CUNNINGHAM- GOAL IS 100% "PROFICIENT" IN 15 YEARS, NOW ONLY 5-13% e:\doc\web\98\10\gcunn.txt Full detail is available at the KDE web site (http://www.kde.state.ky.us/KirisResults/Download.html). These percentages represent mostly Proficient performance because hardly any students are at the Distinguished level. Almost all of the growth about which the Kentucky Department of Education is so proud came from students moving from the Novice to the Apprentice level. To expect that the above numbers will all be 100 in fifteen years is nothing short of ludicrous. Date sent: Sat, 12 Dec 1998 15:39:09 -0500 To: "ClearingHouse" From: "George K. Cunningham" Subject: [education-consumers] CATS and KIRIS Send reply to: "George K. Cunningham" ===================================================================== This is for those of you who may be interested in what is going on in Kentucky since nationwide interest has been elevated with the release of the RAND report. There is a major misconception about Kentuckys statewide accountability system. There is a widespread belief, even among many in this state, that after determining that the existing KIRIS system was somehow flawed, the General Assembly in the spring of 1998 passed legislation that eliminated the old system and mandated its replacement by a new system. This is untrue. What the legislature did was mandate that the name of the assessment should change from the Kentucky Results Information System (KIRIS) to the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS). Both of these are meaningless acronyms with the only real significance of the term CATS, being the point in time when it was announced. The change was made amidst excitement about the University of Kentucky Wildcats (the Cats) winning the NCAA mens basketball championship. The announcement of the name change was made in front of a poster supporting the basketball team thatsimply stated Go Cats. The actual legislation, HB 53, mandates a series of relatively minor changes, most of which were already being planned and would have take place without this legislation. Students taking the test, their teachers, parents, and the public, reading about the results in newspapers will see little difference between CATs and KIRIS. The same item types, prepared by the same subcontractors will be used. The scores will be reported using the same scales and schools will have the same goals. A large component of student scores is still based on unreliable essay questions and writing portfolios and an incredibly unrealistic schedule of school improvements that requires each school to obtain a score of 100 on a 1 to 133 scale, by the year 2014 (the big change from KIRIS to CATS, with KIRIS the year was 2010). To grasp the impossibility of the task, consider the percentage of students at each level after 8 years of KIRIS. There are 4 levels with KIRIS, Novice, Apprentice, Proficient, and Distinguished. To obtain a score of 100, every student, including special education students must be at the Proficient level. For every Apprentice there must by two Distinguished students. I will provide the total percent of elementary students across the state, which have reached either the Proficient or Distinguished levels. High school scores are about the same and middle schools are much worse. Full detail is available at the KDE web site (http://www.kde.state.ky.us/KirisResults/Download.html). These percentages represent mostly Proficient performance because hardly any students are at the Distinguished level. Reading, 33; math, 20; science, 8; social studies, 15; arts and humanities, 3; practical living and vocational studies, 6; writing on demand, 5; and writing portfolio, 13. If you examine past years you will see that there has been little change since 1993. Almost all of the growth about which the Kentucky Department of Education is so proud came from students moving from the Novice to the Apprentice level. To expect that the above numbers will all be 100 in fifteen years is nothing short of ludicrous. ===================================================================== EDUCATION CONSUMERS CLEARINGHOUSE networking and information for parents and taxpayers on the internet Subscriptions & Archives: http://education-consumers.com or You are currently subscribed to education-consumers as: arthurhu@halcyon.com TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send a blank email to leave-education-consumers-989462S@lists.dundee.net ===================================================================== For less mail, click on the following link and choose 1) a daily digest, 2) a daily list of subjects, or 3) no mail (read postings on Web) http://lists.dundee.net/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=education-consumers For more help & info: http://www.lyris.com/help or