Thou Shalt Test (full text)
Wade Tillett
Thou Shalt Test
Written by Wade on January 25th, 2009
Unsurprisingly, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has refused our request to
opt our son out of the high-stakes test, known as the Illinois Standards
Achievement Test (ISAT), stating they must follow their own policies.
However, CPS does NOT follow their own policies. They base promotion for
third-graders on only one year of tests although their policy requires
two years, and have yet to send me the required annual promotion review
and promotion data that shows this policy is fair across race and
ethnicity. In addition, I question the statistical reliability of these
tests on a per-student basis, and have requested this information from
the state.
More generally however, the basic problem is that CPS uses one or two 40
minute tests given on Math and Reading to undermine thousands of hours
of teacher-student efforts.
We are still attempting to find other ways to opt our child out of the
test. See below.
Following are the details.
—
All students must take test
My principal received this email regarding our request:
I did find out and just confirmed with Dr. Alice Painter of
OEAS. I will assume that this child does not have an IEP and is
not an ELL student. The answer is no, they cannot opt out of the
ISAT for their third grade son. CPS is bound by the policies
that they approve and pass, and we as CPS people must follow the
policies. I’ve attached the policy for you here. The definition
of DWA on the first page and the top of the second page pretty
much say it all. Please let me know if you have questions.
The parent’s letter that you faxed to me mentions that other
parents in Illinois have opted out – but we at CPS must follow
our own policies. Hope this helps!
Susan S. Paik
Management Support Director
Area One Office, Chicago Public Schools
—
Promotion based on test score
However, Chicago Public Schools is NOT following their own promotion
policy (referenced above, available here:
elementary-school-promotion-policy-07-0926-po1).
First, according to their own policy they must use the last two annual
assessments, yet 3rd grade is the first time they take this test, so
that is simply not possible. Thus, they are basing promotion on one (not
that two is much better) 40-minute nationally norm-referenced test in
math, and one 40-minute nationally norm-referenced test in reading. If
my child scores in the bottom 24th percentile in either one, he must go
to summer school.
In the promotion policy, section I, it states that:
“District-wide assessment (DWA): The district-wide assessment
will be either the norm-referenced component of the Illinois
Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) (using the highest score from
the last two annual assessments) or other norm-referenced
assessment administered by the district or the summer
assessment.”
—
Promotion data by race and ethnicity
In addition, CPS promotion policy section V states:
“The District will maintain all testing data by race and
ethnicity of test-takers and shall annually review this data in
regard to students who are promoted and retained pursuant to the
requirements of the policy in order to ensure that there is no
disparate impact based upon race or ethnicity created by
operation of the policy. All such data shall be made available
to a parent upon request.”
This information is not available online, and has not been sent to me as
requested.
Yes, there is data on the Office of Research, Evaluation and
Accountability site, such as the ISAT data for all schools in relation
to the meets, exceeds, etc. categories. But that is
criterion-referenced, while CPS uses only the Stanford10 norm-referenced
data for promotion. I could not find that data anywhere, let alone
broken down into subgroups. I found a promotion report, but not broken
into subgroups.
What I am waiting to receive is a copy of the annual promotion review
that CPS conducts, as well as the promotion data as described in section
V of the promotion policy.
—
Opting out by not attending
The problem with just keeping my son home during the tests, as the Gills
did, is that CPS misuses the tests for promotion purposes, and therefore
he might have to go to summer school, which is viewed by students as
punitive. So I have requested that he not go. Here is my email.
I guess my next question is what happens if I transfer him out
for two weeks, home-school him, and then transfer him back in?
What will happen to him if he does not have a standardized test
score but meets all other promotion requirements (attendance,
grades)?
My principal is currently checking with Central Office on this matter.
—
Statistical reliability of one test
Based on the reading on standardized tests that I have done, I seriously
doubt that these tests are statistically reliable at a per-student
level. I am writing the state to request this information. (Also
remember that last year the scores from the state were incorrect and had
to be rescored months later. In the meantime, students at Chicago Public
Schools went to summer school based on the faulty test scores.)
* Is the Illinois Standards Achievement Test statistically
reliable enough on a per student basis that it can be
used by a school district as the sole factor in
determining student promotion, trumping all other
factors?
* Is the nationally norm-referenced subset of the Illinois
Standards Achievement Test statistically reliable enough
on a per student basis that it can be used by a school
district as the sole factor in determining student
promotion, trumping all other factors?
* Is it the intention of the state that the ISAT, or a
subset of the ISAT, be used by a school district as the
sole factor in determining student promotion, trumping
all other factors?
* Is it the intention of the state that nationally
norm-referenced data be used by a school district to
determine student promotion by establishing a cut score
based on their percentile ranking?
* Is it the intention of the state that if a student does
not have an ISAT score they will not be promoted,
despite other available information such as grades,
teacher’s assessments, and attendance?