Special Education test results
This disturbing news comes to us straight from the Special Education PTA listserv:
OSPI has published MSP/HSPE test results for 2010. How are our special education students doing?Ponder this, folks.
Well, let's look at 10th grade, since that's what's needed to graduate. Rubber meets the road. 9% pass math and science in 10th grade. 9%!!!! And, that's 9% on each test... so the number who pass both... well, it's WAY less than 9% (though not published).
Around 60% of our IEP students are cognitively normal (LD/SLD)... so the fact that only 9% pass, well it represents a real problem. That might be OK for now, since it isn't required for anything... but moving forward, those tests are required for graduation... and it means lots and lots and LOTS of our students won't be graduating.
At my, very high performing school... only 1 student with an IEP passed the science portion of the MSP. 1. Uno. Food for thought. Where's the accountability for students with IEPs?
Comments
The major question is: to whom do we look for accountability? The gened educator with 32 students in her class? The special educator who sees the child 1-2 hours a week? the IA? The principal and the environment of expectations at a given school?
Frankly of all children, SpecEd, ESL and other special populations should not be measured solely on standardized test scores. They are never going to fit the box that privitization and standardization creates.
Plus, isn't that "poor teacher" stuff a bit over the top? Does the teacher really have 32 students? The poor teacher really should be exempted from teaching certain groups, the "unteachables". ??? Are there any other groups that should be exempted from accountability? Maybe poor students. I hear they're pretty hard too, no sense testing them either. Minority students? And, don't those special ed teachers actually see students a lot more than 1 - 2 hours per week? If the teacher isn't really accountable, why should the students even be there? Do they just need desk somewhere?
What's the "privization" bit? Is there some private company dying to get their hands on the disabled? or dying to test them?
And one last question. So.. the specEd and ESLs shouldn't be measured "solely on standardized test scores". Well, who in the world should be measured "solely on standardized test scores"? I can't think of that as being appropriate for anyone, nor have I seen it suggested.
I can't see any other reason for the high fail rate among special education students who are cognitively normal.
What I see happening is IEPs that are so poorly written and administered to be practically meaningless. Principals who have little idea about requirements of IDEA and care even less because they have so many things on their plate. Parents who are overwhelmed and who want to believe what the school tells them ( which is Johnny is making progress even though there isn't any way to show that)
My daughter had an IEP from 3rd to 8th grade, she was removed by me not because she attained grade level, but because her hour of resource time everyday was basically a study hall, but not as quiet as she sat and watched the teacher try and help 8 other students with differing needs while she tried to work on her homework.
In high school, her school ( Garfield) had ACE, a support class for students to attain grade level in math/english. Timewise, it cut quite a bit into any electives, but despite starting high school two grades below in math, she was at grade level in two years ( granted she was more motivated than some- as she wanted to take chemistry received an A& then physics- but she was not the only student in her support classes who also was taking APs) The ACE program was cut of course by the district.
I see SPED students being assigned to schools to fill seats, ( & to bring their extra monies), not because the school has supports others do not.
It is even MORE important that SPED students are assigned to schools where their family can easily be involved. Long bus rides make them more anxious and worn out making it that much harder to begin their academic day. But this district has never been too interested in students who don't fit into the box.
http://www.theonion.com/video/in-the-know-are-tests-biased-against-students-who,17966/
You raise excellent points. To serve students closer to their homes, SPS is going to have to spend some money and get highly-qualified teachers. Right now, I see alot of education money going down a rathole.
And where did you get this "poor teacher" stuff from this thread? It's mystifying.
Teachers will be voting this afternoon on the contract that has been tentatively agreed upon.
I am asking all teachers to not allow an evaluation system that depends on testing particularly the MAP test.
As parents, we do not want to see our students’ teachers focusing on the minutia of test questions when the focus should be on the broader subject and include an opportunity for the student to develop creative and critical thinking skills.
And why particularly the MAP test? Because it is unproven, because Brad Bernatek, former Broad resident and now head of REA, Research, Evaluation and assessment, the department that has been heading the implementation of the MAP test, told several parents in a meeting that I was a part of that the MAP test was not designed as an evaluation tool to assess a teacher’s performance.
I sat across the table from him and looked him straight in the eye while he said that.
I sent an e-mail to him and Jessica DeBarros, the other REA representative who attended the meeting, and a Broad resident, three weeks ago asking them to confirm that was stated by Brad. Neither Jessica nor Brad returned my e-mail.
The use of testing students to evaluate a teacher should not be accepted on any level. Period.
Please do the right thing tonight and vote against high stakes testing and teaching to the test.
It’s not fair to our students.
Dora
Note:
From the SPS website, this is the description of REA.
“The Department of Education Technology REA is primarily responsible for official student statistics for the Seattle School District. This includes statistics on enrollment, student demographics, evaluation, standardized testing and surveys.”
I understand that the SpecEd PTSA has requested a breakdown of information about our kids in SpecEd: important things like racial composition, type of disability, pass rate, location, grade, program, % time in regular classroom, % time in SpecEd. I think we got the big zilch. How do we advocate for improvements for our children in SpecEd if we don't have information? I'm asking again so don't jump my sh*t. Fill in the blank.