SBAC Testing Updates

The Superintendent - in his comments at last night's Board meeting - had very little to say about how it's going for SPS  and SBAC testing.

But here's one man's dissection of the SBAC math from the GFBrandenburg's Blog (he's a retired math teacher).  The critique of SBAC math is from Steven Rasmussen from SR Education Associates.  Mr. Brandenburg breaks it down (as Mr. Rasmussen's writing is quite lengthy but very in-depth). 

Here is the money quote:

“…the Smarter Balanced tests are lemons. They fail to meet acceptable standards of quality and performance, especially with respect to their technology-enhanced items. They should be withdrawn from the market before they precipitate a national catastrophe.”

As well as this one:

Ironically, while poor results on the Common Core tests will be a blow to policy makers, parents, educators, and students, they will be a boon to those in education for a profit. 

 What flaws did Mr. Rasmussen find?

• Poorly worded and ambiguous mathematical language and non-mathematical instructions;
• Incorrect and unconventional mathematical graphical representations;
• Inconsistent mathematical representations and user interfaces from problem to problem;
• Shoddy and illogical user interface design, especially with respect to the dynamic aspects of the mathematical representations; • Consistent violations and lack of attention to the Common Core State Standards;
• Failure to take advantage of available technologies in problem design.

Technology-enhanced items could have made use of widely ratified and highly developed technologies (e.g., graphing calculators, dynamic geometry and data analysis tools) to engage students in substantive tasks. Instead, these tests rely on a small number of pedestrian and illogical interface “widgets”(arrays of checkboxes, crude drawing tools, graphical keypad, drag-and-drop digit pilers, etc.) that the test item writers used via question templates.The widgets often provide window dressing for multiple-choice questions. 

Mr. Brandenburg received a video from a 5th grade teacher in Clinton Townsehip, MI whose students are very tech-savvy but could not understand what to do on the practice SBAC math test.

From Mr. Brandenburg's critique's section - What Can We Do? - has many good ideas, most of which need courage to carry out:

The national testing train is hurtling down the tracks out of control. Fueled by lucrative contracts with testing companies, driven by people with insufficient understanding of the educational and social consequences of their actions, and racing to reach a destination in too little time, the train will crash very soon. 

What can one do? The boldest choice, and in some real sense, the most principled one, would be to jump off. 

If I were a state administrator responsible for state testing, a superintendent, a school board member, a teacher, a parent, or even a student old enough to make my own decisions about my education, I would seriously consider not participating in the coming round of high-stakes national testing—the tests will do too much damage on too many levels to students, teachers, and champions of education. I salute those who have taken courageous stands to opt-out of the new rounds of testing. The tests cannot be fixed in the time before they’ll be administered. And in the current political climate, there will not be funding available for those who could fix them to actually fix them. 

I recognize that a stand to resist the tests has many consequences, some severe in the short run. But anyone who takes this stand now will be exonerated in the long run. It is the moral and practical thing to do. Next year a stand taken against the tests today will look prescient.