From Harvard University: https://cepr.harvard.edu/news/scary-truth-about-how-far-behind-american-kids-have-fallen Students of all ages still haven’t made up the ground they lost during the pandemic. Sometimes, panics are overblown. Sometimes, older generations are just freaking out about the youngins, as they have since time immemorial. That’s not the case, unfortunately, with kids’ learning right now, more than four years after the pandemic shuttered classrooms and disrupted the lives of millions of children. The effects were seen almost immediately, as students’ performance in reading and math began to dip far below pre-pandemic norms, worrying educators and families around … [Read more...]
How Public Education Failed in the Liberal Enclaves That Care About It Most
From an article published at The Intelligencer by Andrew Rice. This is a 3 cups of coffee/tea article. Last winter, the federal government released the results of its semi-annual reading and math tests of fourth- and eighth-graders, assessments that are considered the most authoritative measure of the state of learning in American elementary and middle schools. In nearly every category, the scores had plunged to levels unseen for decades — or ever. On reading tests, 40 percent of fourth-graders and one-third of eighth-graders performed below “basic,” the lowest threshold. A separate assessment of 12th-graders conducted this past spring — the first since schools were shuttered by the … [Read more...]
Can teachers pass this test?
Prager has put together a test for teachers who want to move to Oklahoma and get their teaching license approved. Prager ran a full page ad in the New York Times. Here's the link directly to PragerU: Teacher Qualification Test | PragerU Teacher Qualification Test Inspired by Oklahoma’s America First Teacher Test, this assessment equips educators to counter the harmful effects of state-mandated PRISM training's, like those required in California, that undermine the quality of our education system. Prepare with our curated video collection below, then take the official test. Pass, and you’ll earn your certificate—proving your commitment to truth and integrity. About … [Read more...]
Teachers Union Demands Ending Basic Skills Test For Teachers?
In this article from MSN.com (yes that super liberal "media" they share about information from a New Jersey teachers union suggesting getting rid of standards. If this gets a foothold how long before it gets to your school district? BTW: In SW Washington State public schools are now roughly 2x the cost of private schools. Here's the story: The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) is urging the end of the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators test, describing it as an unnecessary barrier to addressing teacher shortages. The NJEA successfully pushed for the elimination of the Teacher Performance Assessment test last year. “When the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) … [Read more...]
Southwest Washington State SBAC (Common Core) Test Scores 2015/16 vs 2017/18
This is Part 2 of our review of the Washington State SBAc test score results released on Sept 10, 2018. In our first article: https://swweducation.org?p=5232 we reviewed the results and offered a quick snapshot of an example. Today we offer a more detailed view of how the ten (10) districts in Southwest Washington State compare to each other and the State results. Let's start out by providing you the link to the State results: http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/StateTesting/ScaleScores.aspx In this link you get to specific 2017-18 vs. … [Read more...]
Washington State Testing Scores – 2017-18
The latest test scores for Washington State K-12 were released by OSPI on September 10th. The scores are ranked with four (4) levels of results: Level 1 = Fail; Level 2 = Below level; Level 3 = Above level and Level 4 = Exceeding level. The "cut scores" are the break points between the different performance levels. The State Board of Education adopted the "cut scores" in January 2015 and claim NOT to have changed them since. The full details can be found at: http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/StateTesting/ScaleScores.aspx If you open the link you will also be able to get information on: Test question examples Information on how to get your child/ren(s) scores Testing results data … [Read more...]
Has the high school diploma lost all meaning?
This article comes from The Thomas Fordham Institute. Last week, an NPR affiliate threw super-cooled water on D.C.’s Ballou High School’s so-called success in graduating 64 percent of its seniors and earning every senior, regardless of whether they graduated, college acceptance. Turns out that, although 164 students were granted diplomas, more than half of those who walked across the graduation stage tallied at least sixty days of unexcused school absences, and one cap-and-gown wearer recorded more than 150. As shocking as these seat-time revelations are, they merely add to other signs of academic struggle at Ballou. Last year, for example, only 9 percent of the school’s pupils … [Read more...]
Washington State SBAC (Common Core) Test Results – A different look
We bash Common Core and the SBAc test because we think they are severely flawed. That hasn't changed. However, to be fair, we want to present all views of the SBAc test results we can find. When we posted our article on the 2016/17 results someone got in touch and asked why the students weren't followed year-over-year. That is, 3rd grade becomes 4th grade becomes 5th grade, etc. Well, there is enough data to follow students for three (3) years so we went back and pulled that data. In the chart below we show the ELA and Math test scores for those who we have 3 years (the max) of data. When we look at this what do we see? Following the students gives a different … [Read more...]
Washington State Common Core Test (SBAc) Results – Washington State
Today, September 7, 2017, the Washington State Superintendent of Schools released the 2016/17 test results for the Common Core annual test called SBAc. We wanted to be among the first to release the results. As part of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and it's replacement, the ESSA, states are required to conduct annual tests to show their proficiency in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math. There is no requirement to use any specific test...other than to get approval from the US Department of Education (USDoE). States that adopted Common Core (Washington did so) tended to adopt either the SBAc (Washington's choice) or the PARCC testing system. Since these were rolled out the number of states … [Read more...]
Washington State K-12 spending – different views
How many ways can we look at the K-12 education funding in Washington State over the past several years or decades? Those on the left (Democrats) say that spending has been inadequate for decades and depends on local levy's. (Those are the same people who ran the legislature for decades) Republicans say that there has been an effort in recent years to increase the spending. As we write this article both parties are warring...with the left wanting a capital gains tax, carbon tax, income tax (to name a few of their proposed new revenue sources) while the Republicans say that spending can be managed without any increases. So...let's take a look at some graphics and see how we can analyze … [Read more...]