What are these tests?

2001 No Child Left Behind (U.S. federal law)

Federal law requires annual testing for public school children in grades 3 through 8

Diagnostic testing

State tests are not diagnostic: Results come in too late Teachers may not view tests

State tests are not diagnostic: Results come in too late Teachers may not view tests

State tests are not diagnostic: Results come in too late Teachers may not view tests

4 th and 7 th grade tests may be used for admissions

Do not use state test scores in admissions New Voices Mark Twain Arts and Letters Math & Science Exploratory Charles Dewey/IS 136 Institute for Collaborative Education Brooklyn School for Global Studies Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies Carroll Gardens School for Innovation Park Slope Collegiate BUGS Brooklyn Prospect Charter MS 839 (new school) See bit.ly/middleschools for more

3 rd, 5 th, 6 th, and 8 th grade tests are NOT used for admissions

Scores are used to evaluate teachers and schools.

Cannot be used to evaluate teachers:

Student work

Cannot be used to evaluate teachers: Student work Curriculum the teacher has created

Cannot be used to evaluate teachers: Student work Curriculum the teacher has created Parent or student surveys

Cannot be used to evaluate teachers: Student work Curriculum the teacher has created Parent or student surveys Ongoing classroom observations

What’s wrong with rating teachers by students’ test scores?

Schools focus on test prep

What’s wrong with rating teachers by students’ test scores? Schools focus on test prep

What’s wrong with rating teachers by students’ test scores? Schools focus on test prep Lowers teacher morale

What’s wrong with rating teachers by students’ test scores? Schools focus on test prep Lowers teacher morale

What’s wrong with rating teachers by students’ test scores? Schools focus on test prep Lowers teacher morale Deters collaboration

Why are we evaluating teachers this way?

Test-based evaluations are NOT reliable

One-third of teachers change category in a given year. – Growth Model for Educator Evaluation: Technical Report (Prepared for the New York State Education Department, January 2015

One-third of teachers change category in a given year. Only 16% are rated “highly effective” two years in a row. – Growth Model for Educator Evaluation: Technical Report (Prepared for the New York State Education Department, January 2015

No Child Left Behind Act (federal law , 2001) Race to the Top (grant program in federal law 111-5, 2009) Education Transformation Act (New York State law, 2015)

Teachers NOT centrally evaluated: Finland China Japan South Korea Hong Kong Singapore: Test scores are used but as part of a complex process that includes 16 different areas

Reforming schools

Reforming schools cheaply Class sizes have grown Increased school crowding Cuts in school libraries and other programs

National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) 1969

60

61

62 No Child Left Behind Race to the Top

New York State Principals’ “Letter to Parents about Testing” newyorkprincipals.org

“Ambiguous Questions Appeared throughout the Exams: We know that many teachers and principals could not agree on the correct answers.” —New York State Principals' letter,

“Educators alarmed by some questions on N.Y. Common Core tests” (April 15, 2015) “State scrubs exam questions — too many students didn’t answer” (March 22, 2015) “State Officials Throw Out Another Bad Test Question” (May 3, 2012) Talking pineapple question on state exam stumps... everyone! Students, teachers, principals - no one has any idea what the deal isApril 19, 2012, —Liz Philips, Principal of PS321

GRE 3.5 hours LSAT 3.5 hours SAT 3.75 hours MCAT 4 hours NYS 3 rd Grade Exams 7 hours

“We [teachers ad admin] are truly devastated by what a terrible test it was and how little it will tell us about our students… There was inappropriate content, many highly ambiguous questions, and a focus on structure rather than meaning of passages. Our teachers and administrators feel that this test is an insult to the profession of teaching and that students’ scores on it will not correlate with their reading ability.” P.S. 321 Principal Liz Phillips, 2014

Common Core tests widen achievement gap in New York 90 city schools failed to pass a single black or Hispanic student on state tests “ While black and Hispanic students did better on the math and reading exams this year compared with 2013, the achievement gap still worsened…” (August 26, 2013) (September 2, 2014)