one testing vendor:
CTB/McGraw-Hill is the contractor in Indiana and Oklahoma and administers statewide standardized tests in eight other states. Kentucky Department of Education spokeswoman Nancy Rodriguez said its vendor, ACT Inc., reported online issues in Kentucky and Alabama. American Institutes for Research, or AIR, is the contractor in Minnesota.
Kentucky Department of Education Associate Commissioner Ken Draut said the agency suspended online testing through at least Thursday after about 25 districts reported slow and dropped connections from the ACT Vantage testing system used to administer end-of-course assessments for students taking English II, Algebra II, biology and U.S. history. About 60 percent of Kentucky districts administer the tests online.
In Indiana, McGraw-Hill is in the third year of a four-year, $95 million contract, while in Oklahoma, it has a one-year, $16 million contract with an option to renew an additional four years. Minnesota's $61 million, three-year contract with AIR expires this year. Rodriguez, reached at home, said she did not know the terms of Kentucky's ACT contract.
Here's how states are responding to the problems:
Indiana suspended testing Monday and Tuesday, the same days Oklahoma reported problems.
One Oklahoma lawmaker called for a moratorium on testing this year.
"We'll just start over next year when the testing provider has its act together," said Rep. Curtis McDaniel, D-Smithville, a longtime school administrator. "It's just not fair to these students to make them re-take tests two or three times or accept a score based on a partial test that may or may not be accurate because of technology problems."
Oklahoma State Superintendent Janet Barresi said the department is working to remedy the problem and then will determine "how to proceed with accommodations for the districts."
...
Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz said there's "no question" the state will have to review any data gathered in the past few days, when at least 27,000 third- through eighth-grade students were kicked offline during tests.
"After we get everybody assessed, we're going to have to look at the validity of the assessments themselves," Ritz said.
This is not the first time CTB.McGraw-Hill has had issues with its testing apparatus:
The Connecticut Department of Education fined CTB/McGraw-Hill $300,000 in 2004 for errors and delays in scoring its Mastery Test, the largest fine allowed under the state's contract.
In 2011, up to 10,000 Indiana students statewide were logged off and some were unable to log back in for up to an hour while taking the test. The state invalidated 215 scores that year because they were lower than expected.
About 9,000 Indiana students were kicked offline during the test last year.
It's a mess.
The next time you hear NYSED Commissioner John King or Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch brag about the quality of NY State testing, remember two things:
First, New York has yet to move to computerized testing but will in the next few years. You can be sure districts all over the state will experience these kinds of issues and worse - especially districts like NYC where bandwidth problems are already a challenge.
Second, New York officials are scared to reveal the contents of the tests these days, for fear that the new Common Core Pearson tests will be exposed as garbage the way the old Pearson tests were exposed last year.
The lawsuits will begin next year when teachers get VAMMED on the pencil and paper Common Core tests but are given little to no information for why they got VAMMED.
And then when NY State moves to computerized testing, you can expect even more lawsuits related to technology issues.
As Carol Burris noted over at NYC Educator's blog:
Do not worry. It is the full employment act for school attorneys. The system is so indefensible and silly, no one will get fired.
So far, that;s exactly the trajectory I see from all the vaunted Common Core reforms and changes to teacher evaluation systems.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Isn't It Time Pearson Is Sent Packing From NY State In Disgrace?
Major screw-ups caused by carelessness - there's no other way to describe this "Gifted and Talented" test mess:
An error on the part of Pearson, the company that developed New York City Schools "Gifted and Talented" exam, means many students who were told they didn't qualify for the program actually did, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said in a statement released late Friday afternoon.
The error affects more than 4,735 test takers -- about 13 percent of the students who took the exam, according to the Department of Education.
Of those students, 2,698 who didn't qualify for the gifted and talented program now qualify for district programs.
Another 2,037 who previous qualified for district programs are even more gifted and talented than they thought -- they now qualify for citywide programs as well.
All students who were previously told they qualify for the programs still do.
"After an exhaustive review of Pearson's data, it is clear to us that due to the company's errors, many students who were recently notified that they did not qualify for G&T now qualify for district programs," Walcott said. "In addition, many other students who didn't previously qualify for city wide programs now do."
...
Despite Walcott's wording, it wasn't so much Pearson that discovered the errors -- it was two parents who noticed scores didn't add up.
"Two parents initially brought their concerns to our attention. My team immediately asked Pearson to investigate," Walcott said. "Throughout this week, Pearson has been working to confirm the existence of errors, identify how many students were affected and rectify those errors."
The incorrect results were due to two errors -- some students being incorrectly categorized in the wrong age group, and the use of an incorrect scoring key....It's not the first time Pearson's in the spotlight. The test company, which also designs state exams, was lampooned last year for a confusing question about a talking pineapple on state exams. Many other questions were also struck from state exams due to errors last year.
Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch bragged about the quality of the 3rd-8th grade "assessments" Pearson developed based upon the Common Core standards and noted that, given how bad the Pearson tests were last year, lots of people didn't think they could pull off quality tests this year:
"I would be so bold as to say they were better than most people expected them to be," she said.
Merryl Tisch should hold off before congratulating herself and Pearson for the quality of the 3rd-8th grade ELA tests just yet.
Because of the security and secrecy around the tests, there are lots of unanswered questions about them - especially around two major areas:
1. Time allotment - Many students were unable to complete the tests and teachers said the amount of time given for the tasks on the tests was nowhere near enough for students to finish
2. Product Placements - There are at least two cases of product brands, trademarks and advertising slogans put into the tests in footnotes, of all places. The NY Post reported a few more. Those instances need to be investigated - How did the product placements get into the tests? Why were the trademarks for the brands added? Who put the footnotes in?
In addition, teachers have said there were instances of two correct answers for questions. That needs to be investigated too.
Now Merryl Tisch may already be putting on her flight suit and declaring "Mission Accomplished!" with these Pearson 3rd-8th grade ELA tests, but because teachers are not allowed to talk about the tests and the contents cannot be revealed, we simply don't know just how bad these tests were.
But given the track record Pearson has on screwing things up majorly, from the Pineapple and Hare mess last year to this Gifted and Talented program mess this year, you can be sure there are problems with this year's Common Core tests.
Unfortunately because the state has an embargo around the test contents and is threatening to de-certify any teacher who talks about the contents of a test, we may never know just bad these Pearson 3rd-8th grade tests are.
Not unless parents really make a huge stink over them with their representatives in Albany.
In addition, it seems no matter how many major mistakes Pearson makes with the tests they develop for NY State, they are not going to have their contract voided and be sent packing.
It really is high time Pearson was sent packing from the state.
But you can bet Cuomo, who likes to appoint Pearson employees to important gigs in the NYSED, isn't going to be the person to do that.
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Merryl Tisch and John King do not want parents to find errors on the tests - that's why they're hiding the contents.
The NYSED and the Regents do not want their testing industrial complex challenged, do not want their teacher evaluation system challenged, do not want their supremacy over education policy undermined.
If Pearson's work on the 3rd-8th grade tests is found to be as shoddy as their work on last year's 3rd-8th grade tests, if it is found to be as shoddy as the work they have done on the G&T tests, the NY State testing industrial complex will be exposed as fraudulent, the teacher evaluation system as unworkable and the leadership of Merryl Tisch and John King as criminally dishonest.
That's why they're going to fight to hide the contents of these tests.
They must not get away with this.