Testing Madness in Tennessee by Mary J. Holden

Originally posted at: https://maryjholden.wordpress.com/2017/10/23/testing-madness-in-tennessee/

I WANT TO TALK ABOUT TESTING.

Specifically, standardized testing, the overemphasis placed on the results of said tests, the addition of value-added measures where test scores are used to evaluate teachers and somehow measure student growth (based on a student’s predicted growth)(what?!), those same results being included in up to 25% of students’ grades, and starting this year, schools will be given an A-F grade based on their test results.

As if that weren’t enough, here in Tennessee, land of VAM, we’ve had enough missteps to piss off nearly everyone about testing. Which is a good thing – because now, maybe we can do something to end this out-of-control testing madness.

Missteps, you say? Yes. Let me attempt to sum up: First we had a different test (TCAP). Then we were brought a newer, better (says who?) test (TNReady). Then we tried to give the test (on computers), but it didn’t work (literally)(we broke the online system). So we didn’t have the test. And then students did take the test (using trusty pencil and paper) – but only in high school (yeah, that went over really well with my students). Then we waited and waited for results. This year, grades 3-11 finally took the test! But not on computer because it wasn’t ready. So back to pencil and paper. So we waited for results. And waited. And waited. And then we got some results, but not all. And the state tried to formulate TVAAS scores with the new data, but when you compare it to the TCAP data, it simply isn’t comparable (because they are two different tests) and therefore shouldn’t be used. But the state did it anyway and told us – I mean, they mailed out expensive flyers to many people across the state assuring us of it! – that we could trust these oh-so-meaningful scores. And then, last week, they said oops! we made a mistake! And now?? We still don’t have all the results. And who knows if they are accurate anyway. It’s a really, really bad joke.

Only the joke is on us.

Really fancy flyer that (our tax?) money was wasted on

WE CAN’T TRUST THE SCORES.

WE CAN’T TRUST THE TN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

We need to throw out the test and the scores.

We need to throw it ALL out.

Listen, I’m writing this from memory. But I can’t even remember all the stupid things that have happened regarding standardized testing over the last four years I’ve lived in Tennessee. Luckily, you can read all about it over at Tennessee Education Report, Dad Gone Wild, and Momma Bears. I’m not being lazy, I promise; I have #TNTestingFatigue. I’m ready to #TrashTNReady because instead of TNReady, we got #TNnotReady. I’m over it.

Seriously, people, I am pissed off. This issue is a huge part of why I quit teaching in the first place. We place WAY TOO MUCH emphasis on these standardized tests. Time is wasted. Money is wasted. And it keeps happening. We need things to change – and that means at the top. Things need to change at the legislative level – with the TN House and Senate.

I’VE HAD ENOUGH. AND I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE.

So I’m part of this statewide coalition of groups that advocate for public education. In Nashville, our group is called Mid-TN CAPE (Coalition Advocating for Public Education). And we put together this resolution to send to the TN House Education Committees and State Commissioner of Education Candice McQueen. Please sign the resolution here share it widely.

In less than one day, we collected over 1000 signatures of support! That is true grassroots organizing.

Here’s the resolution:

TN Ready Resolution

Whereas TN Ready testing in 2017 resulted in large numbers of scoring errors rendering all results suspect,

Whereas TN Ready testing failed in 2016, causing confusion and disappointment among students, teachers, families and administrators, and resulting in no data for the academic year for most students and teachers.

Whereas the State of Tennessee made the decision to change testing instruments from TCAP to TN Ready, a defensible shift that nonetheless complicates judgments about student achievement and growth and teacher accountability in the short term,

Whereas TVAAS is an unstable measure of student growth especially when fewer than three complete years of data is available,

and

Whereas the American Statistical Association (April 8, 2014) and the American Educational Research Association (November 11, 2015) have issued cautions regarding the scientific and technical limitations of the use of value-added assessment for purposes of accountability

Therefore, be it resolved, that we the undersigned call on the TN State Legislature and TN Department of Education to suspend use of testing data for consequential decision-making until after the 2019-2020 school year.

We further call for a three year collaborative study —involving the TN legislature, the TN Department of Education, teachers and their professional organizations, school boards and district administrators, and parents of public school students — to determine the most productive and constructive path forward to ensure real and reasonable accountability for educational outcomes in the service of the best possible education for Tennessee’s children.

And soon after the recent scoring debacle was announced, we held press conferences across the state demanding changes. Knoxville. Nashville. Memphis.

Hopefully the State House is taking notice. They are holding their Education Committees Joint Meeting on October 24-25 and TNReady is on the agenda. In fact, I’ll be speaking out against it at that meeting.

I’ll update this blog post after that meeting with some notes and my speech.

IF I RAN THE WORLD

If it were up to me, I’d get rid of standardized testing completely. After all, it has its roots in racism (see here, here, and here for some background). If we truly did want to have a general overview of what students are learning – a snapshot, so to speak – let’s go to grade span testing, where students take a standardized test in grades 3, 8, and 11. These tests wouldn’t have any punitive or evaluative measures behind them; they would simply be a snapshot of statewide data. But the moment you attach any more meaning than that to these tests, their original purpose is gone. And then, the test becomes the focus. The test drives all decisions. That is wrong.

You think students care about these tests? No way. Don’t believe me? Ask them and see for yourself. In 2014, a then-16-year-old student from Ohio asked What’s the Point? Students know these tests are total bullshit.

You can’t use these tests to measure school success. Or to measure equity. In fact, that is what some pro-testing advocates believe – that we need annual tests to show us the inequities. But hello! We already know where the inequities are (since there is a strong correlation between test scores and poverty levels – see also here, here, and here)! So here’s a novel idea —– let’s actually fix the inequities!!! Let’s take a long, hard look at how to eradicate poverty and reduce the effects of trauma on our kids.

And to do that doesn’t require annual testing. It does, however, require a true commitment to improving public education. Which means a real commitment to fully funding our schools (come on, Tennessee!), supporting the transformational community schools model, looking at ways to integrate our schools, and finally, really investing in our teachers – not only with respectable salaries, but also with autonomy and overall respect for the profession.

I know we can do it.

We have to do it. We can’t give up on public education.

Public education is a cornerstone of our democracy. And as I recently heard TN State Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, a candidate for TN Governor, say, “Education is not a quick fix. It’s the only fix.” (And yes, I’m #TeamFitz all the way!)

Indeed. Public education is the foundation for everything we do. So let’s make it a priority.