Test Scores Concerns About Differences In Standardized Test Results May Be Unfounded, Educators Say

Unlike the case with basketball or football games, a 10-point difference on a school test score may not be cause for concern, education experts say.

Spokane School District 81 and the Cheney and Medical Lake School districts made public the test results of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills taken in September by fourth-, eighth- and eleventh-graders.

A score of 50, at all grade levels, is considered the national average.

Elementary schools generally show greater variance in test scores from year to year and from school to school than do middle or high school scores.

District officials account for the variation with several explanations.

“We see developmental maturation that does happen from fourth to eighth grade,” said Fran Mester, District 81 director of instructional programs.

Moreover, students who come from high-income households generally tend to score better on standardized tests than children from lower-income households, Mester said.

The reason for the difference is not always well understood, Mester said.

Sacajawea, Chase, Ferris and Lewis and Clark schools recorded some of the highest scores in Spokane School District 81.

Cheney and Medical Lake middle and high schools also showed average or higher-than-national average scores.

Chances are that a 10-point swing up or down from the previous year’s scores is “statistically insignificant,” said Joe Kinney, District 81 coordinator for program testing and evaluation.

The most important scores for parents to pay attention to are probably their own child’s individual testing profile, which school officials send to parents, said Mester.

“Score averages represent the building’s score. While the building average may be 35, you might have a kid who scored in the 95th percentile,” she said.

Parents with concerns should talk to teachers or principals to get a more complete picture of the classroom curriculum or their child’s performance, said Rita Seedorf, professor of education at Eastern Washington University.

The problem with national standardized tests, Seedorf said, “is they’re not coordinated with the school’s curriculum.”

For that reason and others, school districts across the state are looking at the CTBS, a multiple-choice test, as an incomplete indicator of student achievement.

Next year fourth-graders in Washington state will take a second test in addition to the CTBS. The new test is designed to measure what a child has learned in the classroom.

The CTBS, a state-required test, is a national “off-the-shelf test,” Kinney said.

“The test tells you how students compare with other students,” Kinney said.

The new test, called a “performance-based test,” is intended to measure what a child knows rather than how he compares to other children, Kinney said.

Fourth-graders taking the test will have to show their work and justify their answers. The test will be hand-scored, unlike the CTBS score, which is machine-scored.

“It eliminates the business of chance,” Mester said. “We can tell from the responses if a student is bored or having a bad day.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: DISTRICTS KEEP SCHOOL SCORES INHOUSE Neither the Cheney nor the Medical Lake School districts traditionally release individual school test scores. Medical Lake Superintendent Neal Powell said test scores don’t tell the whole story. Several factors influence test scores, he said. “The CTBS (Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills) tests achievement against national norms,” Powell said. “It doesn’t measure the local curriculum.” The Medical Lake School District has only two elementary schools, which doesn’t provide much of a basis for comparison, Powell added. Cheney School District Superintendent Phil Snowden said people associate “high scores with good schools and low scores with bad schools. That may be the case sometimes, but there are a lot of other factors involved.” For schools with low scores, Powell said, “it’s discouraging for staff and parents who are doing their level best to educate and teach kids.” Janice Podsada

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