Study faults high-stakes testing

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Study faults high-stakes testing
<http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/092105dntex
testing.1294db47.html>
Authors cite low rate of improvement, effect on minorities
09:59 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 20, 2005
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN ­ High-stakes testing in Texas and across the nation has had
little impact on student achievement and is disproportionately targeting
minority students ­ as evidenced by increased retention and dropout
rates in many states ­ according to a study by researchers in Texas and
Arizona.

The study, which examined the impact of high-stakes testing in Texas and
24 other states, found "no convincing evidence" that the pressure
associated with those tests ­ such as threatened sanctions for low
scores ­ produced better student achievement than would otherwise have
been expected.

"A rapidly growing body of research evidence on the harmful effects of
high-stakes testing, along with no reliable evidence of improved
performance by students, suggests that we need a moratorium in public
education on the use of high-stakes testing," said Sharon L. Nichols of
the University of Texas at San Antonio, lead author of the report.

The study, released Tuesday by the Education Policy Studies Laboratory
at Arizona State University, was undertaken to gauge the impact of the
federal No Child Left Behind Act. States are required under the law to
administer standardized tests that are used to hold schools and school
districts accountable for student achievement.

<snip>

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Another black mark for IQ?
September 25, 2005
As Test Scores Jump, Raleigh Credits Integration by Income
By ALAN FINDER
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/25/education/25raleigh.html?incamp=article_po
pular&pagewanted=print>

RALEIGH, N.C. - Over the last decade, black and Hispanic students here in
Wake County have made such dramatic strides in standardized reading and math
tests that it has caught the attention of education experts around the country.

The main reason for the students' dramatic improvement, say officials and
parents in the county, which includes Raleigh and its sprawling suburbs, is
that the district has made a concerted effort to integrate the schools
economically.

Since 2000, school officials have used income as a prime factor in assigning
students to schools, with the goal of limiting the proportion of low-income
students in any school to no more than 40 percent.

The effort is the most ambitious in the country to create economically
diverse public schools, and it is the most successful, according to several
independent experts. La Crosse, Wis.; St. Lucie County, Fla.; San Francisco;
Cambridge, Mass.; and Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., have adopted economic
integration plans.

In Wake County, only 40 percent of black students in grades three through
eight scored at grade level on state tests a decade ago. Last spring, 80
percent did. Hispanic students have made similar strides. Overall, 91
percent of students in those grades scored at grade level in the spring, up
from 79 percent 10 years ago.

School officials here have tried many tactics to improve student
performance. Teachers get bonuses when their schools make significant
progress in standardized tests, and the district uses sophisticated data
gathering to identify, and respond to, students' weaknesses.

Some of the strategies used in Wake County could be replicated across the
country, the experts said, but they also cautioned that unusual
circumstances have helped make the politically delicate task of economic
integration possible here.

The school district is countywide, which makes it far easier to combine
students from the city and suburbs. The county has a 30-year history of
busing students for racial integration, and many parents and students are
accustomed to long bus rides to distant schools. The local economy is
robust, and the district is growing rapidly. And corporate leaders and
newspaper editorial pages here have firmly supported economic diversity in
the schools.
<snip>

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