f:\doc\web\2000\11\vaca.txt Mickey-- Actually, you *don't* want to do this in Virginia. This report is not what you appear to be thinking! The Abell study is *not* negative about high-stakes testing. It is precisely the opposite, but it might be hard to tell that just from this one article without knowing a bit about the people involved. One clue is the chair of the study, Bill Evers. Bill has been a leading proponent of, and a central player in the imposition of, "high" standards and high-stakes testing in California. He was a member of the Standards Commission, and was a member of several committees involved in creating the state's own standards- based tests (which are part of the STAR system). Although (by his own public admission) he knows very little about math or science, he has been very active in the math and science parts of the system, and is a member of the Content Review Panel for the state's math exams! And that's only the superficially obvious part of his involvement. (Frame of reference: Bill is also a member of the education advisory team of that noted friend of education, George W. Bush.) Bill and I live in the same town, where for at least the past 6 years he has been a constant, unrelenting, and highly visible critic of the school system--a system which is the envy of just about every other district in the state. He is a vocal supporter of (a) all-phonics- all-the-time reading; (b) procedures-come- before-understanding math; (c) only- machine-scored-multiple-choice-tests-are- reliable-and-valid assessment; and (d) raise-the-bar-and-threaten-them- and-they-will-improve accountability. Back in early August, when the Maryland test story first hit the Baltimore Sun, Bill was described as the "compromise" chair of the Maryland study. Knowing* Bill, I wondered: if he's the "compromise", whom could they possibly have rejected? Answer: the first few chairs suggested by the foundation were rejected by the MSDE as too partisan. (I don't know who they were.) Evers was accepted not because he is *less* partisan but because MSDE didn't know how partisan he was: they had never heard of him and didn't know whom to ask. I'm not sure where the idea for the study came from in the first place, and I don't know much about the Abell Foundation. But there's an interesting connection mentioned in a column in the Baltimore Sun, 3/29/00, about the "conflict" between the MSPAP and E.D. Hirsch's Core Knowledge curriculum, which is highly acclaimed by the just-the-fact-ma'am crowd. Core Knowledge was brought into a few schools in Maryland in 1994 under a grant from ... the Abell Foundation! http://www.sunspot.net/content/archive/story?section=archive&pagename=story&storyid=1150300206126 Is this relevant? Anyone know? --- California has (partly thanks to Bill) the "highest" standards in the US, K through 12, and high-stakes testing in every grade from 2 through 11, plus a high school exit exam. Evers and friends support the tests in Calif and Texas but not in Maryland. The main differences, I believe,are: (1) MSPAP requires written answers instead of multiple choice answers. This means it must be scored by hand and is (in their view) too "subjective". (2) MSPAP : Calif tests :: process : content MSPAP tries to be (at least in part) a test of kids' thinking and analytical skills. The California (and Virginia) testing gang wants "just the facts, ma'am". --- I have not seen the MSPAP, except for sample questions posted at http://www.mdk12.org . And I have not seen the report, which remains under seal. (As a condition of allowing the "researchers" access to confidential materials, the Maryland State Dept. of Education has veto power over release of the study.) But I *have* seen firsthand the damage done in California by Evers and his friends. Be careful what you wish for--you might get it! --Erwin --- Mickey VanDerwerker wrote: > Thought this would be of interest. Is the house > of cards starting to collapse? I wish we in > Virginia had the $300,000 to do this here. (Link > at the end) > > BTW, the state school superintendent will appoint > a panel to review education reforms (but not > because of this report, don't you know) including > the MSPAP tests. That was reported in a subsequent > article. > > Mickey > Parents Across Virginia United to Reform SOLs > > > Think tank challenges validity and accuracy of state school testing > Subhead: Md. officials dispute criticisms of MSPAP > > By Mike Bowler > SUN STAFF > > A bitterly disputed independent review of Maryland's > school performance test says it is "riddled with errors" > and doesn't measure what is taught in the state's schools. > > The report, sealed since it was delivered in late August, concludes > that the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) > "has little validity as a measure of the knowledge and skills > that students are supposed to have acquired." > > The five-member review panel, commissioned by the Abell Foundation > as part of a $300,000 study, also says that MSPAP material inaccurately > depicts Mahatma Gandhi as a woman and has the Pilgrims "landing > in Maryland," among other factual errors. > > State education officials vehemently denied the charges, saying > the reviewers, reflecting a conservative bias against open-ended > performance tests, misinterpreted MSPAP and committed numerous > errors themselves. > > After The Sun obtained a copy of the report independently, > the State Department of Education allowed a reporter access to > MSPAP files with a written agreement that nothing confidential > would be disclosed. > > A 16-page summary written by the panel chairman, Williamson > M. Evers of the Hoover Institution in California, a conservative > think tank, found little to like about MSPAP. Among the panel's > observations: > >
  • The state's "learning outcomes," the curriculum > on which MSPAP is based, are "too vague to base a test on." > >
  • The tests "do not adequately cover content in history, > science and mathematics." > >
  • "MSPAP has an unacceptably large number of tasks > that contain elementary errors." > >
  • "Knowledge that has been (or should have been) acquired > in school is not tested," so that students can get good > scores without knowing anything if they learn the tricks of test-taking. > >
  • Since MSPAP is essentially a writing test, "basic > reading skills are not tested." > >
  • The level of skills and knowledge expected of students > taking MSPAP "varies from year to year and is below that > of top performing countries in science and mathematics." > > The panel recommended that Maryland add multiple-choice items > to the test, which now consists mainly of short and long essays. > It also said individual scores should be made widely available. > Such a practice, Evers said, "would encourage students to > take the test more seriously." (MSPAP was designed as a > measure of school, not individual, performance.) > > State officials have spent much of the past two months preparing > a point-by-point rebuttal and soliciting outside reviews of the > Abell report. The Baltimore-based Abell Foundation has invested > millions of dollars in education over the years in studies and > programs ranging from chess clubs to an innovative school in > Kenya. > > The review panel "came in here with their minds made up > and didn't want to hear anything from us," said Mark > Moody, the state's testing chief. > > The Gandhi and Pilgrim errors were in sample student answers > given as guidelines for scoring the test. The Pilgrim error was > part of an answer deemed worthy of a passing score, while the > Gandhi error was in a student answer modeled as a failure. In > neither case, however, did the student's error factor in > the score. > > Evers insisted that the errors should have been flagged. "Attention > to accuracy of content has to be a feature of any credible test," > he said. > > Moody acknowledged that another item the report found to contain > an error - one that allowed credit for attributing a passage > from the Declaration of Independence to the U.S. Constitution > - "will have to be edited." > > Robert C. Embry Jr., president of the Abell Foundation, said > "minor errors" in MSPAP "shouldn't obscure > the important questions that should be publicly debated." > > "One of them," he said, "is whether MSPAP is > achieving the results the state wants it to. Another is whether > this test is appropriate for third-graders, whether higher-order > skills should be the primary focus in the early elementary grades. > I haven't heard any public discussion of any of these issues." > > MSPAP, Embry said, "minimizes the knowledge of facts and > extols the value of analytical skills." > > But MSPAP supporters told a much different story. The test > has become a national model, several said. MSPAP, which was officially > introduced in the public schools seven years ago, requires students > to perform a series of tasks and then apply reasoning skills > in reading, writing, math, science and social studies. > > It's one of the few statewide tests developed - and scored > - by teachers. Test items, known as "tasks," are two > years in the making and undergo careful review. And test items, > they said, are correlated with state curriculum. > > "There's a strong link from what we want to measure > to what we do measure," said Moody. > > Added Christopher T. Cross, president of the Washington-based > Council for Basic Education and a former Maryland school board > president: "If the content reviewers had solicited comments > from local school systems, they most likely would have heard > .. many descriptions of significant and positive focus on curriculum, > improved student work and effective teaching and learning as > a direct result of MSPAP." > > State officials had a much more pleasant relationship with > a parallel Abell-sponsored panel looking at MSPAP's technical > aspects. That group exchanged views with Moody and his staff > and subsequently amended its report. > > But the Marylanders and the content reviewers have been in > a cat fight from the moment the group arrived in Baltimore about > a year ago and began a two-day review of all 300 MSPAP test items > since 1995. > > "They didn't want to hear from us or talk to us," > said Gary Heath, chief of the Education Department's arts > and sciences branch. > > Rather than "squabble over minutiae," Moody said, > the department is negotiating with the to conduct "a fair > and impartial" study of MSPAP. > > ------------------------------------------------------ > > To view this story on the web go to > http://www.sunspot.net/content/cover/story?section=cover&pagename=story&storyi > d=1150510209456 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the ARN-L list, send command SIGNOFF ARN-L to LISTSERV@LISTS.CUA.EDU.