Education Overhaul Not Making The Grade Officials Plan To Release Less Than Stellar Results Of Fourth-Grade Tests On TV
Washington’s effort to overhaul its public schools will get its first report card during opening week of school - and officials say schools, parents and students may be in for a bit of a shock.
Gov. Gary Locke and state school chief Terry Bergeson, both key backers of the decade-long overhaul, plan the first-ever televised “State of Education” speeches at Foss High School in Tacoma on Sept. 4. They will release the results of a rigorous new fourth-grade test given to 68,000 students last spring.
Bergeson is preparing audiences for less than stellar results, because the test measured against tough new standards, including critical thinking and writing skills, but the kids were taught under old methods.
“Most of our teaching has been in rote memory and there is no reason to think this first test will show the kind of results we want,” Bergeson said in an interview this week. “It’s going to be a big speed bump, because a lot of kids won’t meet the goals.
“But we really want to communicate to people that this is just information and that you don’t have to fall off the truck with discouragement if you don’t do so well. If you didn’t meet the standards, you’re in good company.
“This is ground zero.”
Bergeson told newspaper editors in Yakima this week: “We’ve always tested on what we have taught children. Now we’re doing the opposite - we’ve tested them without preparing them first. No teacher or student should be judged on these first results. This is just the beginning of the journey. It’s a new focus. This is not the end result - it’s a diagnostic.”
Locke spokesman Chris Thompson said the governor wants the results to be inspiring, not depressing.
“Our hope is that people will be able to take the information and look forward, rather than backward, and help students achieve standards rather than point fingers about why the numbers aren’t better,” he said.
A parents’ guide will tell patrons that: “Usually we teach kids, then we test them. Last spring, we tested them, now we’re going to teach them. That’s an important distinction.”
The report card released on Sept. 4 will be a statewide profile.
The tests were administered to 261 districts that volunteered to take part - most of the 296 districts in the state. Next year the test will be mandatory. Tests for seventh and 10th graders will be phased in, and eventually all 10th graders will be required to get a Certificate of Mastery as well.
The 4th grade tests, covering math, listening, reading and writing, go far beyond the old computer-scored, standardized tests, asking students to give answers to multiple-choice, short answer and essay questions.
Writing assignments asked children to describe their perfect planet or retell their favorite story.
A sample math problem shows three bags with both black and white marbles and asks students which bag gives the best chance of picking a white one.
Bergeson said the preliminary test results show that children had more trouble reading non-fiction passages and poetry than they did reading fiction. In math, students did well on items that required only computation, but not as well on logic or problem-solving.