Potential Delay in TAKS Results

Below is information I received from Executive Director: Jim Parsons; Coordinator of Student Assessment –

On Sunday evening, Jim Parsons spoke to a TEA student assessment staffer to confirm a fear he had about a side-effect of the H1N1 flu school closures. The delays in testing and/or shipping completed documents caused by flooding or school closures will probably cause a delay in everyone receiving test results.  In other words, even though Humble ISD didn’t close any schools until after testing was completed, and we did everything on schedule, our results will be delayed, too.

The reason is this:  Before the testing contractor determines the final cut scores for the tests, they must score a very large sample of all the tests.  That process, part of the “post-test equating” activities, is designed to make certain that the exams are of equal difficulty across years.  Field test item analysis gave estimates of the difficulty levels of each item on each test, but only the final results confirm those estimates.  To be certain, they must check, recalculate, and possibly make changes before all tests can be scored.

About 300,000 Texas students are now out of closed schools.  TEA estimates about 150,000 should have had TAKS tests.  Because those missing tests are not randomly distributed across Texas, the tests they will have may not be representative of all students in the state.  The closing of Ft. Worth ISD made a huge difference.  That’s why they can’t just proceed with the tests they get on schedule.

We were originally scheduled to receive the reports by May 22.   There could be a day-for-day slide.  That is, each day’s delay in TEA getting all tests in Austin could mean a day’s delay in our getting results.  That could possibly push the results past the end of the school year.

TEA must still make some final decisions about how all of this is handled.  Look for official announcements sometime this week.

BTW, the Agency will also need to make some decisions that may affect accountability, too.  Jim will be talking to the head of accountability today to see if he can get some sort of forecast.

Not on the Test

Just for fun: Not on the test a little diddy from Tom Chapin, you will get a kick!

Yes!!!! Eliminating TAKS???

Ok, I’ve been a bit bored, unenthused, and lacking any desire to blog. Yes,I said it, but I have had a bit of a spark lit in me, as of late. One, I took the test for the BCIS (yes, no one ever even knows what that stands for, but when I say “business,” they shake their head in undertanding – for the record it stands for Business Computer Information Systems).  I’m actually surprised I passed, I got sick the week before the test and was still a bit sick on test day. The second thing is, well, I’m back! I had a very good week last week subbing, have been painting my laundry room (ok, maybe that is getting a bit personal and off topic).

But, what I’m all excited about is this article “Texas lawmakers’ plan would replace standardized tests.” Are you kidding me?? Could it be???

Two Republican lawmakers plan to introduce legislation next week that would replace the state’s current school accountability system based on annual standardized testing of students with one based on charting an individual student’s progress over time.

I like the sounds of that…

State officials and Valley residents debate TAKS at accountability hearing

By Laura Tillman, The Brownsville Herald

The Texas Select Committee on Public School Accountability met in Brownsville on Monday to assess the limitations of current academic assessment methods and hear public testimony.

This was the sixth community meeting the committee has held across the state.

Co-chairs Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, and Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, listened to expert and public testimony on the state’s systemic inadequacies, including the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test.

[…]

The testimony of BISD Superintendent Hector Gonzales exemplified the funding paradox low-income, low-testing schools face.

“(English language learner) students enter kindergarten with multiple risk factors, yet they’re expected to be at the same level by third grade,” Gonzales said. “We’re stuck at 2006 funding, even though we know that it takes just as much money to educate a student in Brownsville as it does in Austin.”

Gonzales’ testimony highlighted the modern-day segregation low-income students face. By teaching primarily the content on a standardized test, students miss out on the rich, creative learning that higher-income children can experience through private extracurricular activities.

For the full story…

Company markets prenatal curriculum

Going with more of the bizzare category here. A story by JENNIFER RADCLIFFE, she wrote:

An increasing number of parents are hiring tutors to prepare their young children for kindergarten and elementary school. With all the pressure that comes with TAKS testing, they say they just want to make sure their child has every advantage.

I don’t necessarily have a problem with that.

But, now I’m getting a pitch from a company marketing a prenatal curriculum. It’s had me shaking my head for about a week.

The public relations guy writes: “Many people are unaware learning can actually begin in the prenatal years, and those who start their children on an appropriate curriculum before they’re born have seen amazing results.”

Here’s more from the press release: