NAEP test results in: Alabama, you’ve got some homework to do
The Nation’s Report Card released the results of their 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading and mathematics assessments on Tuesday; and Alabama didn’t fair so well. Although the state’s scores remained the same as the scoring in 2015, the last year the assessments were made, Alabama scored well below the national average in reading and mathematics. The NAEP — the nation’s largest representative and continuing assessment of what America’s students know and can do in various subject areas — has been testing students using the same criteria for many years, and there is no way to teach to the test. Administered every two years to students in grade 4 and 8 in both reading and math, it is considered the “gold standard” of tests in the education community as there is no way to exaggerate or falsify the results. The impact of digital testing? Last year’s administration of “the nation’s report card” was the first to be conducted in a digital format, which Some education experts believe could have affected the results. But Peggy Carr, associate commissioner of assessment for NCES, said in a conference call with reporters on Monday the differences were similar to what would typically be found as a result of “sampling variability.” “We’re confident that these results are valid and are apple-to-apple comparisons for the states and for the nation,” Carr said. “We are just ecstatic about being able to move these assessments into a digitally-based format.” A deeper look into Alabama’s results Alabama 4th Graders: 63 percent of students performed at or above the NAEP Basic level in reading, the national average was 67 percent 73 percent of students performed at or above the NAEP Basic level in mathematics, the national average was 79 percent Alabama 8th graders: 67 percent of students performed at or above the NAEP Basic level in reading, the national average was 75 percent 55 percent of students performed at or above the NAEP Basic level in Mathematics, the national average was 69 percent What do the results mean for students? “It is clear our nation’s education system continues to fail its mission of educating our children. Overall test scores remain flat highlighting the one-size-fits all government school system does not meet the educational needs of all students. Education freedom is the solution to the problem. Education choice provides every child with the ability to pursue the education that fits their personal education needs,” said Lennie Jarratt, Project Manager, Education of The Heartland Institute.
U.S. students need more exposure to arts and music, test shows
When it comes to music and visual arts, American teenagers could use some help. The National Center for Education Statistics reported Tuesday that in 2016, American eighth graders scored an average 147 in music and 149 in visual arts on a scale of 300. Some 8,800 eighth graders from public and private schools across the country took part in the test, which was part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called the Nation’s Report Card. Acting Commissioner Peggy Carr said the test shows students have a lot to learn in art and music and that no progress has been made since the same test was administered in 2008. “When I saw the results, clearly there is room for improvement, because clearly there is a lot of content that students weren’t able to interact with correctly,” Carr told The Associated Press. When asked to listen to George Gershwin‘s “Rhapsody in Blue,” only about half of the students were able to identify that the opening solo is played on a clarinet. Students who scored 182 were able to label all the eight notes in C major, students who got 150 were able to label one note. While most students could point to one or two structural differences between two mother-and-child portraits, they usually struggled to explain the technical approach and meaning in an artist’s self-portrait. “The average student does not know a lot of the content that was asked of them on this assessment,” said Carr. “It was a difficult assessment, a challenging assessment.” On the bright side, the achievement gap has narrowed between white and Hispanic students from a difference of 32 to 23 points in an average score in music and from 26 to 19 points in arts since the previous test. Girls continued to outperform boys. The black-white achievement gap, however, remained unchanged. While white students scored an average of 158, black students got 129 on the music test and the margin of difference was similar on the arts portion of the exam — 158 for white students and 128 for black students, “Every student should have access to arts education to develop the creativity and problem-solving skills that lead to higher success both in and out of school,” said Ayanna Hudson, director of arts education at the National Endowment for the Arts. “Arts education can be especially valuable for our nations’ underserved students, leading to better grades, higher graduation rates and increased college enrollment.” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said visual arts help develop a child’s creative and critical thinking, and exposure to music can boost students’ graduation rates or academic results. She criticized the Trump administration’s plan to cut funding for after-school and summer programs aimed mostly at low-income families, as well a proposal to eliminate the NEA. “Marginalizing the arts is wrong and will prevent our children from growing up as well-educated, well-rounded citizens,” Weingarten said in a statement. The Education Department did not have an immediate comment on the test. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Lawmakers upset over Robert Bentley’s comments, ‘Alabama’s education system sucks’
2016 just isn’t Gov. Robert Bentley‘s year. The governor has again found himself the center of public scrutiny having been caught on film addressing the Alabama Association of Regional Councils Conference Wednesday saying “Alabama’s education system sucks.” “I don’t use that term very much but I want to tell you this, when we are 51st on our NAEP scores in 4th-grade math in this state, that’s pretty sad and it’s intolerable,” Bentley told the crowd. The state’s recent NAEP, National Assessment of Educational Progress, scores reveal the Yellowhammer State tied with the District of Columbia and New Mexico for a last-place ranking. While the new state school superintendent, Michael Sentance, like Bentley, he wants to improve education in the state, some lawmakers are are none too happy with the governor’s candid, public remarks. Hayden-Republican Rep. David Standridge, in a statement calling on Bentley to apologize said Alabama schools could improve, but “it is totally and wholly unacceptable for the governor to slam both hard working teachers and students with a blanket statement of disapproval.” “To simply say everything sucks, to me, is not a good representation of the excellence that we have in some places,” Decatur-Republican Rep. Terri Collins, chair of the House Education Policy Committee. Collins believes there are “pockets of excellence” in schools across the state.
National high school graduation rate reaches new high
High school graduation rates have reached a record high of 83.2 percent, continuing a steady increase that shows improvement across all ethnic groups, according to federal data released Monday. The Obama administration said the news was encouraging, and President Barack Obama planned to talk about the gains during a visit to a Washington, D.C., high school on Monday. Increases in the graduation rate for the 2014-2015 school year were seen for all ethnic groups, as well as for disabled students and students from low-income families. The increasing graduation rates, however, come against a backdrop of decreasing test scores. Last year, math scores for fourth and eighth graders declined for the first time in 25 years on the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress – also known as the Nation’s Report Card. Reading scores were not much better: flat for fourth graders and lower for eighth graders compared to 2013. Average scores on SAT and ACT college entrance exams have also shown declines. Secretary of Education John B. King acknowledged worries about sagging achievement. “A higher graduation rate is meaningful progress, but certainly we share the concern that we have more work to do to make sure every student graduates ready for what’s next,” he said in a call with reporters. But the graduation rate “isn’t simply a number,” King said, saying “it represents real students in real cities, towns and rural communities who are better prepared for success in college and careers.” Obama frequently cites the increase when he talks about progress made during his presidency. The administration said the graduation rate has increased by about 4 percentage points since the 2010-2011 school year. There were significant differences among groups. Asian Americans had a 90.2 percent graduation rate, while whites were at 87.6 percent, followed by Hispanics at 77.8 percent, African-Americans at 74.6 percent and Native Americans at 71.6 percent. The growth in graduation rates has been steady since states adopted a uniform way of tracking students. In 2008, the Bush administration ordered states to begin using a formula that is considered a more accurate count of how many actually finish school. The White House said that money invested through a grant program called Race to the Top has helped improve some of the nation’s lowest-performing schools. The administration also said millions of students have gained access to high-speed broadband in their classrooms and that the states and federal government have helped hundreds of thousands more children gain access to preschool education programs. According to the federal data, the District of Columbia made the most progress in 2014-2015 compared to the previous year. The District improved its graduation rate by 7 percentage points. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Joe Morton: Attracting and retaining the “best and brightest” teachers is key
Regardless of whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, a conservative or a liberal, all of us want to see improved student achievement year after year after year across all grades and in all schools in Alabama. Attracting and retaining talented educators is a key to achieving that goal, so, in 2015, the Business Education Alliance of Alabama (BEA) commissioned a research report titled “Teachers Matter: Rethinking How Public Education Recruits, Rewards and Retains Great Educators.” A key section of our report concentrated upon teacher evaluations and compared Alabama’s methodology to those of other states across the nation. We discovered that virtually every state, including ours, uses student improvement in academic achievement as a portion of their teacher evaluations. In some states, student achievement counts for as much as half of a teacher’s evaluation, while in Alabama the pilot program that has not been fully developed comprises just 25 percent, but our study revealed that all states feel it is integral to the overall score. Any state utilizing student academic growth for teacher evaluations must have quality assessments that are fair, relevant and remove any hints of bias. Alabama currently utilizes three such assessments – the ACT exam given to all high school students; the ACT Aspire given to all students in grades 3-8; and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) funded by Congress and given to a fair sampling of students in grades 4 and 8 in all 50 states. The NAEP is called the “Nation’s Report Card,” and it is the only assessment that measures student progress in every state against a true national norm, but it cannot be used for teacher evaluation purposes since it is a “sampling” assessment. The high school ACT and the ACT Aspire can be used for the student academic growth portion of teacher evaluations, and both are already adopted by the State Board of Education. Alabama has a good student assessment program that provides excellent insight into our areas of strength and areas needing improvement. The latest ACT results from Alabama high schools show that roughly 16 percent of our students were ready for college-level coursework by scoring at benchmark levels in English, Mathematics, Reading and Science. The national average of students making benchmark scores on the ACT is 28 percent. The RAISE Act, which stands for “Rewarding Advancement in Instruction and Student Excellence,” is being sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh (R – Anniston) and calls for several “firsts” in Alabama while also supporting actions already taken by the State Board of Education. If enacted into law, the RAISE Act will make first year teachers the highest paid in the Southeast and attract more young people to the profession of teaching, provide funding to a first year mentoring program to ensure our new teachers are supported by a veteran teacher, create a rewards program for entire school faculties which gives incentives for either maintaining or improving already high quality results or for schools that show notable improvements in student achievement gains and provide bonuses to teachers who work in hard to staff positions in low performing schools, rural schools or both. It also changes the length of time provided for new teachers to attain tenure from the current three years to five. By combining quality teacher evaluations, a recruitment plan for hard to staff teaching jobs, a program for enhancing first year teacher success with a mentoring program, and a school-based rewards program based upon results, the RAISE Act can build a solid pathway to improved student achievement. If we continue to implement needed education reforms and innovations like the RAISE Act in Alabama’s public schools, every student can one day become career and college ready, and the better prepared workforce that results will allow our state’s economy to continue to grow. Teachers Matter! —- Dr. Joe Morton is a former state superintendent of education and currently serves as chairman and president of the Business Education Alliance of Alabama. He may be reached at jmorton@beaalabama.com.
Email Insights: Alabama dead last in national math testing
Fourth-graders and eighth-graders across Alabama slipped on mathematics tests this year, nationally ranking dead last. Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card, released last month show Alabama Fourth-graders ranked 51st and eighth-graders 50th place in mathematics testing. The state’s Reading scores were not much better. There, fourth-graders came in 40th place, meanwhile eighth-graders an abysmal 46th out of 51. Administered every two years, the NAEP is considered by many to be the country’s most consistent measure of K-12 progress, because it has been around since the early 1990’s and offers insight into the effects of demographic and policy changes. The Eagle Forum of Alabama has taken notice, drawing the correlation between Common Core standards and the testing results in their latest statewide email: Open Letter to ALABAMA SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS From: Eunie Smith, President Leslie Whitcomb, Education Chairman Sadly, the latest NAEP results place Alabama dead last on Math and English, a significant decline from where we were before Common Core when Alabama had been trending upward. The 2011 Alabama State Department of Education document here touted: “In 2011 Alabama moved from near last to 25th in the nation in overall grades and scores [Education Week assessment] … 12th in the nation for standards, assessments and accountability… data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) showed a historic gain of eight points in fourth grade Reading for Alabama public school students – the … highest gain ever in NAEP recorded history. Since then, Alabama has maintained its progress in NAEP assessments.” But that was before common core implementation in 2012 in Math and 2013 in English. See graphs and charts below. According to PARCA, “The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) is a battery of tests given every two years to a representative sample of students in all 50 states. The test is designed to serve as a national scorecard, allowing comparison of educational performance across the states. The 2015 results are out. They’re disappointing for the nation at large, and for Alabama, in particular. In 2015, Alabama’s average math score, in both 4th and 8th grade, was the lowest of any state. Between 2013 and 2015, Alabama’s average score declined in both grades. Among U.S. states, Alabama had the lowest percentage of students scoring proficient in 4th and 8th grade. Only 26 percent of 4th graders and 17 percent of 8th graders scored high enough on the NAEP to be considered grade-level proficient in math. While Alabama’s higher poverty rate puts it at something of a competitive disadvantage in national comparisons, a deeper look shows it’s not Alabama’s demographics skewing the results. Name the group – black, white, Hispanic, poverty and non-poverty – all perform worse than their peers in all other states.” (The PARCA Perspective, October 2015) According to nationally recognized standards expert Sandra Stotsky, “NAEP scores nationally did not go down because (1) Common Core standards are more demanding and (2) teachers need more professional development. They went down because Common Core is dumbed down math, and NAEP still includes test items based on what we expected kids to be taught by/in grade 4 only 10 years ago. Today, our kids can’t get these tests right because their classroom curriculum (based on CC math standards) has been dumbed down, [confuses, and neglects the basics]. Nor can our upper elementary grades do well on NAEP test items in reading when their language arts curriculum has eliminated the great children’s literature that got them to read – especially boys.” Dr. Stotsky, in a 2011 press conference in Montgomery, advised Alabama to continue with its standards upon which success was building instead of adopting the unproven and flawed common core regimen. State Board members Betty Peters and Stephanie Bell listened and voted against common core. Again, more than half of Common Core states showed historic declines on 2015 NAEP – declines that have not been seen since the early 90s when the NAEP began, but Non-Common Core States showed NO decline on NAEP!!!! It’s not just NAEP scores that confirm the inferiority of Common Core. ACT scores of Alabama students as shown in The Condition of College and Career Readiness 2015 Alabama report shows that only 16% of Alabama students meet the benchmark in all four subjects. Further, the percentage is down five percentage points from 2014. See report here. For Alabama students, clearly Common Core is a Failure with a capital F! Will school board members rescue students from further failure now? According to Math Standards expert Dr. James Milgram’s research, 4 years of common core type math in California beginning in 1992 resulted in irreparable damage. California then ditched those standards and returned to what works. Alabama is in its 4th year, as we have pointed out to you before. When will you ditch the flawed regimen that is common core? But what would you use? Just like Alabama has done for years, a committee of professionals and parents could convene. They could use as a template for Math the pre-common core standards that put California first in the nation; and for English, the acknowledged best were pre-common core Massachusetts. There are other proven sound standard sets upon which to build. There is no limit to what our teachers could do for their students if they were no longer constrained by common core and were equipped with the basics that have worked for generations. You will surely agree with us that it is unfair to our students not to address this ASAP and reverse course before it gets any worse. All NAEP Scores for Alabama eighth grade students fell since the implementation of Common Core with the exception of eighth grade ELA. In this instance, the white and black student scores were basically flat with Hispanic scores up 6 points, which raising the overall score by 2 points. Impact of Common Core on Alabama education: Alabama Accomplishments 2011 prior to impact of Common Core Average Mathematics grade 4 public schools all students: By jurisdiction Average Reading grade 4 public schools all students: By jurisdiction Average Mathematics
As Jeb Bush campaigns, Florida struggles with his schools legacy
Jeb Bush‘s signature achievement in education policy as Florida governor may be at risk of coming apart. A champion of what became known as Common Core education standards, Bush pushed a set of high-stakes tests for students and a system of grading schools as the centerpiece of an education agenda that defines much of his legacy in office. In the Republican presidential campaign, any mention of Common Core is a red flag for conservatives and Bush rarely talks about the program by its name. But he has not backed down on what is the core of Common Core — the conviction that states need to raise their school standards. In Florida, a troubled rollout of new standardized testing linked to the standards has created a large enough backlash that the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature agreed to spend nearly $600,000 to study whether the tests should continue. The study, released last month, affirmed the value of the tests. That’s done little to assuage critics and instead appears to be giving momentum to a push to junk the testing regimen that Bush put into place. School superintendents and parents are complaining loudly, and all that noise may begin to mar the “Florida model” that Bush talks about in his presidential campaign. “This state and its accountability program have been dealt severe blows in the past couple of years,” Miami Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho told the state education board in September. “Sadly it has lost a lot of the credibility it once had with the public.” Bush’s ambitious plan called for using tests to measure student performance and to assign an A-to-F grade to schools that translated into financial rewards, or sanctions for low-performing schools. His initial plan also allowed students in poorly performing schools to receive private school vouchers, although that program was thrown out by the courts. Bush left office in 2007, but he remained an outsized influence over education policy thanks to former aides, advisers and allies who held key posts in the Legislature and on the state board that oversees education. Florida’s schools showed signs of improvement during Bush’s eight years as governor. Reading scores for eighth graders, for example, rose faster than scores nationally from 1998 to 2011, according to an analysis based on scores used for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” The state also saw improvements in math scores and in the performance of its black and Hispanic students. Florida’s graduation rate has steadily risen since Bush became governor, but remains below the national average. Like most other states, Florida initially embraced the Common Core standards in 2010. Then-State Board of Education Chairman T. Willard Fair, who had opened a charter school with Bush, called them the “vital next step on Florida’s long-standing and successful education reform journey.” Common Core was largely an initiative of state officials and is not a federal program or requirement. But when the Obama administration swung behind the effort and began giving financial incentives to states that adopted the standards, that meant, in effect, a penalty on states that didn’t. And that gave rise to complaints that Washington was intruding on education matters that should be left to state and local people. Bush tells crowds he does not favor federal interference in education but states must do better by students and stop “lowering expectations and dumbing down everything.” He says that whatever problems Florida is having now are not his responsibility. “We created accountability, school choice, ending social promotion and we executed faithfully on all these things and we got a great result,” Bush said Wednesday after a campaign event in Iowa. “If other circumstances change, it’s the responsibility of the people there to focus on these things. I don’t follow it every day but Florida is now out of the bottom, and we’ve had gains post-my time there.” Just as Bush has largely purged Common Core from his vocabulary, Florida legislators have removed all references to it in state law. In response to complaints from parents about onerous tests, they agreed to scale them back. But they’ve kept the bulk of the standards in place. Legislative leaders and Gov. Rick Scott pushed to have Florida back out of a consortium that was drawing up a national test tied to the standards. But that withdrawal left education officials scrambling to come up with a replacement. They turned to a test drawn up initially for Utah schools. Technical glitches and even a cyberattack marred the administration of the test in the spring. Students were confronted with blank screens when they tried to log on to take it. For grading schools and evaluating teachers, Education Commissioner Pam Stewart says Florida will still use this year’s scores because the recent study supports that move. Carvalho and other school superintendents are sharply criticizing that decision and want Florida to suspend the use of school grades this year, saying they have lost “confidence” in that system. Some legislators are now discussing replacing the test in high school grades with the SAT or ACT college exams. “The American public is fed up with Common Core testing, which then reinforces the distrust in who they perceive is responsible,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. State Sen. Don Gaetz, a self-proclaimed “Bush acolyte” who called for backing out of the national testing consortium when he was Senate president, said it’s wrong to “hang around Jeb Bush’s neck” the state’s current problems. “Nobody was able to mount a challenge to the validity of the assessment while Jeb Bush was governor,” said Gaetz. The problems “haven’t occurred because of Jeb Bush.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
