Date sent: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 19:27:03 -0400 From: "Richard G. Innes" <70224.434@compuserve.com> Subject: [education-consumers] Fw: KY 2 To: "ClearingHouse" Send reply to: "Richard G. Innes" <70224.434@compuserve.com> ===================================================================== Excerpts from: "Mary Ellen Huss" Date: 04/10/2000 17:38 RE: [education-consumers] Fw: KY 2 (MY COMMENTS IN CAPS) ===================================================================== A New Direction KERA changes way schools teach, students learn 10 April 2000 By Mark Cooper Messenger-Inquirer Looking for physical evidence of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) in schools is more frustrating than looking for Carmen Sandiego without the clues. The truth is, KERA has changed schools on the inside, not the outside, officials said. "I don't think what we're doing different today is something you can walk through the hallways and see," said Barbara Bittman of Owensboro, a member of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, a nonprofit education watchdog group. "The differences are in the classroom, in the teachers' attitudes, in the students' attitudes, in the integration of education and the world. It's not something you can see." ------------------------------------------ THIS IS VERY CONVENIENT. CHANGES THAT CANNOT BE SEEN. MORE TO THE POINT, CHANGES THAT CANNOT BE MEASURED BY ACCEPTED TESTING PROGRAMS LIKE THE ACT AND SAT, EXCEPT PERHAPS IN A NEGATIVE DIRECTION. AS A LONG-TIME RESEARCHER OF THE KENTUCKY EDUCATION REFORM, I HOPE THE READERS OF THIS LISTSERV WILL SHARE MY RESERVE ABOUT THIS LINE OF REASONING. ------------------------------------------ But while they are well hidden, the differences between schools today and schools 10 years ago are almost too numerous to count, said Helen Mountjoy of Utica, chairwoman of the Kentucky Board of Education. ------------------------------------------- DIFFERENCES IS RIGHT. KENTUCKY DROPOUT RATES ARE UP, OUR YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES ARE UP, OUR KIDS ENTERING THE ARMED FORCES ARE GETTING LOWER SCORES THAN KIDS FROM OUR NEIGHBOR STATES, AND OUR GRADUATION RATES (GRADS DIVIDED BY THE CLASS MEMBERSHIP AS 9TH GRADERS) HAVE DROPPED. CLEARLY SOMETHING IS DIFFERENT -- IT JUST ISN'T BETTER! ------------------------------------------- Child-centered classrooms KERA's fundamental change was to shift Kentucky's educational system from curriculum-driven instruction to outcome-driven instruction -- students succeed based upon their ability to demonstrate certain skills, not merely on how many facts they can recite. ------------------------------------------- WHAT IS HAPPENING IS KIDS WHO CAN WRITE THE MOST IMAGINATIVE BALONEY GET THE HIGHEST SCORES, BUT KNOWLEDGE, SAY OF FACTUAL SCIENCE, IS NO LONGER IMPORTANT. ------------------------------------------- At the same time, KERA raised the curriculum standards through the Core Content for Assessment, said Deputy Commissioner of Education Gene Wilhoit. The core content, a blueprint for what teachers should be teaching, means that for the first time in the state's history, the basic curriculum being taught in Paducah is the same as it is in Pikeville, Wilhoit said. That was a key goal of the Kentucky Supreme Court ruling in 1989 that declared the state's entire educational system unconstitutional. -------------------------------------------- KENTUCKY'S LEARNING GOALS, INCLUDING THE CORE CONTENT FOR ASSESSMENT, HAVE CONSISTENTLY GOTTEN LOW MARKS IN BOTH AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS AND FORDHAM FOUNDATION REVIEWS OF STANDARDS. -------------------------------------------- "What you have is a more uniform system of delivery," Wilhoit said. "Before KERA, some schools, for whatever reason, weren't offering some courses. A lot of time schools would say, 'We're too small.' KERA took away those excuses." -------------------------------------------- WHAT YOU REALLY HAVE IS A STATE DICTATED CURRICULUM CONTROLLED BY BUREAUCRATS OF QUESTIONABLE ABILITY AND BASED ON INADEQUATE STANDARDS THAT FORDHAM RECENTLY SINGLED OUT FOR A SPECIAL DANGER WARNING. BY THE WAY, SOME HIGH SCHOOLS HAVE DROPPED AP COURSES SINCE THE REFORM STARTED. -------------------------------------------- An important skill Another example is algebra, which is also now a high school graduation requirement at all schools, Wilhoit said. ------------------------------------------------- BUT, WHAT KIND OF ALGEBRA? OUR KIDS' SCORES ARE, AT BEST, MEDIOCRE ON CTBS-5 MATH TESTS IN 6TH GRADE. HOW CAN THEY MASTER ALGEBRA? -------------------------------------------------------- But by far the largest impact to school curriculum has been the emphasis on writing. For the first time, teaching writing skills became a responsibility of virtually every teacher. -------------------------------------------------------- THIS DOES NOT CORRELATE WITH KENTUCKY PERFORMANCE ON THE ACT AND SAT. IF OUR KIDS ARE REALLY WRITING BETTER, WHY ARE WE LOOSING GROUND COMPARED TO NATIONAL AVERAGES ON THINGS LIKE THE SAT VERBAL? -------------------------------------------------------- Open response questions also represent 66 percent of the scores in the core subjects on the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) tests taken each spring. -------------------------------------------------------- AND, THESE FUZZY QUESTIONS AND THEIR EVEN MORE QUESTIONABLE GRADING ARE WHY KIRIS, THE ASSESSMENT THAT PRECEEDED CATS, FAILED. THE FUZZINESS WILL PROBABLY LEAD TO THE DEMISE OF CATS, AS WELL. FOR EXAMPLE, A SMALL RURAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (EZEL ELEMENTARY) WAS RECENTLY CITED AS A STAND- OUT BY THE "LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER" NEWSPAPER FOR ITS CATS SCORE IN 1999. BUT, THIS SCHOOL HAD AN ABSOLUTELY DISASTEROUS DECLINE IN ITS CTBS-5 SCORES IN THE PAST 3 YEARS. HOW CAN CATS SHOW SUCH GOOD RESULTS FOR SUCH A SCHOOL? THE SIMPLE ANSWER IS THAT CATS IS NEITHER VALID OR RELIABLE DUE TO OVER-RELIANCE ON FUZZY AND INACCURATE QUESTIONS AND SCORING. -------------------------------------------------------- Writing portfolio scores, however, have improved very little in elementary schools and have declined in middle and high schools from 1995 to 1998, according to "Gaining Ground," a report issued in November from the Prichard Committee. ---------------------------------------------------------- AN INTERESTING FAILURE THAT DOES AGREE WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING ON OTHER TESTS. KEEP IN MIND THAT PORTFOLIOS ARE GRADED BY THE TEACHERS, NOT 'PROFESSIONAL' SCORERS. ---------------------------------------------------------- But Charlotte Postlewaite, an English teacher at Daviess County High School for the past 25 years, said she fears that the writing requirements are having a detrimental effect by the time students graduate. "As far as I can tell, KERA reform and the required portfolio has taught students to absolutely despise and to hate writing," Postlewaite said. "I believe that seniors are completely burned out on the writing that has been required of them." ---------------------------------------------------------- POSTLEWAITE IS A RARITY. MOST EXPERIENCED KENTUCKY TEACHERS ARE LEAVING OR TAKING EARLY RETIREMENT. ALSO, FEW GET ANGRY ENOUGH TO SPEAK OUT TO THE PRESS. -------------------------------------------------- Technology KERA has had at least one physical impact on schools -- the soft, blue glow of thousands of computer screens. In 1992, there was a computer for every 154 students, said Kevin Noland, Kentucky's interim commissioner of education. Today, there's a computer for every 6.4 students, just short of the state's goal of a 6-to-1 ratio. -------------------------------------------------- I'LL CLOSE ON THIS ONE POTENTIALLY POSITIVE NOTE. WE HAVE BOUGHT A TON OF COMPUTER GEAR FOR OUR SCHOOLS. HOWEVER, AS MEMBERS OF THE LISTSERV KNOW, THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON HOW MUCH IMPROVEMENT THIS WILL BRING TO EDUCATION. THERE ARE A LOT OF 'INFORMATION' (SUBSTITUTE YOUR OWN TERM, IF YOU PREFER) PIECES SHOWING UP RIGHT NOW ON KENTUCKY'S REFORM, WHICH BEGAN IN APRIL OF 1990. I WILL PROBABLY BE DOING A LOT OF REBUTTALS IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS. BUT, THE MAIN POINT IS THAT DESPITE ALL THE HYPE, KENTUCKY EITHER REMAINS FLAT OR IN SLIGHT DECLINE RELATIVE TO OTHER STATES ON VIRTUALLY EVERY TEST PARENTS FIND IMPORTANT, AND THE STATE HAS A DECLINING SET OF INDICATIONS FOR A LARGE NUMBER OF THINGS LIKE DROPOUT RATES AND YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT. UNTIL THESE IMPORTANT INDICATORS TURN AROUND, IT WON'T BE DIFFICULT TO EXPOSE THE INACCURACIES IN ARTICLES SUCH AS THIS ONE. RICHARD INNES