State’s paper-and-pencil tests may fade into history
Photo
Vicki Hilt tapes up a box of tests while she and others at Janesville Educational Services Center packed them for shipping to the testing company.
JANESVILLE — The kids are finished penciling in the bubbles. Janesville school workers collected about 150 cardboard boxes full of tests last week.
In Janesville, that’s about 5,500 test booklets from grades 3-8 and also 10th grade.
Workers checked each box to make sure everything that’s needed is there for the graders of the annual state standardized tests. Then they shipped the tests to CTB/McGraw Hill, the testing company, for grading.
Preliminary results will start coming in next March.
Multiply that process by the rest of Wisconsin’s 425 school districts.
That’s how it’s been for years, but someday soon, the laborious, lengthy process could be turned into a computer-based, online system that delivers crucial data on each student in a matter of days rather than months.
The state Department of Public Instruction is working on plans to completely revamp the testing system.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers announced in August his intention to phase out the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exams, but he said it would take time.
Students will take the old tests at least next fall and maybe for longer, according to a DPI news release.
“New assessments at the elementary and middle school level will likely be computer-based with multiple opportunities to benchmark student progress during the school year,” according to DPI.
That means students would be evaluated at least twice a year, so teachers would know quickly which students need help and which are excelling. That will allow teachers to re-teach material or accelerate the course.
Now, teachers have no information about how their students did on the tests until months later. That’s why the Janesville School District buys an online test called Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP, to track learning throughout the year.
And teachers track students’ progress with their own in-class tests, of course. DPI said its new system would include state, district, and classroom assessments.
DPI also pledged that the new system would be more responsive to students’ and teachers’ needs while still providing accountability to the public.
“I think what DPI is doing is just the beginning of what needs to be done,” said Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon.
Davis envisions a system that not only tracks students’ progress through the year but also identifies schools and teachers that are succeeding so that the best practices can be spread quickly around the state.
Researchers and some school districts are already working on the kind of system Davis described, called value-added modeling.
Davis is more ambitious than DPI. He has proposed a bill that would require a value-added system be in place by September 2010. The data needed for such a system already exist, Davis said.
While DPI has declared its intention to overhaul the system, Davis said it’s not clear yet how that system will work.
Davis said the current 10th-grade test should be replaced with an 11th-grade exam, perhaps the ACT college-readiness test, to be taken statewide by all students, something a few other states already do.
“I want a test that actually matters,” Davis said. “I don’t think a lot of students actually take the 10th-grade exam seriously.”
All students in the future will need college-readiness skills, not just those going on to universities, Davis said.
The current testing system costs around $10 million, and DPI says the new system will cost “significantly more.”
Ruth Robinson, who oversees the Janesville School District’s testing, has criticized the current system’s usefulness, not to mention the local cost.
But Robinson said she’s not ready to endorse the new effort until she sees the details.
“We have the devil we know versus the devil we don’t know,” Robinson said. “We can hope for better, but until we know what it is, I don’t know how to react.”
Nov 30, 2009 at 6:39 p.m.
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lol!
Okay, as a former student I can say firsthand that the tests are nerve-wracking, wierdly worded, and then when you finally do get your scores, you have no idea what you "failed" in and what you "excelled in", and in the meantime, so many trees were destroyed. I never understood why in school they taught us about why it is important to save the rainforests, the trees, the ozone layers, how to recycle, yet all of the classes required so much paper for projects,notes,assignments, tests, and none of it was on recycled paper. I think doing the tests on a computer is a clever idea IF there is a print out on recycled paper after the test is graded for the students to take home and look at with their parents. I also think it would be a good idea to actually review test criteria before taking the test, because many times when I was being tested, I had no idea what it was asking me to do, because topics weren't covered for months and there was so many different information I had to memorize since then. There has been that point, like napalm, where I just decided I didn't care and filled out random bubbles to form a pattern or just stayed in one column all the way. I figured , what are the odds of getting a better score when I didn't even read then if i did? I'm being honest here, and I know I'll get plenty of comments about how stupid I am, but I must say I went to Charter high school and didnt learn much, and I took the SAT's and didn't do very well, YET I am great at History, English, Art and Science. Go figure!
Nov 30, 2009 at 10:32 a.m.
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Bill,
Of course it is easier to sit and read blogs and pick apart each simple typo, rather than offer a corrective solution.
Yes I didn't proof my post with a fine tooth comb, because I was distracted by the good Raven/Steelers game and if you know me, I don't have a comb. :)
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It is after all just a blog post not a tax return or a paper submitted to the English teacher. But I like to prove to myself every day that I'm not perfect. Some others obviously are, but why don't we hear their solutions???? Oh, to busy looking for typoes!!!
(that won was on purpose smile!!!)
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yeah I did the won on purpose too
Nov 30, 2009 at 10:23 a.m.
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arrggh - It is "pursue" not "persue" and of course, I mistyped "hopefully". You would never have known that I was the spelling bee champion in 7th grade!
Bill
Nov 30, 2009 at 9:10 a.m.
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These tests were so stupid. Pointless, Long and boring. I used to just go down the list and randomly fill them in.
Nov 30, 2009 at 8:55 a.m.
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beenthere: You need to cut Jim some slack. Although he and I do not agree on everything, on this issue, he is write on! (or right on). I, and others on the board, have been complaining about the WKCE tests for some time and have asked DPI years ago why they did not persue a waiver for NCLB to use other methods such as the MAP tests. Hoepfully, with the changes at DPI, we will finally make some progress on this issue. (Don't you just love all of the abbreviations that are used in education!)
I also reject the idea that it needs to cost more. The bloated WKCE testing methods, not to mention all of the trees that are killed, are surely more expensive than an electronic method.
And Jim, I once used "principle" rather than "principal" even though I knew the correct way, so don't sweat a simple mistake with "write" and "right"! LOL
Bill Sodemann
Nov 30, 2009 at 8:39 a.m.
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Wow, BeenThere - did you wake up in a bad mood today? Geez.
Mr. Reif, thanks - I don't have kids at Craig, but it's nice to know that there are teachers like you out there.
I, too, think waiting until March to find out how a sophomore did on the WKCE tests is ridiculous - how is that useful? Won't many of them be in different classes with different teachers by then anyhow?
Nov 30, 2009 at 6:59 a.m.
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fbcoach, you're a teacher? Really? A high school teacher who doesn't know the difference between "write" and "right"? I guess they don't test math teachers for basic grammar skills.
Nov 30, 2009 at 6:57 a.m.
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http://zhao.educ.msu.edu/
Yong Zhao University Distinguished Professor @ Michigan State University
A thoughtful look into the state of education.
Nov 30, 2009 at 6:50 a.m.
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http://epicpolicy.org/files/BRACEY-2009....
The Bracey Report On the Condition of Public Education, 2009.
Nov 29, 2009 at 9:55 p.m.
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marge123
Sorry, I was not able to reply to your post immediately. I was grading Geometry projects at home on a Sunday night, so I could get them back to my students on Monday. I wanted to know how they grasped a pattern project. I have spent 2 hours on the grading, I have commented on each of the projects, and given them specific things to redo. It took them just the weekend to get it back, so that we can immediately improve upon their knowledge. These same students took the WKCE test in October, it will take the testing agency (which is making MILLIONS) 6 months to get their scores back.
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I also give a test EVERY Friday to my Algebra students and return them to the students on Monday. We then work together on individual issues that students had, and they correct their mistakes by Wed. From the WKCE they never know what they really did wrong or write. I then incorporate the issues that most students are having trouble with into the next Friday test. That way they have a chance to improve and grow. Where does that exist in the WKCE?
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If you wish to come observe my classes, or my day, please contact me. I used to think elementary teachers had it easy until I really got to know them. Come walk a mile in my shoes, then make your decisions. That offer is open to anyone, assuming my principal approves.
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In service,
Jim Reif - Craigh HS Math Teacher
Nov 29, 2009 at 9:01 p.m.
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Marge123--get a clue. FBcoach66 was referencing the specific WKCE test, and not what she or he does consistently throughout the school year. You prove to everyone else out here that you certainly could not teach.
One thing this article fails to mention is the reason the WKCE exists in its current format--because of the No Child Left Behind law, which the federal government shoved down our throats without funding it. The WKCE is not really designed to show student progress. It is used to satisfy NCLB which is set up to see how schools are doing...not students. And as for Rep. Davis, he wants to move faster than DPI? When has he moved fast as a legislator? Will he make sure the state appropriates sufficient funding for this quick change?
Nov 29, 2009 at 8:45 p.m.
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I would say, welcome to the 21st century. Technology can be used for standardized testing very easily. It should be able to save a considerable amount of money... but it may not be cheaper today. There is a concept called a "return on investment" that will show that it will cost more money to implement, but after x number of years, we'll be saving money.
The SDOJ needs to have a stable technology infrastructure free of mass outages, downtime, security issues, and reliable network connectivity before they can even think to leverage technology for standardized testing.
Nov 29, 2009 at 8:03 p.m.
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I think you should know"somthing" about your student"s before april.....those that can do..those that can't.......
Nov 29, 2009 at 6:47 p.m.
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sannio,
Why pay millions for something that doesn't work? What is better paying a bad mechanic $150 to not fix your car, or a good mechanic $200 to fix it right?
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Now I don't know if these new tests will be better, but as a teacher the WKCE is completely useless to me. I get vauge data in late march or early April on 60% of my students because many of my students are freshman or juniors who don't have to take the WKCE. I say fix it!
Nov 29, 2009 at 6:07 p.m.
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Sannio....not everything has a monetary value! If the new system helps a student get the help they need sooner rather than later or accelerates another's learning, then that is worth the extra money! Would you be ok with going to the doctor, taking a test, and waiting 6 months for the results? Or, if available, would you pay a little more for the results to be given to you in a few days or weeks? Yeah. Thought so.
Nov 29, 2009 at 4:39 p.m.
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If the new system will cost significantly more, then why do it? If the computerized system can't save money over the old paper system, then I smell a rat.
Nov 29, 2009 at 4:05 p.m.
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These fill-in-the bubble tests are horrible. Why would anyone think these measure what a kid knows. The kids hate them (as much as the teachers), and do not try because when it comes down to it, they mean nothing to the kid.
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